Spring Enduro at The Ridge

mariefjellanger

Active member
We are fast coming up on our 4/23 6 Hours on the Ridge.

Current enrollment is 7 entries for the 2 hour race and 11 entries for the 6 hour race.

This is not nearly enough for IRDC to break even! If this weekend loses money, do not expect an IRDC enduro next year. The club simply does not have the financial cushion.

If you are on the fence, get out there and register!


Marie Fjellanger
IRDC Gopher
 
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It isn't looking much better as of today, and my OW buddies were not interested in the one hour gig so that was scrubbed. WTH is going on?
 
I'm beginning to wonder if Cascade and IRDC will be able to continue hosting endurance races in the face of competition from Lucky Dog Racing League. Lucky Dog has a weekend scheduled April 29-30 at the Ridge with over 60 entries for their 7 hour races each day. What is attracting drivers and teams to Lucky Dog and away from Conference. I'm not a racer, so someone who is will have to answer that question. I know for me, both organizations are fun. Lucky Dog races far and wide in the western U.S. versus IRDC and Cascade enduros at their home tracks. The same tracks that are used for Conference races. I know I see a bunch of familiar faces racing at the Lucky Dog events that I also see at Conference races. Perhaps a conversation is in order. Lucky Dog welcomes total rookies who may or may not choose to come racing with Conference in the future. Sharing the costs with a team of fellow racers is a benefit in both Conference and Lucky Dog racing. So why is Lucky Dog so much more popular? Does the fact that there are more hours and tracks available in Lucky Dog make the difference?
 
Hi Rob

I think it's a combination of factors.

1) cost is arguably lower. Lower entry fee, over longer time, over more drivers (makes it cost effective). Also no need for race tires (also cost effective)
2) more cars in the same class (in most instances it's only one class really) makes it really racing vs. competing for a podium spot with three other entries
3) entry requirements are easier (e.g. easier to get a license) and no need to do anything but race (no worker duties etc.)
4) often times, the cars in LuckyDog would have been ICSCC cars in the past. Old Miatas, Old E30s, Old E36s, Old Hondas etc. This rounds up multiple classes of car in ICSCC into one race.

I still believe Conference has amazing standards of conduct, training etc. The people in conference (racers to workers) are amazing folks. The ICSCC race school group was really strong on Saturday last week which was amazing to see. I place all of my racing discipline on ICSCC and consistently travel 5000 miles in a weekend as Conference is very special to me.

This being said, I personally believe the challenge with ICSCC is that it's trying to compete on too many levels (e.g. too many classes) and it is too hard to go racing. As a result this has thinned out competition and makes it less attractive to race. One of the people said in the school, "OK, so we're doing this school, where do we go next?". Chump/LuckyDog/LeMons, I would argue, has made it easier (not saying ICSCC is hard, esp. compared with other sanctioning bodies) to help a new racer know what happens next. Add to this lower barrier to entry in qualification to race, lower running costs and a far deeper field to race against and this is why, I believe, Conference has struggled. It's also super easy to turn up and race if you don't own a car. Some of the races are 12, 24 even 36 hours long. This means car owners are looking for paying drivers to cover costs but as a direct result this also increases driver numbers. Therefore the opportunity to get into a cheap seat to 'try out' racing is easy and we all know how the racing bug can infect a person's ability to think rationally about spending money on racing and entering another race.

As said, I want to see Conference prosper and these are my opinions that I'm sharing as why I *think* ICSCC - especially enduros - are struggling of late.

James
 
ICSCC clubs are best at sprint racing, it is their core competency and in the face of competition from SCCA and NASA, ICSCC has proven they have a winning formula. Trying to compete with Lucky dog/chump/lemons may not be something ICSCC need do if they remain focused on what they do best.

Many sprint racers have raced in Chump/Lemons but few, if any, have entirely left ICSCC in exchange for that. Secondly, our enduro turnout is proof that endurance racing isn't a massive draw, yet chump/lemons has large grids. So what are we competing with?

Answer = value and fun.

If ICSCC can stay focused on maximizing value and fun for sprint racing - in the racing and the culture - the economy of sprint racing will improve. I think at that point we will see Chump/Lemons as feeder groups creating more sprint racers as opposed to competitors for new entrants to motorsports.
 
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