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Fuel, Frames, and the Future: A Roundtable on Media, Motorsports, and Sustainability · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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Brake Fix's History of Motorsports series is brought to you in part
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by the International Motor Racing Research Center, as well as the
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Society of Automotive Historians, the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of
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Commerce, and the Argettsinger family.
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Aspects of Media Treatments of Motor Racing Topics.
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A roundtable with Timothy Robiers, Mike Stokes, and Kate Sullivan.
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All right, this is a hybrid presentation.
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Our first ever, so hold on to your seats.
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Aspects of Media Treatments of Motor Racing Topics.
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Mike Stotts is here in person, and in Scotland is Kate Sullivan.
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In Belgium is Timothy Robiers.
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Mike Stokes is a Senior Lecturer of Sport Management and Leadership
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at the University of New Hampshire.
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He is one of the founding members and Editor in Chief of the Journal
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of Motorsports Culture and History.
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Mike's previous works have included a bottom up framing analysis of
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the Tony Stewart Kevin Ward Jr.
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incident on Facebook.
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As well as his explorations of legal issues in the K through 12 sport
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administration, an economic funding model for college athletics, and
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textual analysis of the American Outlaws fan group in the digital space.
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All right.
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Good morning, everybody.
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To those of all of you who are attending here in person and good time of day,
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wherever you are at around the world.
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My name is Mike Stotes.
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The last time that all of us were gathered here, there was snow on the track.
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So We appreciate the weather for cooperating with us today.
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We got three presentations that are a little bit different to kind of give a
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little sampling of different, more new age motor sport type research endeavors.
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We're all in some form or fashion academics.
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Myself, Mike Stoats.
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I am from the university of New Hampshire currently.
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And editor in chief of the Journal of Motorsport Culture
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and History joined today by Dr.
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Timothy Robiers over in Belgium and Professor Kate Sullivan
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all the way over from Scotland.
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So let's go ahead and get into it.
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My presentation for you all today is a media comparison between The first two
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African American NASCAR drivers to win at the highest level of NASCAR, that
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being Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.
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So this is a paper that is in progress currently, just shy of about halfway
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through the articles I've collected.
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So Presenting on some things that may change by the time that I submit this
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for publication consideration, the two drivers themselves, Wendell Scott
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won his first race and really only top series cup race on December 1st, 1963,
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down in Jacksonville, Florida, as Bubba Wallace won more in recent memory in
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October of 2021 at his designated home track, Washington, In Talladega down in
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Alabama, somewhat as some of the previous academic scholars have discussed, there
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is a lack of research within not only just the realm of motorsport, but also
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within the realm of NASCAR itself.
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There are a couple of studies that had a little bit of precedence and a little
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bit of presence through my analysis, including a little bit of a survey
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methodology distributed out to NASCAR fans about anti racism mobility, mostly
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relating to Wendell Scott's career.
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I'm also stealing from, well, borrowing, I guess, is the proper academic term for it.
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Some of the techniques used by my colleague, Tim Robeers, just
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before the pandemic and applying them more in a NASCAR sense.
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A little bit more about the background on Wendell Scott.
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His win came December 1st, 1963 down in Jacksonville at
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Speedway Park down in Florida.
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It was a half mile dirt track race in which future Hall of Famer Buck Baker
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was initially declared the race winner.
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I now consider myself middle aged because I'm out of my 20s, but didn't used to be
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that we would keep score electronically.
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We used these weird things, pencils, pens, and paper to log down the lap
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times and who was in the lead, etc.
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It got confusing and a lot of times led to some forms of corruption.
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Maybe some people's finishing position was smudged a little bit.
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So after the race, it was pretty common that one driver, at least
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one, would ask for an audit of the lap recording times and such.
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And Wendell Scott decided to do just this.
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It took about two hours for NASCAR officials to come back and say,
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Yeah, actually, Wendell, you did end up winning that race.
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Another interesting little bullet point for this.
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Buck Baker was declared the winner after 202 laps of a race that
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should have only gone 200 laps.
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There are some estimates out there that place Wendell Scott as the
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winner by as much as eight laps.
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Then, in more recent memory, we have Bubba Wallace's first win.
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Down at Talladega during the pandemic, Talladega and Bubba Wallace had a
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pretty negative marriage, you could say, but coming out of that, at least
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somewhat from NASCAR's perspective.
