Quote:
Originally Posted by James OLC
My two bits...
In an ideal world, these would be two day events. RTTC was a blast but (and it's not really a relevant but) it was like running a marathon. Any track day event is - and there is nothing wrong with that, it's the nature of the beast - but RTTH and some of the other similar events are as much social gatherings as they are competitions. I know it adds expenses and requires increased sponsor support but it's a viscious circle - more "free time" would give participants more time to interact with sponsors (and visa versa) which would make it more appealing to sponsors, albiet costlier. If events could be spread over a couple of days I think that you would see more people attend - albeit not necessarily compete. Which leads me to...
In an ideal world, there would be two categories for these events (in addition to a sponsor/vendor category) - competition and fun runs. I think that there would be a greater appeal to many "casual" guys and girls if there was a way that they could participate - try their hand on the track or autocross - without having the "competition" element staring them in the face. I think that this is one of reasons that the autocross events at car shows have become increasingly popular - while there is an element who attend the shows to race, there is another element that is at the show, sees that they can try the autocross and give it a shot - without every worrying about points, times, or prizes. I know that this doesn't work on a one day event (as mentioned above, it's a struggle to squeeze everything in one day) but I think that if casual drivers could participate casually and watch the actual competition that more people would be inclined to try it - even on a spur of the moment. Which leads to my final point...
There are a finite number of people who will attend these events with the hope of being competitive and as more of these events come in to being, that finitie community will be forced to prioritize which events they attend. When there was only one event people would travel to go. When that grew to two events it was still an "easy" decision for many. If there are five or seven or ten "stand alone" events most of us will have to decide where and when we can travel. And that means that there will probably be less "hard core" participants at each event. Which means that we (ok - you) need to increase the appeal to the casual participant. Which is why sponsors step up for these events anyways. How can you make these more... interesting... intriging... entertaining... for the guys who aren't ready (mentally, mechanically, or financially) to compete?
That being said, hat's off to anyone who does participate in these events. It takes stones to race your car in any environment - autocross, road course, drag strip, or speed stop challenge. The fact that there were 50+ such people at RTTC was really impressive. But I think that you have to respect the people who might want to try it but not go 9/10 or 10/10. They might try it and decide they want more (that's how these things grow) or they might decided that they would prefer to cruise and try the open track on their own terms.
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Very well said and thought out... and I agree... many many people are just not knowledgeable in the ways of suspension etc - to really be "competitive" - and just going out and having some fun would be "enough" for them - and some (I'm betting) would get hooked and want more of it (TODD?
). But they've got to start somewhere.