GM’S top motorsports man discusses business through a manufacturer’s eyes

Fred Simmonds is the Marketing Manger, Drag Racing, for General Motors, and as such is in attendance at almost every NHRA POWERade Series event.  Far more than being a public relations person, Simmonds is well-versed in virtually every aspect of drag racing, from class structures to the business side of the sport.  He has to be, because his decision-making is critical to the General’s successes in turning an involvement in motorsports into increased sales at the dealerships.

Simmonds is held in the highest esteem by the racers, regardless of their brand affiliation, because they’ve learned through interaction with him that while his heart may pump Hugger Orange he’s all about what’s best for drag racing.

On more than one occasion it has been Simmonds who has led the way in suggesting innovative ideas to the management of the NHRA.  Those concepts have covered the gamut from public relations suggestions to offerings about the actual racing itself.

If truth be told there have often been Detroit-based executives who had no real love for the sport, and we’re certainly not talking just GM here.  In too many instances being involved in drag racing has been nothing more than a job for those individuals.  Not so with Simmonds.  He genuinely cares about the sport, its participants and its fans.  To see him at the finish line of a national event is to get a glimpse of how loved and respected he is.  Virtually every winner, from Super Gas to Top Fuel, gets a greeting from Fred – with all of them being returned in kind, because they know him, because somewhere along the way he’s taken the time to introduce himself.

There is no question that in a changing economy keeping companies like General Motors, and individuals like Fred Simmonds, involved in our sport becomes increasingly more important with each passing day.

We caught up with Mr. Simmonds during the Lucas Oil SuperNationals in Englishtown.  Here’s his “report” on the state of drag racing.


CP - How has the economy affected the General Motors motorsports program?

FS - So far it hasn’t. But it will at some point in the future. Not so much the economy but what is driving the economy. A lot of that is what everyone knows, the price of gasoline, diesel fuel and so on. Dramatic change in the price of those commodities is negatively impacting consumers and of course, just like you and me, we’re no different because we are both consumers. We are changing our habits and instead of driving a lot we’re staying home. Instead of loving our big truck, we’re either looking at smaller truck or even a car. So, short term it hasn’t had a huge impact but we have to get the price of gasoline settled down to some reasonable level or its going to have an impact on our racing programs going forward. But right now, no impact.

Let me tell you, a year ago if you would have asked me the question, I would’ve thrown you out the window. Right now, as I said, there are no sacred cows. We’re probably going to be racing something because man has been racing something since man was invented way back when. It may have been horses, mules or whatever and then into cars. Cars are going to be changing, there’s no question about that. What it’s going to be 20 years from now, I don’t know. Maybe the 20 years from now is equal to 10 years from now. I think everything has been rapidly escalated to give us a different product on the street and on the racetrack. There are going to be races. I just don’t know what that product is going to look like. - Simmonds on concerns of a Hybrid vehicle marketed in NHRA Pro Stock

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CP –The economy, will it affect the kind of car you market in Pro Stock?

FS - That’s a good question…and I don’t know the answer to that because I think the entire economic business model of America is changing rapidly. I think all bets are off; there are no sacred cows in any kind of business right now. We’ve just got to get some direction on where fuel is going right now, from the availability and (to the) pricing of it. We know the racers are affected because they have diesel tractors; they’re paying nearly five dollars a gallon to haul these race cars and equipment 30, 40, 50 thousand miles a year. It used to be two dollars a gallon now it’s over double. It hits the bottom line for the racers and to a larger view the fans who show up to the races are being impacted. We can see that in the numbers.

CP -So inevitably, from what I understand, this could affect whether Chevrolet markets the Cobalt in Pro Stock or the Chevrolet Camaro?

FS – Now, I think it has a lot to do with what the brand wants to do with their particular car and what their marketing plan is and how you showcase it and put the promotional and PR spin on it. I don’t think it’s going to change the car we race. Twenty years from now we may have electric cars going in the Pro Stock final at an NHRA event. Who knows? Like I said, I think we’ve got to clean the table. We have got to rethink the economics and business situation here in America.

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 CP - Does the thought of a hybrid Pro Stocker concern you?

FS - Let me tell you, a year ago if you would have asked me the question, I would’ve thrown you out the window. Right now, as I said, there are no sacred cows. We’re probably going to be racing something because man has been racing something since man was invented way back when. It may have been horses, mules or whatever and then into cars. Cars are going to be changing, there’s no question about that. What it’s going to be 20 years from now, I don’t know. Maybe the 20 years from now is equal to 10 years from now. I think everything has been rapidly escalated to give us a different product on the street and on the racetrack. There are going to be races. I just don’t know what that product is going to look like.

CP -Speaking of sacred cows…How about the 2009 Camaro? Will we see it out here on the race track?

FS - I’d say eventually, but not right now. In Pro Stock our plan right now is to continue with a Pontiac GXP and the Chevrolet Cobalt for 2009.

