Analysis of SpeedTV.com provides insight into the demographics and behaviors of car racing fans.

This year's thrilling Indianapolis 500 race reminded even casual fans that racing season is definitely underway. Newer Indy Racing League (IRL) stars like Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti have re-ignited racing fans' flames for the sport, adding to the already far-reaching popularity of NASCAR. And, with advertising fully integrated throughout the sport, racing fans represent a key marketing segment. An analysis of visitation to SpeedTV.com, the largest website devoted to covering both IRL and NASCAR, reveals the demographics and behaviors of racing fans online.

• By analyzing the full spectrum of their online browsing behavior, comScore noted that visitors to SpeedTV.com were prone to visiting sites in the Politics category. In fact, they were nearly three times as likely as the average internet user to visit political sites. (Composition index of 286-- composition index represents the proportion of the given group within a specific site audience, compared to the proportion of that group in the total online population. A composition index of 100 represents parity.) Predictably, visitors also exhibited an above average tendency to visit Sports/Outdoor and Retail/Sports sites (composition indices of 276 and 238, respectively). Auto-related categories were also popular, with Automotive Manufacture sites (composition index of 230) and Car Rental sites (composition index of 207) also registering well above average.
  
  
• SpeedTV.com visitors exhibited interesting age skews. Site visitors showed an above average tendency to be in either the 18 to 44 or 55 to 64 age ranges, indicating that there appears to be a bit of a generational gap in terms of interest. Those between the ages of 18 and 34 were 32 percent more likely than the average internet user to visit SpeedTV.com, and 35- to 44-year-olds were 41 percent more likely to do so. Those between the ages of 55 and 64 showed the strongest skews, and were 48 percent more likely than average to visit the site.
  
  
• Although auto racing is generally considered to be a blue-collar sport, online fans skew towards higher household income levels. Those households making between $60,000 and $75,000 were 16 percent more likely than average to visit SpeedTV.com, while those making at least $75,000 were 30 percent more likely to visit the site.
  
  
• Visitors also showed strong regional skews, which coincided with regional interest in racing. The West North Central region (75 percent more likely than average) exhibited the highest tendency, followed by Pacific (33 percent more likely), South Atlantic (27 percent more likely) and Mid-Atlantic (16 percent more likely).

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