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We see Bubba Wallace win his first Cup Series race at Talladega.
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Further, we see him win in a rain delayed race.
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Another interesting similarity between the two drivers, outside of both
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being African American competitors, we also see that the first two African
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Americans to win in the highest series of NASCAR, Had different lap totals for
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the race than originally advertised.
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So kind of a cursory comparison.
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A little bit more academic background and a little bit more
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into what I was looking into.
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I was looking into how the media portrayed both Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.
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A lot of the similarities personality wise somewhat stop after the two
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kind of cursory comparisons earlier.
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But we also see from academic research, and this is kind of a,
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well, no duh situation, that whatever kinds of media we consume, it's
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going to influence us in some way.
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So if we're reading articles that continually say that, well, this
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driver is not that good, then we're more inclined to believe that.
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In this piece, I wanted to tie my love for communications based research with
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historical research to be a little bit more in line with conference itself and
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expand at least a little bit more into the digital world, particularly through
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the ways that I collected these articles off of an older study that myself and a
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couple of colleagues worked on surrounding the Tony Stewart, Kevin Ward Jr.
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dirt track incident.
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So the methods that I shamelessly borrowed from Dr.
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Robiers used a program called Lexamancer and Lexamancer giant
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database a lot of times used for legal studies, but can also be used
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to gather mass media representations.
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So what I did was put in very similar search terms for both Bubba Wallace
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and Wendell Scott to bring down.
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And I accidentally left off how many were brought down for Bubba Wallace's, but
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in general, I brought down 700 articles in total, dating back to the late 1970s.
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After I get done with this set, there's going to be a little bit
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more digging into some archives, so Mark, if you find a place that has
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these somewhere, let me know, okay?
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Some of the very early results here, what I did was going article by article,
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roughly, again, about half of them per driver so far, is to try and find
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some of the predominant themes or frames in which the media was trying
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to represent these drivers within the context of their first victory.
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Some of them are similar, some of them are a little bit different.
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The first one for Bubba Wallace, the main frame itself was he was
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the second African American to win at the highest level of NASCAR.
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That one's pretty self explanatory.
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There were also a lot of comparisons to Wendell Scott, and herein we see some
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of the contradictions in that Wendell Scott being a veteran, Bubba Wallace
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kind of coming into the sport and having that as his primary job right
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out of the gates and into adulthood.
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We also see a frame of, I initially put it down as surprise in that Bubba
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Wallace won from the current media depictions, but there were a lot of
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references to his previous results and how they, by and large, haven't
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been great outside of super speedways.
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So outside of Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
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Hasn't run as well, except for recently.
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Obviously he did win at Kansas.
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So with Windell Scott, there was one of the main themes that I've seen so far.
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In the early parts of the analysis, there was a heavy emphasis on
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his service to our country.
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This was one of the main predominant themes, and it was very shocking to
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me that we're going to talk about that instead of him historically being the
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first African American to win at that level, although obviously that would come
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up next to we would see some previous results, but in a way that differs.
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From Bubba Wallace's in that a lot of Wendell's previous results were talked
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about more in a positive light, some of his relationships with drivers at
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the time, such as the king, et cetera, and just some very cursory discussions
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and conclusions from what I've found so far is that These drivers, although
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they have very similar, at least on track, pure results, not taking in other
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outside factors, at least a little bit similar successes, these drivers have
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been shown in almost, in very different lights, even with very similar frames
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being, namely right now, previous results, which may change over time.
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There were some differences in the driver's situation,
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both politically and socially.
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That were seen throughout as not necessarily a theme just
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yet, but just an observation.
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And some of the things that we'll kind of look into into the future with this
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is Bubba Wallace himself obviously has been a little bit of a polarizing
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figure within the NASCAR community.
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And just seeing how some of the individual actions that have happened
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to this athlete are going to impact his career and media representations.
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Thereafter, obviously, we had the Kyle Larson incident in which
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Bubba Wallace was run into a wall and then subsequently hooked.
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Larson could have caused major damage, also resulted in a one way shoving match.
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We also had Bubba Wallace becoming the first African American driver
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to win two top series NASCAR.
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So with that, just to keep everything somewhat in line, I'll go ahead and turn
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it over to my colleague, Tim Robeers.
