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Post by brian on Jan 22, 2010 12:35:30 GMT -8
We've lost a lot of folks over the years, what's it going to take to get you back? How about some ideas. You know me, I'll go to Mike Smith and discuss it.
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Post by DerElf on Feb 9, 2010 8:09:16 GMT -8
Well Brian, speaking from the sidelines where I have been for quite awhile, from what I see of the changes in the old "core community" around these parts it all comes down to numbers.
Money is tight and racing, ANY kind of racing, is expensive. When I decided to "retire" that was the key. Entry fees continue to rise whilst track time goes down. The club lost track a long time ago of the fact that while the club's expenses continue to rise, so do the expenses of its members.
It used to be that demographics would say "In an economy like this if you have a family, with kids and a mortage" you can't afford things. Well now those same limitations have to be applied to single guys and gals as well. On the average race weekend track time is less than an hour, but the region feels that $400 entry fees for that are just fine.
Guys that used to talk to me about running for championships now talk about "just keeping their license". Some, like myself, have been forced to give it up altogther. Some of the most avid amongst, drivers who supported the class and the clubs not for years but for DECADES have dropped away. Their cars either sold or used as garage trophies. Maybe you see them once in awhile, but that doesn't keep either the class or the club alive.
If a race weekend costs $1000 (Entry, gas to tow to the track, food, lodging, tires et al) and you get 60 minutes of track time ( form what I can see that is GENEROUS) then each minute they are on the track the drivers should throw $17 out of the fuel test portpit as they cross the start finish line. Since a lot fo that time is spent behind pace cars that should be easy.
So how do you get drives back on the track? Buy a time machine, go back a few years and listen to what the drives were saying then.
More track time Lower entry fees A club that responds to the needs of its membership rather then the needs of its bureaucracy .
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Post by qposner on Feb 9, 2010 14:08:28 GMT -8
Brian - I gotta say. It seems Marty summed it up pretty well. Also, there is a lot more entertainment for your dollar nowadays. The $1000 spent per weekend buys a lot of snowmobiles, dirt bikes, etc.
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milldawg
Regional Driver
Racecars-pricey, racing-priceless!
Posts: 85
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Post by milldawg on Feb 9, 2010 19:03:09 GMT -8
I have an idea Brian. In addition to the VW contingency in our class, and the Sunoco random? award at selected events, why not approach them with this; What if during the season, each run group had a random drawing. This could take place at a drivers meeting. Every driver in attendance would put their name in a hat, or use raffle tickets. The drawing would be for a 50% rebate on the entry fee for the one lucky drawing winner. The Run group and event match-up could be something like this; Event #1- Group 1 Event #2- Group 2 And so on, until all the run groups have participated, and the program would finish. SCCA would then award the rebate upon written submission by the winning paticipant or something like that. So SCCA would lose 50% of one entry fee per event, until all run groups have had their turn. The upside might be that entries could go up, in hopes of one being the drawing winner. The other obvious upside for SCCA would be that in a tight economy, they would be seen as doing their part in trying to give joe racer a break of sorts. I thought of a free entry, and a per class drawing, but didn't think that would fly. Is this doable? WFK's. But you asked for ideas..
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Post by brian on Feb 10, 2010 15:18:24 GMT -8
It worth a try to ask. This region is really tight and expensive. They are charging $470 for a 2 day double national at Thunderhill and Cal CLub is charging $370 for the same event in April. Both regions pay the same insurance and sanction fees, go figure!
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