Concerned about IT's Future

[joeg]

I do a fair amount of crewing at the local oval tracks but have noticed a decided down-turn in participation figures in the mid to upper levels (late models up to mods). This is a sign of the economy and that kind of racing makes little economic sense regardless of sponsorship.

Given the fact that they try to get out weekly (even more with traveling to other local tracks), the expenses add up pretty quickly despite low entry fee and less travel. Afterall, tires and fuel cost the same wherever you race. Very expensive racing.

Forget the bomber, Hornet, Queen Bee Figure-8 classes. That is simply crash-o-rama or disgused high budget and not even real oval track racing. Any class that mandates "Roll Posts" instead of Roll Bars or cages is pretty ridiculous.

Fun but dangerous.

The tracks have insurance, probably from the same sources as SCCA. Any serious claims at the local oval impact all of us.

[Geo]

Originally posted by joeg@Oct 27 2005, 01:15 PM
I do a fair amount of crewing at the local oval tracks

Do you know Dan Schum? He's owned a few tour modifieds and a few modifieds that ran (run?) at Lancaster.

[Geo]

Originally posted by Z3_GoCar@Oct 27 2005, 02:05 AM
Part of our Vehical dynamics class was a field trip to Placerville and the local red dirt speed way, it's a real 1/8th mile bull ring bowl. Getting dirt marbles in your beer is part of the fun My Professor wanted us to see, "Unstable behavior..."

Was that the cars, the fans, or the drivers?

[Wayne]

Originally posted by Bill Miller@Oct 25 2005, 06:21 PM
Wayne,

No roll cage in that Fiesta???

Honestly surprised that they let them race that way

No cage, just a vertical tube behind the driver and one tube angling down off the vertical to the floor (such that it is). I don't recall for sure but I think they have to run a c-channel across the outside of the door/fenders as well.

I believe a lot of these guys think the small cars (hornets) are "less dangerous" because they are slower. The ridiculously lax safety standards are a big reason the costs are so low, and by extension the participation is so high.

Thunder cars and hornets, bump to pass = no cage, no gloves, levis, long sleeve shirt, etc etc
Bombers and street stocks = partial cage
Late models, super stocks, limited sportsman = full cage/frames
Figure 8's = Serious full cage and then some

I'm a big safety advocate and have top dollar gear well beyond the minimum required by scca in my road race car. Heck, I would wear my issac when I race riding lawnmowers if I could hook it up, but there are no belts on the mower.

Having said that, part of me yearns for the days of personal responsibility, where the drivers accepted the risk they were taking and every little bit of our racing life did not need to have a bunch of rules/requirements...

My dad raced figure 8 in jeans and a t-shirt back in the day. Those days are long gone to be sure. Now we have to sue everybody when we get hurt doing a high risk activity... despite the fact that there is only one person responsible for making the decision to participate.

Wayne

[Wayne]

I have to watch myself as I tend to throw all the kids into the wannabe racer/tuner category automatically. As someone else posted there are some kids out there who are serious about racing and performance. A couple of these kids that I have met are really sharp studies and would make good racers in the SCCA.

Beyond the Acquisition costs and rules being a big barrier to entry, there are two other things I hear on a regular basis from the youngsters.

First and foremost is, "why don't they race "modern" cars?" The natural tendency is for people to want to race the type of cars they grew up with driving on the street. When a kid goes to a regional scca race around here all they mostly see is a bunch of old cars running around the track. Old cars that have absolutely zero appeal to them. Yes I know, there are "some" available classes for these type of cars but the turn out is sparse at best... see item #2 below.

Second thing out of their mouth is, "why so few cars on the track, why are they so spread out, why is the racing not much closer, why is there nobody in the stands?"

So, now you have got a double downer - The club is racing cars the kids are not interested in, and there is a decided lack of close competition, passing etc (in their view). Add to this the cost of entry and 3" thick rule book and you've got 4 strikes you're out. I think part of their disappointment comes from the instant gratification, short attention span, materialistic society we have these days. They are "conditioned" to expect excitement in every aspect of their lives 24/7.

I'll probably get flamed for saying this on the board, but part of me agrees with them. Watching "most" road races at the track is about as exciting as watching grass grow. Most of the field is spread out, you can only see one or two corners from your spectating position. There he goes! Look at that rx7 (a what?) go by us again!!... and again.... and again.... and again...

Your average Joe wants to see close, almost wheel to wheel racing with position changes, and very close racing. They don't care that you just turned the latest apex at turn three ever and lowered you best lap-time by .03 seconds. Hate to break to you but that just is not exciting for anyone else. Watching "some" road races on tv is almost tolerable as at least you get some different views of the action... if there is any. Yes I'm aware that racing like world challenge and such are exciting at times, but I'm mostly talking about local regional road racing stuff here.

I've have tried and tried to get youngsters involved, and the most successful has been to set them up at a corner flag station during race day. If they don't get wood standing right at track-side when that ground pounding GT1 car comes hauling ass through, or when that WRX (the same WRX they drove to the track btw) flies through the corner then they are not likely to turn out to be interested in the long term.

Racing is, or should be, a total assault on the senses. When you are standing on that corner with the cars flying by a few feet from you. You need to see the blur of colors, smell the smells of burnt rubber and race fuel, see the flames come out the GT1 pipe as unburnt fuel is expelled at corner entry, hear the ear numbing roar of a race engine, and litterly feel the ground beneath your feet shake with vibration from all the horsepower blowing by you! If this kind of thing doesn't inspire them to get in a race car and drive themselves, they might as well take up golf because I doubt they even have a pulse.

Wayne

[Z3_GoCar]

Originally posted by Geo@Oct 28 2005, 09:53 AM
Was that the cars, the fans, or the drivers?

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All of the above

James