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Timothy Robeers is currently working as a Research and Markham Manager at
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B Squared Sense in Brussels, Belgium.
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Following a career in academia, he remains affiliated with the Department
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of Communications Scientists at Antwerp University in Belgium, and combines
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extensive expertise in market and communications research, social and
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environmental sustainability, and their applications in motorsport and media.
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Besides having participated as a driver and team owner in
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rally raids across Africa, Dr.
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Rabires has also consulted for a range of motorsport businesses and organizations,
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including Formula E and the FIM.
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Additionally, he is a co founder and assistant editor for the Journal
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of Motorsport Culture and History.
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Thanks, Mike, for the introduction and, um, and your great presentation.
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Great to see that my methods are being used by, uh, my
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closest friends and colleagues.
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So great to see them.
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Hi everyone from Belgium, from Bruges, more specifically a couple of years back.
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I was there in the snow, as Mike said, this time it's digitally.
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I want to talk, uh, sort of in relation to the media treatments of
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motor racing topics, specifically about sustainability, those of you.
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That know me and I'll first briefly introduce myself for those that don't.
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I am Timothy Robiers, doctor in social sciences with a focus
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on communication and media.
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I did my PhD on media representations of sustainability in motor sports.
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Specifically in relation to Formula E at the time, which came, uh, about
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in about 2013 and it was basically the first and second generation
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that I covered in my research.
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I also have a little bit of experience as a driver myself, participated in
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2013 and 14 in a number of rally rates.
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In Africa, the intercontinental rally, for example, but
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currently I have left academia.
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I'm still doing a little bit of research.
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I'm working in marketing, communications research, specifically
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on brand performance and innovation.
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And of course, corporate sustainability, which is something
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I want to talk about today.
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Because obviously sustainability in motorsport is something that we
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keep coming across more and more, obviously here in Europe with all
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the different FIA series, Formula E, Formula One, World Rally, Cross World
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Rally Championship, the WEC, et cetera.
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They're all things where more and more.
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Sustainability as a word, we're seeing it emerge literally everywhere.
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It's been going on for a couple of years and especially with the United
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Nations sustainability goals for 2030.
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It's something that will only increase in importance and significance.
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Now, the thing is, what is this sustainability thing about?
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Everybody uses the word, nobody seems to know what it really stands for.
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So.
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One of the things that we've done for this research, and it's, this
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is something that will be published, but later on as part of a handbook
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on global politics of motorsports, we went to look at what sustainability
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means in terms of a definition.
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Obviously it comes from the United Nations that, uh,
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developed it in the 19th century.
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In 1987 in the Brundtland for Ford saying that it's a developments that
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meet the needs of current generations without compromising those of others.
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Obviously, depending on certain factors, such as time, social contact and industry
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and combines three major pillars, which is the environmental side, which
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is what most people think about, but also a social and an economic side.
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Obviously, we're here to talk about motorsports and the significant
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thing, of course, is that ecological sustainability within motorsport really
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needs to be seen as part of a larger chain of developments, not just in
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motorsport, but also in wider society.
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Those pillars of ecology, social aspects, and economic aspects all are interrelated.
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And we've.
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Determined that it's not just something that's come about recently.
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It's something that's actually been developing as part of that
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larger structure for a while.
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For example, when we look at motor racing and it's all moving formula one, we've
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seen that in the 20th century, there was a resilience towards sustainability.
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Obviously we're not talking about the ecological aspect, but the
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social aspect, we've seen that there was a resistance to driver safety.
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It was all about, you know, in the fifties and sixties, technological developments
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that focused on speed and entertainment.
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Driver safety came about, you know, in, in the sixties when in, uh, 66 in
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Belgium, we had a massive crash, 69.
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Similarly with Jackie Stewart.
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Drivers in 69 didn't wanna participate because of the risks.
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This evolved in the seventies with Lauda as well as we all know.
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So these are all a combination of internal pressures that started
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to build over the decades.
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However, they were met with little action until quite late in the 20th
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century, more and more was being done.
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Pressures were too great also externally because of the casualty
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rates in formula one, which led to Sid Watkins, for example, being
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appointed as part of the chairman of the experts advisory committee.
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Which of course saw positive developments to the extent that
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more socially sustainable frames became relevant for Formula One.
