CHARLOTTE, NC (Feb. 10, 2010) – About this time five years ago, Pat Brady, Dave Hickson and Larry Griffiths were preparing hard for a new venture in NASCAR. For the first time, a group of people would attempt to harness the energy of a powerful fan base and make it into a viable vehicle for the good of the sport. Thus, the Official NASCAR Members Club was born.
The launch took place on Feb. 10, 2005 at Daytona International Speedway, and the event was spectacular in its splendor. On hand were all the living champions of the NASCAR Sprint Cup division save two, led by seven-time champion Richard Petty.
David Pearson was there, and so was Cale Yarborough. Ned Jarrett and Rex White did battle many times against each other on the track, and they were there as well. Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott and Benny Parsons completed the list.
Those 15 drivers represented 33 combined NASCAR Sprint Cup championships, several hundred race victories and a lot of power in the NASCAR universe. It was an excellent place to start.
“I’m generally not a star-gazer, but I was truly overwhelmed to be taking part in the grandest collection of NASCAR stars ever assembled,” said David Hickson, ONMC’s president of launch day. “I felt that it was only fitting to have such a grand assembly for such a grand initiative.
That initiative, put simply, was to add one more sector to NASCAR’s already burgeoning business so that both sides would benefit.
“We felt like, with our entrepreneurial spirit, that we were pioneering a whole new frontier for NASCAR,” Hickson said. “It was a whole new business venture for the industry, a fan-direct sector to go along with NASCAR’s existing sectors (competition, sponsorship, licensing and media), and it was one that I knew and believed would generate new revenues within the industry and also help the existing industry to be more efficient.”
One of the early misconceptions about the ONMC was that it was simply a large, national fan club for NASCAR. It is that, in a way, but more importantly, it allows fans a measure of power, Hickson said.
“This is not about a fan club,” he said, reflecting on the past five years. “It’s about a bigger mission. The ONMC helps the industry to direct to fans, and helps direct fans to the industry.”
For fans, the ONMC is a conduit to power, in a sense, that they had never had in an organized, meaningful way.
“With the ONMC, fans now have the power to be heard, the power to influence change and the power to negotiate better value within the sport of NASCAR,” Hickson said.
As the months rolled by from that spectacular beginning, the ONMC changed to meet challenges presented by unexpected economic fluctuation…and changed for the better, in Hickson’s opinion.
“None of us knew then what we know now,” he said. “We didn’t know about how important this effort would be in today’s environment.”
One of the changes born out of the recent downturn was the ONMC $aves program, a nationwide platform of discounts that can save a typical Member hundreds of dollars a month on everyday activities as well as NASCAR-oriented spending.
Leading companies like Goodyear, Sprint, Office Depot, The UPS Store and NASCAR.COM SuperStore have taken advantage of the fan-direct nature of the ONMC to bring solid value and savings, and the Members have responded with typical NASCAR fan loyalty.
“It’s low-cost direct access to fans,” said Hickson. “In turn, the fans have group buying power to get more NASCAR for less.”
One of the biggest attractions of the ONMC has been the At-Track VIP program, where Members at the track can go on VIP Experiences to areas of restricted access and capitalize even more on the power of their passion.
An autograph, handshake or photo with a NASCAR hero is a commodity that is difficult to put a price on, and the VIP program is extremely valuable in that regard.
The annual National Convention inCharlotte is one of the crown jewels for Members, and a three-day saturation in the heart of NASCAR is a big draw. It brings Members from California, Canada, up and down the Eastern Seaboard and all throughout the country to the birthplace of the sport.
As the ONMC celebrates its first five years, remember your club’s beginnings—in the splendor of the biggest event of the year—and think forward to what will be as the club grows in size, stature…and power.
“I’m equally as excited about the great power we are developing for the fans who choose to aggregate with NASCAR,” Hickson said. “It’s really a whole new initiative for the sport.”