Enduro???

Enduro's are a great way to recruit new drivers.

They don't necessarily have to be driving in the race, but getting someone who is interested as a crew member/active participant can be a great intro to conference. Racing is a social event, and how do you get others involved in other social events/clubs? By getting them involved, getting them hands on time so they can see what is involved, what's the costs, and networking.

But it goes beyond just saying,"Hey you wanna come watch me race this weekend," there needs to be some association outside the race weekend. Meet for beer's and bench race, have them come over to the shop and help wrench on the car, maybe some night's Karting? I got interested in running Pro-3 through another racer I met through another car club. He invited me down to PIR for a couple races to be his "crew" for a couple races (which consisted of me mainly helping him get his car to Pregrid, and changing tires..etc) but I felt involved.

This past year I have spent building my own car, and the Pro-3 community has been very helpful, always willing to lend a hand or offer some advice. One of the best learning experiences thus far though has been my time crewing for Eric B's 25 hour Thunderhill team. It really gave me an inside look at what it takes to field a car, and keep a car running on the track. With a sprint race, yes there is a lot to see, but for new comers you don't get to see as much behind the scenes and the mechanic's of racing that you get with an Enduro. It taught me a lot, and I am very thankful that Eric invited me to participate.

The idea of running an HPDE leading into a race weekend is a great idea, in fact that is what Thunderhill does before the 25hour. Eric's team was there for the Thursday lapping/test and tune before the 25 hour, and once we had finished letting the Enduro drivers get familiar with the track, he allowed his crew members to run a few laps around Thunderhill. For me, it was a great experience, because for the cost of the band ($50) I got to be out on the track with many of the same cars that were in the Enduro, and got to experience a new track I had never driven on.

I am not saying there should be an Open lapping day before each race, and every team should let anyone drive their cars, but there is no reason why some teams can't allow recruiting of new team members or drivers to get out on the track with other conference cars on a test and tune day leading into the race weekend. It's a small but important step up from HPDE days where you rarely encounter other "race cars" on the track.

Just my two cents..

Jeremy Plance
Pre-Novice
 
Bill Visee, Bonsell and Jeremy, you all touched on it.

Marketing. We need it and we need it by the bucketfuls.

Marketing for our Enduros, Novice programs, special races... you name it, we need it... More marketing.

We should have a separate thread on that topic alone.
 
Two years ago I had ad's running all over California, even as far away as Colorado. We did not get any entries from those areas. Spent quite a bit of money to do so. Decided against it this last year and try to focus on getting more "locals". Not much success there either.

I for one love CSCC's event. Had hopes of driving this year but it was. Of meant to be. Bottom line is CSCC does not put the event on to draw teams from all over the U.S. and pay big cash prizes. It is there for the rumor it, but if not enough people want to come out to play anymore it may just not be feasible.

The loss such a long history would be a tragic shame.

I hope to have a car in it this year, and am not too concerned about finishing first, just finishing and being out there.
 
I have instructed at three ICSCC driving schools now. While each of my students did not express a direct interest in going wheel to wheel racing, there were probably 10-15% of the school participants who expressed that interest. We ask the question and it is noted on the evaluation I believe. I don't know what happens to those who say they would like to go racing. My feeling is probably nothing. When I went to the school in 2009 as a student, I would have loved to have been hooked up with a racer from my area over here in Kitsap County who might have assisted me in any number of ways. I think this type of mentor or "big brother" connection could prove valuable in keeping the fires lit. Ultimately, it comes down to the individual to make it happen, but having someone there who has "done that...been there" would be a big plus IMO. Get them racing and then they can determine if they want to do strictly sprint racing or both sprint and endurance events.

And while I certainly would offer my services to a new aspiring racer, I think this mentor should be of similar age or slightly older. I don't think any 30 something would want to have an old fart like me helping them get up to speed. Just saying....

Bill-
 
Someone earlier brought up some good points that really hit home with me.

No one has ever asked me why I quit. With rare exception was I never welcomed to any race I went to by anyone. I guess they were happy to see me leave.

In the several years I raced with ICSCC I met some good people in Group 1 like, Jeff in the green grass car, Greg Miller, the Hills, and a number of other G1 drivers. A couple of drivers from other groups were supportive and friendly. I also met a number of officials that I like to call friends. Unfortunately that was overshadowed and for the most part I was made to feel very unwelcome by not only the drivers but by a number of officials also. It could be my fault, I made some mistakes, but I never once touched another car or caused anyone damage, I was always positive and never got into it with anyone off the track, so am clueless as to why the negative treatment.

