Chrysler is no stranger to drag racing, but dragon boat racing?
The Chinese sport of dragon boat racing, said to be more than 2,000 years old, has caught on internationally with well-attended races held in cities as diverse as London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, San Francisco and even Racine, Wis. Each crew of 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steersman tries to power their purpose-built boat across the finish line before their opponents. It’s a team sport that depends on power, speed, synchronization and endurance.
Chrysler, recognizing potential gold in Asian American markets, was a sponsor of this summer’s Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, the state’s largest Asian cultural event. In its eighth year, the weekend event held at Denver’s Sloan Lake traditionally kicks off with an “Awakening the Dragon” ceremony, a beautiful and spiritual ritual during which Buddhist monks chant as special guests carefully “dot the eyes” of the racing boats to awaken the spirit of the dragons, and a colorful 75-foot “dragon” dances.
In addition to the two days of intense dragon boat racing by more than 50 adult, youth and corporate teams, the free family-friendly festival showcases traditional and contemporary performing artists, cultural customs and cuisine. This year’s festival also featured the 2008 American Dragon Boat Association (ADBA) Competitive Regional Races — the Olympics of dragon boat racing for the area. National teams competed in division races on a 500-meter course using Hong Kong-style boats.
With extensive media coverage and more than 100,000 people showing up — to compete, follow the furious action from shore, and soak in the culture and flavors of Asia and the Pacific — the Dragon Boat Festival was a slam-dunk way for Chrysler to test the waters of Asian American consumer marketing.
Of course, dragon boat competition has been hot and heavy for years in the Bay Area, with the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival taking place on Treasure Island last month.
For information on S.F. racing, see sfdragonboat.com. For more on Colorado’s action, visit cdbf.org.
Look under the hood and you'd discover that Jeff’s lifelong interest and passion in all things automotive was practically genetically encoded. An award-winning journalist, he served on the staff of the San Jose Mercury News and the Los Angeles Times. Today he contributes to many news outlets. Jeff is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach and earned his master's degree at Ohio State University, where he was a Kiplinger fellow. 
