Re-Branding & Marketing a Large Business (Speedway)

The Presidents' Forum of Orange County
March 11, 2008

Gillian Zucker
President
Auto Club Speedway of Southern California

Speaker Biography:
Gillian Zucker was named the fourth President of California Speedway on June 23, 2005, making her the first female president of a track hosting a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event. As president, Zucker oversees all of the Speedway’s business units including marketing, public relations, ticketing, accounting and operations.
California Speedway is a two-mile oval located halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs and is one of the busiest Motorsports facilities in the world. In addition to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races that are the largest single-day ticketed sporting events in the state with more than 100,000 people in attendance, the track also promotes racing from the other top NASCAR series’, including the Nationwide Series, Craftsman Truck Series and the Grand National Division, West Series. The track also hosts the NHRA, the AMA Superbike Championship, the Southern California Historic Sports Car Festival and a competitive drag racing program on the Auto Club Dragway.

Overall, the speedway hosts nearly 320 days of activity, including numerous movie and commercial shoots, photo shoots, new car testing, club racing and a variety of racing schools.

In her three years as president, Zucker has executed a rebranding strategy, launched a new business plan and made dozens of improvements and changes fueled in large part by thousands of requests and feedback from fans. Thus far, Zucker and her full-time staff of 50 have produced dramatic results to help the speedway maintain its position as the West Coast’s premier motorsports venue. At the top of Zucker’s list of goals was - and continues to be - enhancing the overall fan experience while incorporating the Southern California culture into the motorsports facility. From a new logo and advertising campaign, to the Opportunity, California FanZone, fans have quickly become accustomed to a total entertainment experience at California Speedway.

The cornerstone of the recent fan improvement projects is the Opportunity, California FanZone. It includes a town center featuring a restaurant, Apex by Wolfgang Puck, a retail store called Impulse, an entertainment stage and additional areas of shade, grass and water features.

Inside the track, sightlines have been improved, pre-race concerts have been added and Gatorade Victory Lane has been relocated back to the tri-oval, giving fans an improved view of post-race celebrations. Fans have also benefited from the expertise of Gameday Management Group, which has improved parking and traffic on race days. Among the other improvements are increased signage, an open garage for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, an 88-foot ADA-compliant bridge, a new corporate hospitality village, an on-site Stater Bros. convenience store, and a new policy of admitting children 12 and under for free in the General Admission sections on Friday and Saturday of the track’s NASCAR weekends.

From spotting some of the world’s most recognizable stars at the track like Stevie Wonder, Melissa Etheridge, Kevin Costner, Jewel, Kelly Clarkson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ashton Kutcher, Nick Lachey, Jason Lee, Pamela Anderson, Patrick Dempsey, Matt Leinart, the Wayans Brothers, John Elway, Tommy Lasorda, Wolfgang Puck, and Marcia Cross, NASCAR fans can expect to be treated to much more than great racing when they come to California Speedway.
An active community leader, Zucker was appointed to the board of the California Chamber of Commerce. She is also a member of the Los Angeles Sports Council; she was appointed by the Governor as commissioner of the California Travel and Tourism Commission and was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners (Inland Empire chapter) with the Pioneer Award in April 2006. She is also a member of the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission Advisory Board, an advisory board member of the Los Angeles chapter of Women in Sports Entertainment and a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Young Presidents Organization.

Prior to her appointment at California Speedway, Zucker served as Daytona International Speedway's vice president of business operations and development. In that role, Zucker directed operations for the Daytona 500 Experience (then DAYTONA USA) as well as interacted with sanctioning bodies, broadcast partners, sponsors and vendors and coordinated the track budget. Her responsibilities further included event operations such as traffic, parking and guest amenities. She additionally assumed corporate responsibilities with Daytona’s parent company International Speedway Corporation in new business development across all twelve ISC facilities.

Zucker joined International Speedway Corporation in 1998 as director of business development for the new Kansas Speedway. She was promoted to vice president of operational development soon after. Among her duties at the track, Zucker wrote and executed the business plan that launched Kansas Speedway. Prior positions to Kansas Speedway included being the assistant general manager for the Durham (NC) Bulls Baseball Club; general manager for both the Sultans of Springfield (IL) Baseball Club and the Lansing (MI) Lugnuts Baseball Club; the assistant general manager for the High Desert (CA) Mavericks Baseball Club and as an advertising sales assistant at Sports Illustrated magazine.

Zucker, 38 graduated from Hamilton College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing. She is single and resides in Los Angeles. Away from the track, Zucker has been taking Spanish classes and has completed two Spanish language immersions at the center for linguistics in Cuernavaca. Zucker enjoys cooking and all sports especially running, horseback riding and skiing. She is an avid fan of sudoko puzzles, and takes every opportunity to return to the New York City metropolitan area, where she grew up, to visit her niece Danielle, who she insists on calling “Zebo”.

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