A number of drivers, mostly Pro3, made it a point to inform me on a number of occasions that I was not welcome on the track with them. One P3 driver made it a point to come up to me as I was on pre-grid and tell me what he was going to do to me if I got in his way on the track. Another spent a number of races trying to run me off the track and only stopped after I posted a in-car video showing what a donkey he was making of himself on the track. One driver tried to get my car dq'd. One Chief Steward made it a point to lie to me and also made it clear to me that he did not want me on the track with the P3 group.

If you want to retain drivers you need to welcome them, help them, and treat them a little better than I was treated.
 
I think we have to ask ourselves why chump car and lemons is so popular. Accessibility is a factor. To me, the rule set is a real barrier to new people coming into the sport. It took me 3-4 seasons to figure out the right class and to be ready to try building a car. That is a long time for someone new.

How did I figure it out? Enduro racing. Lots of seat time in lots of different cars. Hondas, Porsches and whole lot of of BMWs. Where did I land? PRO3.

There are far too many classes with far too few cars (in the US and Canada its the same, I am from Mission). The only classes worth running are the ones that have a stable rule set, a supportive community and lots of cars. After a lot of enduros that ruled out Spec Miata (just joking! had to say it).

The best idea I have seen is power to weight. A dyno test vs weight like they do in NASA for German Touring Sedan. This creates classes of similar cars with the same ratios. Simple. Fewer classes, more cars in each class and you get to run the car that you love.

My 2 cents (well Canadian so 1.96 cents)

Ryan
PRO3, #795
 
Kyle and Colin are saying the same thing, but I'm not sure advertising races is the way to do it.
I think we need to go where some of our better drivers start out and foster the relationship on their home turf.
Bring an SM, PRO3 or GT car to an autocross. Bring those same cars to a Drift event. Circulate and try to get people interested.
Show how with certain mods their cars could compete in Road Race. Bring a video and show it in a tent.
One place we neglect -- actually it appears we hate other -- is the drags.
When I go to Portland I love to stay and watch the drags. This is an automotive sport, it includes great amounts of speed, yet we treat each other like red-headed step children. Maybe when they find out they can go down the straights at the same speed as their terminal velocity in the quarter, they might look to other avenues of racing.

Remember that NASCAR uses a type of farm system to bring racers from the minors into the cup cars. Just like baseball. We need to nurture people (in our HPDEs) and then bring them in our fold.

I'm all for a mentor system and would love to take a new guy and have him pit with me and the other Pro7 drivers. Sign me up for that...

As for Randy's experience I can see where competition might bruise a few egos. But for anyone to have this kind of experience in Conference, well it just boggles the mind. As a racer, I apologize if you were not made to feel welcome.
 
randy_buell said:
If you want to retain drivers you need to welcome them, help them, and treat them a little better than I was treated.
Click to expand...

Maybe this occurred before I started spending a lot of time in Conference (2008+) but I'm surprised to hear it. I've had terrific experiences with the PRO3 group generally speaking.

I know of a good ITA Honda for sale and I hear those Honda guys are super terrific. You should come back and try ITA.. wink wink, nudge nudge.

BossBill said:
Kyle and Colin are saying the same thing
Click to expand...

Whoa whoa whoa... Slow down there :p

As for advertising races, I'm not suggesting that especially in the traditional sense of advertising (print, billboard, etc). You hit the nail when you said "booth" but what do we bring to the "booth"?

I propose:

1: ICSCC hire a videographer for a season or so to capture what we do on track, in the pits, even in our own garages. Trust me, there's a college student out there finishing his cinematography/filmography degree or whatever that would love a chance for some extra $$ and an opportunity to showcase his talents and promote himself through his video.

2: Making our own promotional DVDs and/or Youtube Series is easy and cheap and can be done is some guy's basement. Driver interviews, in-car cam, helicopter cam, corner worker cam, some story boarding and some creative-commons sound tracks and we're set. These should be handed out at all track days, drift events at PR/PGP, Nopi, HIN, drags etc. Include promotional youtube links in PacNW car enthusiast boards, put the links on business cards and hand them out, or include the links in personal email signatures or forum board posting signatures to generate hits.

3: We can also do a DVD/Youtube videos about what it takes to get started in W2W racing with ICSCC. In sales we would also call this a "Why ICSCC" video because it would also emphasize why someone should spend their racing $$ with us vs. "other".