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And of course, this is something that sort of followed in other
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series as well, where Formula One, especially in Europe, is still
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considered the pinnacle of motorsport.
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And of course, as a result, it was being followed only by series after that.
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Obviously this sustainability element is something that especially in
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the last 20 years has developed as a result of a number of reasons.
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I've listed five here, as you can see, we'll go into detail a little bit more
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about each of these, but these literally gave rise to the sustainability movement
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that we're now talking about in that now we're now seeing in motorsport, especially
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here over in Europe, predominantly so.
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So the first is the digital media and communications revolution,
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obviously, with the rise of the internet, rise of social media.
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What we've seen is that there's a new media disruption that has impacted
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on different levels, and they've meant for that there's an increased
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level of transparency from any company's organizational Motorsport,
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that is just as much the case.
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And as a result, or they still do, or they started to play an increasingly important
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role in shaping the knowledge of and offering critical insights into different
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environmental sustainability initiatives, which is one step towards sustainability
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being so prominent as it has been.
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Second is mediated transgressions.
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As a result of that media revolution, what we've seen is that increasingly
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criticisms have come about, including motor sport events, most prominently.
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Those that have occurred, for example, in Belgium in 2013, where
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the Belgian Grand Prix was boycotted by Greenpeace, you might remember.
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And of course, as a result, the whole media representation really influences
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the perception and transgression or misconduct of motor sports.
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We've seen elements, initiatives from the FIA, Action for Environment, et cetera,
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which they call deep modifications, green regulations, et cetera.
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Which have increasingly through media exposure been criticized, done away with
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as greenwashing, green hushing as well.
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And of course led to the biggest media transgressions
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in motorsport being dieselgate.
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Now dieselgate obviously also led to an increased scrutiny of the whole automotive
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industry, affecting motorsport as a result and leading to environmental activism.
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We all know the persons that are on the screen, the one in the middle
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has little to do with motorsport, but has had a massive impact nevertheless
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on the way also drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, et
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cetera, have behaved in motorsport.
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And as a result, that also through media scrutiny.
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Has led to greenwashing criticisms.
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However, the environmental activist movement has definitely meant that the
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sustainability aspect has protruded motorsport further and further, even
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though it might be negative attention, it's still attention nevertheless.
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A lot of these sustainability efforts clash with the goal to sell what
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is often considered an authentic or nostalgic sporting experience.
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And as a result, they can only be implemented up to a certain level
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before it affects fan experiences.
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Sustainability watch bodies follow the notions of environmental activism.
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Of course, motorsport such as the FIA have set up sustainability accreditation
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initiatives and have done reports on a number of track analysis, team
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analysis, et cetera, all when it comes to sustainability reporting.
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And of course, all of this has given rise to electric motorsports in the last
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10 years, something that by many has been criticized at the early onset as.
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Something that would not be able to be sustainable.
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However, 10 years on, we're seeing Formula E going into its third season.
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We see the rise of extreme E electric touring car, et cetera.
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Even in the Dakar, we are now witnessing Audi participating with
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a full electric rally rate vehicle.
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So it's definitely a step following that mediated evolution
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that started about 20 years ago.
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This has a couple of opportunities for the future for Formula One,
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for example, but there's also a risk of falling out of space.
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Formula One, for example, envisions a step by step increase to use
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synthetic biofuels for its engines.
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It wants to be sustainably fueled.
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Again, that notion of what is sustainable by 2026.
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However, we already see that other series are looking at other ways of becoming
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sustainable through hydrogen power, such as the WEC, but the biggest problems
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remains fans, the travel of fans, the travel of teams, and of course the
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logistical elements that come with it.
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Proactive efforts in motorsport need to avoid being undercut
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by contradictory practices.
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And it's very important to try and do away with undercutting
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criticism of greenwashing, greenhushing and sports washing.
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Because obviously the fact that Formula One and other major series
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are participating in environments that are not considered to be
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the most socially sustainable.
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Also adds to the pressures of the whole sustainability scrutiny
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and mediatization narrow.
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The opportunity that this presented is a trickle down effect.
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Where motorsports in its very earliest origins was able to use the technological
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innovations to its advantage for a race on Sunday, sell on Monday principle, which
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is sort of lost during the last decades.
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It's something that it's now gaining again.
