I hope the forces who will make the final decisions about our schedule are taking notes. There has been some very good analysis from a number of people.
2 cents:
This year we raced, on average, every other weekend.
Why do we do this? Because it's fun; we are addicted to the adrenaline hit; we enjoy the people, etc. My husband-- who builds, repairs, hauls, etc. my racecar, but doesn't drive-- told me I could quote him as saying, "Go for it! Put as many races in the schedule as you can. We're doing it because it's fun!" Go figure.
Personally, I'm not sure, with my kids still at home, that I could handle more races than this year. On the other hand, the racetrack is one of my favorite places to be. Got to decide what your priorities are in life--doing laundry or going racing? Duh, we only live once!
Next 2 cents:
For me personally, the championship is a good thing. I like the challenge. It gives me another reason (I know it's a stupid, "cheap" piece of acrylic...) to keep going when I'm tired or things aren't going well. There are a number of races we wouldn't have attended without the incentive of the points. Not necessarily the brightest logic, but I'm glad I went--I had best race of my "career" at the August Seattle race we were going to drop.
I believe that Mike O.'s suggestions for an in-depth survey could be very useful (I'm not sure, but it sounded like he was volunteering...).
Knowing what drives the racer's decisions would be very helpful. Having the volunteer workers input is critical.
For instance, Seattle's track surface and the obnoxious heat of pitting on their wide expanse of BLACK top in August were driving our original race choice. That's something the club can do nothing about, but knowing the info would be helpful. If everyone felt similarly, then having a double-race there in August wouldn't necessarily raise the entries.
Per Dave's comments: I think we need to be Pro-Active! We won't get it perfect; not everyone will be satisfied or happy; but we will be steps ahead of the place we'd be if we just sit on our thumbs and wait to see what happens if we run everyone into the ground with a glutted schedule.
Let's keep it fun!