I understand the frustration--I go to vintage races to race, and events like
the Monterey Historics and the Wine Country Classic can be galling when you
get so little track time. But I've decided not to worry about it, because
there is so much more to these events. I'm like a kid at Dinsneyland at the
Historics--I want to see it all before it closes and I know I'm missing
stuff every moment. Perhaps the problem with an event like the Mitty is that
there's not enough other things going on to replace the track time. Monterey
certainly does that, the Wine Country to a lesser extent. It's a virtuous
spiral, and it makes good business sense--the more fluff or peripheral
events you add, the more general audience you gain. The General Racing
(Historics) treats the racers very well, but anyone that races there knows
it's more about the sponsors and the crowd than just a bunch of geezers
playing with their toys. Goodwood should probably be the model for BIG
events.
Of course big events = big risk.
I do lots of club events during a year and get plenty of track time. What I
really want to do is run Peyote in anger at every legendary track in the
country. Hence the Airstream project. The Mitty is high on my list.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net] On Behalf
Of BillDentin@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 7:55 AM
To: henry@henryfrye.com; N197TR4@cs.com; fot@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: Walter Mitty - MG TR Challenge April 2005
In a message dated 10/03/2004 7:24:04 AM Central Daylight Time,
henry@henryfrye.com writes:
> I'm going to be sitting out the big "Festival" events for a while.
> After my
>
> Watkins Glen experience where I paid over $500 (including membership
> renewal) to run 5 sessions over 4 days and none of the sessions had
> more
> than 6 timed laps I'm focusing my schedule on events where I can actually
> run the car.
>
> Those recent comments about the packed paddock don't get me very
> excited
> either!
>
Henry:
Good for you! Displaying your likes and dislikes to the seller is the
American Way. But as long time Treasurer of the VSCDA, I see more than one
side of
these issues, and believe me there are not always easy fixes. But enough
people avoiding specific events for highly publicized reasons, will
certainly get
attention.
I certainly relate to Jeff Snook's comments about 'set up problems',
particularly for people who have large (long) race rigs. Your race week end
is always
'apprehensive' until you are set up satisfactorily, and in a timely fashion.
I've never experienced ROAD ATLANTA, but have had problems elsewhere (i.e.,
SEBRING, etc.,).
Keep in mind that fixing such problems involve dollars. In the case of set
up, the sanctioning body needs to buy the set up day from the track. Week
days
are not as expensive as week end days, but at major tracks they still cost
thousands of dollars. Sometimes running a test day will pay (or help), or
else
it just gets added to the entry fee. So that can be fixed, but it will
involve more dollars from somewhere.
If a successful racing week end relates directly to track minutes/entry fee.
That's easy, you avoid the big glitzy events, and focus on the smaller
events. Especially those at 'club tracks'.
I am also sympathetic to the tracks. For a myriad of reasons, they are
having trouble making ends meet. VSCDA is a ROAD AMERICA stockholder, and
we
receive financial statements and attend annual meetings. They have been
losing
significant money for several years. Their problems are due to current
capitol
improvement depreciation and their CHAMP car event, rather then amateur
racing.
I know exactly what VSCDA pays Midwestern club tracks like BLACKHAWK and
GRATTAN. I'm a business man, and I can guess at their potential annual
income
and expenses. Quite frankly, I don't know how they make ends meet.
These are sticky issues.
Bill Dentinger
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