But one of the greatest events of Memorial Day weekend takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A place where a yard of brick is meant to be kissed and milk is the best thing to wear. The place where blood, sweat, and tears are poured out for the chance to become one of the legends.

The track at Indy is different than most. It seems to have a mind of its own and you never know what you might encounter when you face it as a driver. It takes everything you’ve got just to qualify for the main event. You have to be willing to live on the edge and dance between high speeds and maintaining control.

Graham Rahal, driver of the #15 Midas car, said “it is pretty much on edge a couple of times but you just hold your breath, get your four laps done and get in the show.”

On Sunday when the field of 33 drivers hear those famous words; “Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!” and the engines roar to life, even the fans on the sidelines feel the rush of adrenaline. They fasten their seat belts and prepare for some of the most intense hours in racing.

Car and driver must work as one and the support crew must be spot on with every pit stop they make to even have a chance at victory. In a field full of talent, there’s no room for error if you want to be one of the few making the dash for those twin checkered flags at the 500 mile mark.

This weekend while you’re enjoying an extra day off and honoring our veterans, take some time and tune into the Indianapolis 500. You’ll see why so many come back to this sport time and time again. Michelle Kish, Series Manager for USF2000 and ProMazda said, “I’d say there’s nothing like it. I’ve been involved in racing and going to IndyCar, and other pro races, for 20+ years and there’s nothing like the way it feels in this place on race day. Even if you’re not a big race fan, this one is special.”

This track is truly something else.

Written by Bryan Jennings
Photo credits: IndyStar

- American automakers are in the golden age of car design

- Mustang driven by Nic Cage called ‘Eleanor’ sold for $1M

- This is the Ford Raptor SUV that’s being built for only 30 people

We can take care of that for you. Just Follow, Like or +1 Mojo Motors at one of the social networks below. See you there.

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Nick Miller via FB: Why is Danica Parick always the talk of the town when she’s clearly a below average driver?
Mojo: This is why.

Sivan I. via email: I’m moving to Boston this fall from Europe and I only know the European names of the cars. What kind of wagon or sedan with an automatic would be good to buy?
Mojo: Here are some of the best automatic wagons or sedans you can buy in the U.S. that might also remind you of the cars you see back home.

• Ford Focus
• Audi A4
• Honda Accord
• BMW 3-Series
• Mazda3
• Subaru Forester

Kerily McEvoy via FB: If President Obama were a car, what kind of car would he be?
Mojo: Trick question – people can’t be cars. Perhaps you mean what type of car would President Obama drive? Before President Obama got into office, he drove a Chrysler 300. Here’s a picture. Post presidency, Mr. Obama seems like a Lincoln MKZ kind of guy, but the chances of Mr. Obama ever driving again is pretty slim. Any current or ex-president using Secret Service protection has to forfeit their right to drive.

Jonathon Allweather via FB: Where do you guys keep all the cars you sell?
Mojo: We don’t! Mojo Motors is a website where shoppers ‘Follow’ their favorite cars to get alerts when prices drop from local dealers. Our alerts also let shoppers know when cars they’re ‘Following’ are sold or similar cars are added to the dealership. If you want to start ‘Following’ cars, just start a search for your favorite used car or truck.

Louise Guyer via FB: Why do drive-thru cup holders suck so bad?
Mojo: The better question is, why are you using a drive-thru restaurant’s cup holders in the first place? Unless you’re driving something before 1993, any modern vehicle is likely equipped with anywhere from 4-270 cup holders. It’s a proven fact. Read the entire history of the car cup holder here.

Richard Eldridge, Sr via FB: Hey Mojo, can you give me $25,000.00 please?
Mojo: Absolutely not.

Ed Davis via FB: Mojo, I’d be happy with $10,000. Can you give the NHRA the same coverage?
Mojo: You want $10,000 and NHRA coverage? We’ll strike you a deal. We won’t give you $10,000 because do you know how many Taquitos that buys at 7-Eleven? But we can definitely include some more NHRA coverage. We love John Force. And his teeth.

- Burma is being Americanized with fast food and  Ford trucks

- Make sure if you’re buying a used car it doesn’t have open recalls

- Costco is now selling a $115,000 F1 racing simulator

- Hennessey has managed to get an SRT Grand Cherokee to 60MPH in 3.9 seconds

- Cars from New York City’s early 20th century tycoons to hit the auction

- Tesla continues its fight versus the car dealer

- Are there cars for ladies and cars for dudes?

- The new rules for the Sprint All-Star Race

The movie is supposed to be based on a true story, but it’s filled with so many absurdities, reporters have questioned Bay’s depiction. In a notable scene deemed false, Dwayne Johnson’s character is grilling the hands, on a charcoal grill, of a murdered porn-tycoon and his girlfriend to disguise their identity. For further coverage, check out this report here, here or even here. Decide for yourself, but one thing remains true – the cars in the film are outlandish and over-the-top in true Michael Bay form.

In the two hour film, the three dim-witted body builders find themselves behind the steering wheels of some of the most exotic and expensive cars of the late 80′s and early 90′s. Here are some of the cars that make appearances in the movie.

Pontiac Fiero Formula

Before Daniel Lugo made it big time as a criminal, he drove a 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula. The Fiero, much like its owner Lugo, was a car with big aspirations and both were gunning for the champagne taste on a beer budget.