4: Creation of ICSCC Meme. It could be a picture accompanied by a funny phrase and put on t-shirts, mugs, car decals etc. Please google "meme" if you don't what one is. The Hater's Gonna Hate thing is a "meme", so are the Demotivational Pictures.

Examples of Internet Meme's:

hatersgonnacat.jpg

normal_demotiv_pic_527263.jpg




:End brainstorming session:
 

Attachments

  • hatersgonnacat.jpg
    hatersgonnacat.jpg
    18.4 KB · Views: 205
UH? don't anyone here read the previous posts before you post here? "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail". Thee has been some excellent and proven ideas here. I will add another one to the mix: In NASA, the CMC class does not require a fuel cell which keeps the cost down. To draw from an HPDE crowd (good idea by the way), the buy in for those ready to move on could be endurance racing. Intro classes could be classes unlike CC ( low cost? NOT really---that's another story) But finding a place for cars that don't need expensive race parts for newbies. Take for example: Honda civic: strip the interior, put a cage and seat (safety requirements) with stock rims (like Honda challenge) Once one steps up with bigger rims and tires, they move up in class. I predict these cars can be built for less than 5k (refine rule base). When you are done with a season and move up, you have a car with value. CC cars after a race has no real value. They are wore out. I found that to build a competitive CC car it cost 3,090.00. I am not willing to throw away that kind of race dollars for a social event that appears to be some sort of race. If I invested that into a "street stock" classed car, I know I will at least get half my money back when ready to move up. I don't see the excitement in racing when my car looks like the SS Minnow or Scooby Doo's mystery van. This is intended to increase the racing base and NOT dilute the present format. In this economy you have to consider options to "re-invent yourself" not re-invent the wheel.
 
Anyone who has been through the school and then moved up to W2W racing have any comments regarding my thoughts on a "mentoring" program or something similar? If we added just 20 new racers per year via all the clubs, that is a substantial number IMO. Or are we assuming that anyone going through the drivers school and intending to go racing already has friends who are currently racing and therefore need not meet and be mentored by what may be a perfect stranger. I would have liked someone to help me navigate safety issues, setup, gear, numbers, track information, etc, etc, etc.....

Bill-
 
Bill,
GREAT IDEA! If you were to go from HPDE to endurance racing, one of the prerequisites could in fact be an "Apprenticeship of two events and waive a full on license and make it a "Endurance only" they have the track time, and then a first hand experience of the game! You have a great idea here that could be a boost for endurance programs. Remember in the back of your head: "buy in". I would speculate the reason Hpde'rs don't move up is because of the buy in. Example: Factory Five Challenge series it is 25k to buy into the series.

Richard
 
i like the mentoring program idea. that is what i did with Tucker and since he knows what hes doing, kinda lol its less of a mentorship now then it used to be. i have invited most of the students ive taught during hpde's to come out to the races and help/hang out in my pits for sprint or enduros. ive aslo pointed out this great class to run in Pro3 even though i do not race that class, and a few of them took the leap to racing in that class. im even working on a program to get national guardsmen time at the track either crew or driving.
 
I am not sure it is the "buy in" that holds folks back. Sometimes I think it is just someone telling them that it is a lot more doable than they might think. Heck, there's a Neon race car ready to go on the classified section for 2500 I think. Spec Miata's can be had for as little as 7K....most people have to have all the ducks lined up and everything accounted for before they take the plunge...whether that's getting married, having kids or maybe just going racing. I just think we as an organization have to do more for those drivers coming through the school who indicate they want to go W2W racing...how many of them do you actually think get licensed and are on the track within 2 years?? I think all of the clubs holding drivers schools need to develop and identify a certain group of active racers (enthusiastic and positive racers) who would be willing to ""adopt" students who are indicating their desire to go racing. You have several right on this thread who I think would be excellent mentors for up and coming potential racers!

Bill
 
Mentoring is a very good idea. Not limited to racers. How about workers too.

But we divert from the subject. If there are 400 some drivers in ICSCC getting 10% to come out and play for a 4,6,8 hour Enduro should be easy.

Easier said than done.

So how do we get the 10% out there?
 
Don't forget that about 10% of the entries to any given Conference club's Championship race series event consists of SCCA, CASC, NASA licensed drivers.

Don't be snobbish. Keep the scope broad enough to include these teams as was always the intent in past. Take that 20-30 teams as a minimal, near break even, and consider 30-40 as the goal.

Think small and you'll stay small.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top