CP - What about in Funny Car?

FS - Still got the Impala. It’s a good car. We’ve won over half the races with an Impala. It’s hard to argue with the success this year. We have Wilkerson number one with the Impala in the category in points, so we are going to continue with the Impala for right now.

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CP -Even as tough as this American economy is, do you think there will ever be a time when maybe Chevrolet, Mopar and Ford will try and get on the same page with marketing the cars out here in Pro Stock?

FS - You know, to some degree I think they have. Maybe not as much Ford, as you know. We’ve got an independent racer named Jim Cunningham who runs a Mustang at select races. He was in Englishtown. I think he does a great job. He’s trying to fight a couple of factories, which is an uphill battle. But, he puts on a good show for the fans, he’s a good guy and his operation is good. I would love to have Ford out here in a full blown Pro Stock scenario.  I don’t know if that’s going to happen. More competition is good for everybody. It improves the breed – I don’t care what type of motorsports you are in. Even away from motorsports, one of the reasons, if you go to the street, that there are so many really, really good cars is because somebody raised the quality bar years ago and everybody’s chasing it. And hence the consumer gets the benefit of it. You can’t make a bad car-buying decision from a quality standpoint. They are all good.

CP -Let me take this one step further. Ford’s got the classic Mustang, Chrysler’s got the Challenger coming out. You think the Chrysler guys and the GM guys are saying “we’re trying to go the nostalgic route.” What do you guys think of bringing in the Camaro if Chrysler brings in the Challenger? Does that kind of change the outlook on the Camaro?

FS – Well, it’s not changing the outlook on it but we’ve had discussions with Ford and Chrysler dating back to last fall about a very similar thing in the sportsman ranks because the popularity of all three name plates. Obviously the nostalgia thing is big right now. I personally like the look of the new Mustang better than the one it was modeled after in the late 60’s. They did a cleaner job of it. I like the look of the Challenger. I really like the look of the new Camaro. It’s a 21st Century nostalgia look, if you will. People argue with me, is it nostalgic or not? The cars look great; great performance even in the base power train or in the upper level V8’s and all. But it would be great to see them out here.

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CP –When Toyota came into NASCAR the American fans didn’t exactly welcome them with open arms.  What do you think about the potential of a Toyota racing in Pro Stock?

FS - I don’t think they have a 500 cubic inch, V8 available for starters. That’s what the rules are. It says 500 inches, two four-barrel carburetors. The question is when was the last time Toyota had a four-barrel carburetor, much less two of them on anything. I don’t know product-wise, power train-wise if they have something in their stable they can go racing with right now. Again competition improves the breed. If they’ve got it, bring it on because I think it’s good for the fans to see different name plates out there racing each other heads up.

CP -Knowing the history of Pro Stock, what do you think about a Toyota in Pro Stock? Do you feel it’s blasphemy?

FS - Much like our business model there are some changes going on. Ten years ago I probably wouldn’t answer that question positively. Not today. I think it’s a different world to live in. Again, we’ve seen electric drag bikes running in the eights. I mean that’s amazing to see an electric motor move that quick in a quarter mile. Years ago they would have laughed at you if you said that was possible. It’s different…I think we have to accept change.

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CP -With that said, do you think drag racing needs a redesign?

FS - I don’t know if it needs to be redesigned, I think it may need to be tweaked. Open our eyes up to all sorts of possibilities. You know, in its purest sense drag racing is just driving to work. The light turns green, there is a guy next to you and you both hit the gas pedal. So, whether people like drag racing (or not) they are a part of it. Even at 20 miles an hour in their hometown; so it’s something they can understand and it’s fun. Otherwise we wouldn’t have all of these great fans. You look out at that grandstand in Englishtown, it was packed and they’re [race fans] still paying four-bucks-a-gallon to get here despite all the negative things in the economy. They are still showing up. If the fans are here, we’re going to be here.

CP -As a manufacturer, the last time we had a gas crunch our Mustangs were replaced with Pintos and Camaros were replaced with Vegas, so to speak. Does this scare you as a manufacturer?

FS - I don’t know if scared is the right word. It deeply concerns me because we can’t flip a switch and go from trucks to cars in 30 days. We can’t get the parts to do it, trucks are rear drive, the small cars are front drive. You’re talking billions in investments to convert plants to do it. We’re changing; we have already announced that in the media a couple of weeks ago. We are changing our model mix as fast as we can. It’s just not fast enough for the immediate demand we face today. A good example; go to any GM dealer, if they’ve got cars and trucks. The trucks today are slow selling that’s not a big surprise and the small cars you cannot find one to buy. We just can’t fix the pipeline quick enough…it takes a long time to do that. I don’t care how much money you throw at it. If you had limitless funds, you can’t do it overnight. But that work is undergoing as fast as possible at GM.