New PR Director at ISOC: Pat Schutte
by Scott A. Sumner
Pat Shutte is the new PR Director for ISOC and he has had quite a background in motorsports. Previously Schutte worked in PR for AMA Supercross series and the AMA Outdoor Motocross series, the Dodge Viper program at American Lemans series and with Cadillac and Corvette for the 24 hours of Lemans.
“ I always jumped at the chance to get on a snowmobile and ride. My experience working at numerous series across the US shows me that ISOC has every bit of the infrastructure of any of the larger series I have worked at where you have 60,000 to 70,000 people at an
event. It is more niche market because you need snow to snowmobile where with motocross it can be in every state.” said Pat Schutte.
“ Duluth is our Daytona 500 at ISOC. We open the season with it celebrating its 20th year. It is amazing the stay power this one event has had. We bookend our series with the great Lake Geneva event so it really helps us open and close the series. Then we have got
numerous successful events in between from New York to North Dakota.” said Pat Schutte.
There have been some major changes this year in the ISOC series such as the elimination of the Pro Stock class. “ The research of John Daniels, CEO and Carl Schubitzke, Race Director was that the fans really wanted to see the pro Open sleds more so that was the reason to go with two Pro Open races. We have to get through a year of it and see how it goes and see how people liked It.,” said Schutte.
Another big change in the sport has been the dropping of snocross from the X Games. “ The elimination of snocross at the X Games may mean a new major race come forward. If anyone is going to do it will be ISOC. We were kind hit with the X Games news at the last minute. People had already made sponsorship plans based on the X games being in place. They decided in their wisdom to remove it and that is their choice. It is their field, their ball,” said Pat Schutte. “ The thing remains is you do get a lot of impressions following the X
Games but the people may not be snowmobilers. The people that are actually going to buy the hardware are the people who come to the ISOC series. The fans that come to ISOC are hardcore snowmobilers. It is resilient hardcore crowds that come and this is important to the manufacturers. They buy C & A Skis, Fox Shox and Am soil products.”
The health of snocross has been pretty good in recent times.“ Some racers have had good success getting new sponsors and saying we can do this with industry sponsors. We have bright young men competing in this series and it will succeed. We have factory haulers just like at a Nascar race. It is what Arctic Cat Polaris and Ski Doo choose to do and where we are going with It.,” said Pat Schutte.