Lamborghini Diablo SE30

Porn mogul Frank Griga played by Micahel Rispoli, owns the incredibly unique and rare Lamborghini Diablo SE30. Only 150 SE30 models were built to celebrate Lamborghini’s 30th anniversary in 1994. Lugo is seen driving the Diablo near the climax of the movie as the world he extorted comes crashing down around him.

Plymouth Prowler

Paul Doyle, played by Dwayne Johnson, buys a purple Plymouth Prowler with his cut of Kershaw’s money. There was some oversight by the filmmakers because the movie is set in 1994 and 1995, but the first Plymouth Prowler didn’t actually hit the streets until 1997. Paying close attention during the film reveals similar oversights like the 2000-era Crown Vic taxis and late model Mustangs.

BMW 7-Series (E32)

Victor Kershaw’s 7-Series BMW faces a sad fate in Pain & Gain. In an attempt to kill Kershaw, the three kidnappers force him behind the wheel of his Bimmer and drive it in a bulldozer. This plan fails so they decide burning him alive in the car is the next best option. The kidnappers don’t lock him in the car and even after the Bimmer explodes, Kershaw is able to walk out. Kershaw lives. The car doesn’t.

Porsche 911 Turbo (Type 930)

Lugo is seen driving a Porsche 930 AKA 911 Turbo slantnose. The car likely belonged to Kershaw because the car was so rare in America that it had to be specially ordered and likely took some time to be delivered. What makes the 930 slantnose so unique is, fittingly, the nose because other Porsche 930′s at the time were built with rounded headlights that protruded out from the hood. Example.

Lincoln Town Car

Ed Harris plays a private eye named Ed Du Bois, III. Du Bois drives a Lincoln Town Car much to his wife’s chagrin. She calls it an “old man’s car.” This particular Town Car is 218.9 inches long (18 feet) which, to add some color, is only about four inches shorter than the eleventh generation (2003-2008) Ford F150 SuperCab.

Other posts you might like:
- Cars in the movie Drive
- Cars in the movie Jack Reacher
- Cars in the movie The Place Beyond the Pines

Written by Max Katsarelas

Photo credits: Cloud9Classics, LamborghiniW, CarWallpapers, Edmunds, Movie Poster

Dealers will sometimes look at their CRM and tell us they want more leads. I’ve tried to explain it’s all about the quality of lead, but it wasn’t until Digital Dealer 14 that I was able to point to specific reasons why. Thanks to Kevine Frye’s presentation, I can now prove why quality over quantity matters so much.

Kevin Frye (@KevinFrye1) is the eCommerce Director at Wyler Automotive Group and he gave a terrific presentation at Digital Dealer debunking many of the myths that are pervasive in the dealer world. He touched on a topic that we spend a lot of time discussing here at Mojo Motors with our dealer partners – the cost and return on investment (ROI) of leads.

Kevin pointed out that when most dealers calculate the ROI of the leads they buy, they almost always leave out a critical variable – the cost of labor. When you factor in the cost of labor, the ROI changes significantly.

Take the following examples with these key assumptions:

Cost per Lead: $25
Gross per Sale: $1,000
Closing Rate: 5%

Let’s say Awesome Automotive buys 100 leads for $2,500. Of those 100 leads they close 5 of them for a gross of $5,000. Here’s the simplest way of calculating ROI.

ROI = (gross-cost)/cost

So in this example:

ROI = ($5,000 – $2,500) / $2,500

ROI = 100%

This looks great but what Kevin pointed out is that this equation doesn’t factor in the cost of labor. What about the 95 leads that didn’t close? This was a huge waste of time and time costs money when you’re paying a staff.

Instead of simply calculating the cost of the leads that Awesome Automotive bought, we need to factor in the cost of the staff’s time. Kevin says that we need to attach a labor cost for each lead and he uses a cost of $30 per lead. Here’s the adjusted cost formula.

Adjusted Cost = Lead Cost + (Number of Leads * (Labor Cost per Lead * (1 – Closing Rate)))

So now, here is the adjusted cost.

Adjusted Cost = $2,500 + ($30 * (100 * 1 – 5%))

Adjusted Cost = $2,500 + $2,850 which equals $5,350

Now if we recalculate an accurate ROI taking into the adjusted cost we get following:

Adjusted ROI = (Gross – Adj. Cost) / Adj. Cost

Adjusted ROI = ($5,000 – $5,350) / $5,350 or

Adjusted ROI = -6.5%!

In this example, a lead provider that at first glance looked like it was providing great return actually has a negative ROI! Of course you can tweak the variables to fit your dealership but what this example so clearly demonstrates is that a large quantity of leads actually costs your dealership far more than the cost to purchase those leads!

Perhaps the most interesting point Kevin made was that once he made an adjusted ROI calculation and stripped out all of the low quality leads, the morale in his dealership skyrocketed. His team focused their efforts on quality instead of quantity meaning they sold more cars and everyone was happier.

Leads aren’t the best way to judge marketing partners but if you’re going to calculate the cost or the ROI of leads, make sure that you’re factoring in labor cost. Hopefully you won’t have any surprises.

Written by Turner Parlin

Photo credits: Viral Heat

- Fiat dealers need more than just the 500 to sell at their stores

- Young people want to be in cities with public transit

- Volkswagen and Audi open up flagship store in Manhattan, NY

- General Motors will invest more into US than China

- The NASCAR paint schemes you’ll see at Darlington this weekend

- Ford shows us the evolution of the lift gate