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And as a result, we can see that sustainable technology is leading
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to an increase in manufacturers and consumers of electric vehicles.
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It's attractive to fans, watch bodies.
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And as a result, it also can attract new, especially younger.
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Demographics of fans also means that lost revenue streams in terms of the
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traditional motorsport can be regained through digital broadcasting, social
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media, interactivities, and elements of gamification that come with these
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newer technologies associated with electric and more sustainable racing.
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So as a conclusion, the rise of ecological sustainability needs to very much be
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seen over larger path of development in motorsports and an integrated framework.
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Societal pressures, expectations of younger demographics and
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disruptive new series threaten traditional ways of motorsports.
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And the current decade offers opportunities for motorsports to
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definitely regain technological and societal relevance through
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the trickle down effect and the shift to revenue streams that
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include cause related consumerism.
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Fourth and lastly, there's a transparency and consistency that is very important
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in using sustainability in motorsports.
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And as long as teams and series can show that they are engaging with it in the
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coming decade, that in itself is more important than saying that they have
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become green, the road to become green or to become sustainable is far greater,
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far more important than the end goal.
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With that, I thank you.
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I will spend no more time.
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I will give the words to Kate.
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Kate Sullivan is an assistant professor in strategy and enterprise at Scotland's
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Heriot Watt University, where she teaches a range of entrepreneurship and management
22:53
courses as well as conducts research, as well as being a performance psychologist.
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She has also worked in the classic car industry for more than a decade.
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Miss Sullivan personally holds several regional land speed records.
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In the roundtable, she explores the forgotten history of alternative power
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vehicles in motorsports, demonstrating that the current concerns over the
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environmental impacts of auto racing and the attendant hand wringing
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over its future are far from new.
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Showing how alternative power vehicles have been part of society's need for
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speed from the beginning, she will suggest how to harness this worry to
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instead create a new buzz for racing.
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And hello everyone.
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Thank you to Mike and Tim.
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Thank you to everyone for allowing Tim and I to be overseas while we're doing this.
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Very sad to not be there in person, regardless of whether
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there's snow on ground.
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As Tim said, sometimes life gets in the way.
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I taught a three hour seminar this morning here in Edinburgh, Scotland,
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and now I'm remoting it to join you all.
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As we've said, I'm Kate Sullivan, I will be carrying together some of what
23:57
Mike did and some of what Tim did in my presentation today, which is fuel dual,
24:02
how gasoline came to rule motorsports.
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So who am I in the first place?
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I'm Kate Sullivan.
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I'm an assistant professor of strategy and enterprise at Heriot Watt
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University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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By training, I'm actually a psychologist.
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I specialize in work, well being, and performance.
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And I look in particular at what we value and how we deploy our time and energy.
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Part of that work has been me as an autolithic historian, and I tend to
24:31
look more at the cultural aspect.
24:33
So the cultural turn here is exactly what I'm in for.
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I'm also an ethnoarchaeologist.
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I look at the value we place on the things we use.
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But more than that, I'm a car person.
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I'm a land speed racer.
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I've been to a number of events with my parents who are also extremely active
24:52
record setting land speed racers.
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I have been accused at times of being the lady of the four cylinder.
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I like to make very small engines go very fast and I love vintage cars.
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Well, I love being here and getting to do this work.
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So let's go back further than to the early days and the
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beginnings of alternative power.
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Motoring's early days featured a range of power.
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We had electric cars from the very beginning, as well as hybrid
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cars starting in even the 1830s.
25:25
We had electric and hybrid vehicles.
25:27
We also had steam vehicles from the very beginning, because this was familiar
25:31
technology simply being used in a new way.
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From there, we got to what we have today, the internal
25:38
combustion, ICE or ICE engine.
25:41
The first experimental lightweight electrics in the U.
25:44
K., U.
25:45
S., and the Netherlands were in the 1930s.
25:48
By contrast, Carl Benz first demonstrated his motor wagon in 1885, and didn't
25:54
receive a patent until the next year.
25:56
By 1893, Chicago's World Exposition featured six
26:01
different types of electric cars.
26:03
Rain.
26:03
Is as old as the history of cars themselves.
26:07
By 1900, the number of electric vehicles in the United States was
26:12
almost 50 percent of the market.
26:14
Steam cars made up another extremely large portion, but
26:18
gasoline lagging vastly behind.
