June 22, 1996

GEARING UP AGAIN
Oregonian, Business Section

Diane Wentworth takes a fast track in shifting to marketing auto racing

When Diane Wentworth worked for the Chicago Bulls in the mid-1980s, a shy, soft-spoken kid came to play for the team. His name was Michael Jordan.

The Beaverton woman resident got to know Jordan there and worked with him again when she worked for Nike Inc. from 1988 to 1992.
So the self-professed basketball junkie didn't know what to think when Team Scandia, an up-and-coming auto racing team that is scheduled to run two cars in this weekend's Texaco/Havoline presents the Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200, asked Wentworth early this year to head up its marketing efforts.

Wentworth, 35, knew next to nothing about auto racing. Plus, there would be near-constant travel. But she was eager to get back to working in sports. And then there was the weird coincidence: One of Team Scandia's driver is a shy, soft-spoken guy named Michel Jourdain Jr.

Since she signed on with Team Scandia, Wentworth has taken a crash course, if you will, in big-time auto racing. She's been on top of the world, as when Team Scandia drivers were running first and fourth in the Indianapolis 500, and deep down in the dumps, when just minutes later, that same leading racer, Allesandro Zampredi, was knocked out of the race and nearly lost a foot in an accident.

“I've never felt like I felt at Indy -- going from that incredible high to that crushing low,” Wentworth said. “That's the one thing I have to get used to, the agony of defeat. In basketball, as the clock is ticking down, you almost always knows who's going to win.”

In going to work for Team Scandia, Wentworth has landed in the middle of an ugly rivalry between long-established Championship Auto Racing Teams and upstart Indy Racing League for control of the Indy Car future.

The IRL was formed by Tony George, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, largely in response to the increasing expense of the sport and its domination by Roger Penske, president of the powerful Penske Racing Team.

How the rivalry will shake out is unknown. The IRL has put on several respectable races, albeit with lesser-known drivers. And its leader, George, controls the most prestigious venue in all of motor sports, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Andy Evans, the Redmond, Wash.-based owner of Team Scandia, has emerged as a key supporter of the IRL. He acquired longtime owner Dick Simon's racing team in January and started a record seven drivers in the Indy 500.

But like the seasoned investor that he is, George is hedging his bets, making some CART starts as well. Spokesman Ken Cardwell said Team Scandia is the only one running cars in both circuits.

The 45-year-old Evans is an accomplished driver in his own right, competing at the IMSA level. He helped drive a Team Scandia car to victory at the 1995 12 Hours of Sebring and just last weekend drove in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Team Scandia will participate in 26 races this year. Evans, who had not yet returned from Le Mans, was unavailable for comment.

So how does Evans pay for his expensive hobby? Le Mans alone, in which Team Scandia had two cars, cost Evans about $1.5 million, Cardwell said.

It helps that he's rich. Evans manages money for some deep-pocketed people -- including Bill Gates, chairman and chief executive of Microsoft Inc.

Still, even when you manage investments for one of the richest persons on Earth, you can use some help. That's where Wentworth comes in.

As head of marketing, she's in charge of selling sponsorships and building an integrated marketing program for Team Scandia.

Sponsorships are the single largest revenue producers in the sport. Sequent Computer Systems Inc. of Beaverton sponsored Team Scandia's 1995 North American Champion IMSA car and five cars in this year's Indy 500.

A Mexican food products company, Herdez-Viva Mexico!, co-sponsors Jourdain's car.

But Wentworth sees possibilities beyond sponsorships. If she is successful in building awareness of Team Scandia, there's no reason it can't get into the branded apparel or car-care products market, she said.

Team Scandia doesn't have what it takes to earn national awareness: a winning record. Neither of its drivers, Jourdain or Eliseo Salazar, are favorites to win in Portland.

Most IRL drivers don't have the experience, and they certainly don't have the marketing muscle of a Michael Andretti or Al Unser Jr.

That could change quickly. Wentworth compares the IRL-CART struggle to the National Football League's battle with the American Football League in the late 1960s. No one gave a hoot about the AFL until a quarterback by the name of Joe Namath joined the league.

If the IRL can get just one of the elite CART drivers to join its ranks, it would boost its credibility.

Wentworth hinted that Evans may be the team owner to do just that.

“A lot of contracts are up at the end of the year,” she said. “We only need one.”

Color photo by Tom Treick/the Oregonian
Copyright © 1996 Oregonian Publishing Co.