THSCC Forums

passes out......

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

I don't think SCCA should be buying sites, just take an active involvement with the contracting of sites like with HPT, at least for national events. I would expect a paid representative from the SCCA, a national organization that approached suitable site owners and was able to provide statistics, answer questions, and put the right spin on things would stand a much better chance of gaining approval than some local yokel joe blow dropping in with "hey we wanta race our cars around in your parking lot running over traffic cones".
Virtually no one outside the actual participants has any idea what AX even is, so the answer is usually no!
Look at the great tadoo soapbox derby racing gets, nearly the entire city of Akron turns out for the finals and I even saw signs for Pro Lawnmower races on the way to the national tour last weekend, yet not a single soul in Huntsville knew we were in town or why, even at our hotel, which happened to be where the SCCA staff was also staying!
Yet home office remains clueless why the membership isn't growing!?!?

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

For starters, Pro Racing has gotten a couple loans to the tune of a few hundred thousand bucks. Building just ONE autocross pad would be WAY more than that.

Second, National Office staff can barely keep their heads above water as it is. If you are an SCCA member (and I better not hear no complaining from those of you who aren't!) and don't like that situation, WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR BoD representative! Tasha left and nobody has replaced her. IIRC, the full time staff now consists of Nancy Downing. Howard Duncan and Doug Gill both have other things they do on top of Solo.

I can't believe you'd hold Walnut Ridge up as some shining example, either. While the support we got there was bigger than most anywhere else we've been, the reality is we had maybe 50 people at the high point watching. Big whoop. Face it, Solo is about as fun to watch as watching cars rust. You'll never measure success based on spectators, IMHO. As far as hotels and such being happy to have you, I've had that same feeling at Peru and Oscoda. *shrug*

I do agree that it would be nice if a large body like the SCCA could do more to work with people on sites. Often times even though large arenas are paid for by private money they are still made possible by tax incentives and such and part of that could be requirements to make lots that could be used for this kind of thing. Obviously arenas built *with* tax dollars could be used for them. (I don't know of any test facility being built with taxpayer dollars, however. Linky?) I think the ONLY leverage the SCCA has, however, is the fact that a national event brings people and money to an area. Outside of that, you can't make much of a case for how an autocross pad can pay for itself in any reasonable amount of time.

Last, for those of you who aren't SCCA members, I urge you to join. If for no other reason than to support the body that creates the rules you run by. It's no small task, and it takes a decent amount of money *just* to do that, even though the SEB is unpaid. We do meet a couple times per year face to face, which means flying. There's also some infrastructure to support what we do. It's a big undertaking that I could have never fathomed before joining the SEB. You can't affect any change about the big picture without being a member. Heck, I honestly think Sportscar Magazine is worth the price of the membership alone. 12 articles per year from Randy Pobst is probably worth the price of membership alone, in fact.

I'd love to be cc'ed on any letters to our region's BoD member (you can find contact info on scca.com for both her and myself). A civil tone complete with suggestions and not just complaints will get a response. Solo might bring in a decent chunk of money, but it's road racers that complain the *right* way a lot more than Soloists, IMHO. And the squeaky wheel gets the grease.


--Donnie