26:21
38, 000 cars in the United States in 1900 were electric.
26:27
From the very beginning, all fuels have been using electro
26:32
bats made in Pennsylvania.
26:34
And the Homebrew Riker Electric won a series of five mile sprints against
26:39
Gasoline Darius, some of the best funded automobiles of the day, all the way
26:45
back at the beginning of American race.
26:48
We also see that all power quickly gained land speed dominance as well.
26:53
Just down the road from where Tim is, about 20 miles away, La Jamaïque
26:57
aux Ponts, operated by Camille Genezi of Belgium, on the 29th of
27:02
April, 1899, was the first vehicle to exceed 100 kilometers per hour.
27:08
105, that's just under 66 miles per hour.
27:12
This was also the first purpose designed land speed racer, and it was an electric.
27:18
If you see in this picture down here, we even have Genossi going on a tour
27:23
to celebrate both his marriage and his victory, his wife riding on the
27:28
back because it was silent and clean.
27:31
We see as well the Stanley rocket, designed by the Stanley twins,
27:35
built with an inverted canoe for streamlining as its body, driven
27:41
by Fred Marriott on Daytona Beach.
27:43
In 1906, it set a world record of over 127 miles per hour.
27:48
That record stood for a steam powered vehicle until August of 2009.
27:54
It took that long for steam power to again see that kind of dominance.
28:00
The rocket still holds the record for any vehicle 30 horsepower or less.
28:05
But if all fuels were doing this well...
28:08
Why did gasoline win?
28:09
Why did the old fuel racers disappear almost completely by 1910?
28:16
One of the major reasons was a change in format, particularly in the United States.
28:20
We moved from straight line races and speed contests, road and oval.
28:26
In America, this was largely because we had a preference
28:29
for oval track horse racing.
28:31
And we already had these tracks available.
28:33
Simply putting cars on an existing track allowed us to then have
28:38
demonstrations of drones, for instance, at agricultural fairs.
28:42
It also improved the spectator experience.
28:44
Instead of waiting for a single pass of a car, you could sit in stands
28:48
and watch them lap multiple times.
28:51
Plus, having a controlled environment helped to minimize public safety concerns.
28:55
As Tim said, this has been a point of development throughout racing history.
29:00
These longer races then started giving the advantage to gasoline.
29:05
They're fast and easy to refuel, and they have a longer range.
29:09
It takes a while to get the steam car up to pressure.
29:12
They have to be refueled of two different types, whatever's
29:15
being used for combustion.
29:17
and the water tank.
29:18
And then on top of that, electric cars back in the day as today take
29:23
a few hours at best to refill.
29:26
There were swappable batteries then, but they were large, they were clunky, and
29:31
you could fill a petrol tank much quicker.
29:34
We also saw concerns of safety.
29:36
Again, as Tim mentioned, in 1902, the electric Baker Torpedo, in a
29:41
demonstration, searching for a high speed record, killed two people when the
29:46
steering went awry and it careened into a crowd at an estimated 104 miles per hour.
29:51
The driver and his engineer survived because they were wearing seatbelts.
29:55
This was in fact the first vehicle to be outfitted with them.
29:59
However, the driver and designer, Baker, was arrested for murder
30:03
and released the next day.
30:05
There began to be concerns about electric and steam vehicles in
30:09
particular being dangerous because of all that torque from initial start.
30:14
The Stanley Brothers pulled out of racing despite their success after Marriott
30:19
took the new version of the Rocket out and had an absolutely spectacular crash.
30:24
We can see the aftermath of in the center picture, where, basically,
30:28
it's astonishing Marriott lived.
30:30
First person on scene was a doctor who had to put his eye back in its socket.
30:35
He got up, walked away, and wanted to race again.
30:38
In terms of general safety, electric cars, if you get in a crash, electrical
30:42
fires are difficult to suppress.
30:44
And steamers, as we see in the far picture, have a tendency to explode.
30:49
The boiler just goes up and takes everyone with it.
30:51
Not ideal.
30:53
We also saw issues of reliability.
30:55
Many early racetracks were in the north, and electric cars then, as now,
30:59
don't perform well at low temperature.
31:01
So particularly in the United States and Northern Europe, where most
31:04
racing was developing, these cars simply could not compete with an
31:08
internal combustion engine in winter.
31:10
Steam cars take time to bring to pressure.
31:12
Development of the electric starter changed the game for gasoline racing.
31:18
So why are alt fuels on the rise again, as Tim noted?
31:22
Public opinion.
31:23
As Tim said, there's a focus on sustainability and emissions.
31:26
As well as a focus on noise concern, and this presentation is part of a
31:31
broader paper that I'm developing that brings in media similarities between
31:36
public opinion and worries about sustainability, emissions, and public
31:40
safety, as well as noise and sociability concerns that are almost identical.
31:47
In the 1900s and 1910 press, as they are today, we also see better technology,
31:53
there's better batteries, there's longer life and faster charging,
31:56
not to mention some of the more ecological fuels that Tim mentioned.
32:01
So how do we boast interest in rodents as a whole?
32:05
Knowing this history and knowing the ups and downs of racing in
32:09
the public eye over the years.
32:11
Well, first calling back to what Tim said, trickle down to Bordeaux, race on
32:16
Sunday, sell on Monday has always been.
32:21
It's stated on the Porsche website as one of the reasons that Porsche,
32:26
after many years out of the electric stain, is getting back into it by
32:30
relaunching its expertise from late 1800s in electrics and hybrids.
32:36
We see the faster recharge in a longer range, and we're able to use all of
32:40
this to expand motorsport appeal through marketing, through the sustainable
32:46
and technological nature of Formula E.
32:48
We can get people who wouldn't be interested regularly to potentially
32:53
welcome motorsport into their lives, and we can lean into
32:56
sustainability in our communications.
32:59
We can influence the media.
33:01
So tell this story of motorsports, enjoyment, sustainability, and
33:06
excitement as we re enter a green period in motorsport history.
33:12
And with that, I'd like to mention as one kid at the beginning, the three
33:16
of us are involved in the journal of motorsport culture and history, which.
33:20
In some respects, traces its beginnings to part of the Argensinger,
33:25
when Mike had had this idea for a journal that focused on culture and
33:31
history, instead of simply technical aspects of motoring and motorsport.
33:35
He brought the idea up.
33:37
Several of us at a previous symposium thought it was a marvellous idea, and
33:43
lo and behold, there was the founding of the Journal of the JMCH in 2019.
33:49
Editorial contributions and direction from other regular contributors.
33:53
And occasional submissions and editorial from me as well,
33:58
with Tim sitting on the board.
33:59
And we're accepting academic papers on cultural and
34:03
historical turns in motorsport.
34:05
Exactly what we are looking at, at the audience here.
34:07
And this can be sociology, cultural studies, communications, history,
34:12
psychology and performance of sport.
34:15
Which I look into.
34:16
And this is a peer reviewed journal.
34:18
We welcome your submissions.
34:20
You can look us up online and I have the link here on my slide.
34:24
They would love to see some of the papers come out of this conference.
34:28
And with that, let's remember that what's old is new again.
34:32
Green doesn't have to mean the end of motorsports.
34:35
In fact, it's only the beginning, as we've already seen through time.
34:39
Thank you all so very much.
34:41
If you have any questions for us, you can direct them to me and I can give
34:44
them to my colleagues overseas, but, uh, on behalf of all of us, thank you
34:47
all so much for your attention and time.
34:49
So thanks again.
34:50
This episode is brought to you in part by the International
34:52
Motor Racing Research Center.
34:54
Its charter is to collect, share, and preserve the history
34:57
of motorsports, spanning continents, eras, and race series.
35:00
The center's collection embodies the speed, drama, and camaraderie
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of amateur and professional motor racing throughout the world.
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The Center welcomes serious researchers and casual fans alike to share stories of
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race drivers, race series, and race cars captured on their shelves and walls and
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brought to life through a regular calendar of public lectures and special events.
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To learn more about the Center, visit www.
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racingarchives.
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org.
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This episode is also brought to you by the Society of Automotive Historians.
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They encourage research into any aspect of automotive history.
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The SAH actively supports the compilation and preservation of papers.
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Organizational records, print ephemera, and images to safeguard,
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as well as to broaden and deepen the understanding of motorized
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wheeled land transportation through the modern age and into the future.
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For more information about the SAH, visit www.
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autohistory.
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org.
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