2010 GCR now available

[mbuskuhl]

"SCCA Club Racing" decal replaced with new required "SafeRacer SCCA National Racing Series" decal effective 3/1/2010 for National races, optional for Regional.

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[Greg Amy]

Double-U. Tee. Eff.

I wonder how much is SCCA paying National competitors to run the kickback advertising stickers on cars...?

And I thought this club hit the bottom of the barrel years ago...simply never ceases to amaze me...adding another vendor to the no-fly list...

[tom91ita]

i would hope that those stickers are now free for the National cars.

[dickita15]

Lighten up. The national office sold this contingency deal. Some cash for the club, contingency moneys paid to drivers by national points and yes the required stickers are supposed to be free.
I do not think it is a bad thing that Topeka found a series sponsor for national racing.

[Greg Amy]

Lighten up.

??? Is that response intended to do just the opposite?

The national office sold this contingency deal. Some cash for the club, contingency moneys paid to drivers by national points and yes the required stickers are supposed to be free. I do not think it is a bad thing that Topeka found a series sponsor for national racing.

So, where's the details on this alleged "contingency" program? How much is Topeka getting for this program? How are the racers themselves (you know, the ones actually paying for all these races?) going to benefit by mandated Club-sponsor stickers on the sides of their cars?

Sorry, Dick, this direction may not bother you, but it certainly does me.

GA

[Dave Gomberg]

The deal came together very recently (discussions started at PRI earlier this month). The language and the figure showing the new sticker went into the new GCR literally a few days before it was released on Monday. Although the basic outlines of the program were settled, there were still details being worked out. The SafeRacer folks have posted on a few other forums that they will be putting out a press release as soon as they can (possibly today or tomorrow). So, yeah, lighten up, hold your fire until you see the details (which I don't know, so please don't ask me). If you are still unhappy, then complain to your director.

Dave

[gran racing]

I can see this as a thought to raise money for the club, but can also see the other side. While I'm not fortunate enough to have a sponsor or own a business that is in competition with SafeRacer, I can see others that do having a big problem with this.

Is this advertising opportunity also open for other businesses? What is the cost?

[dickita15]

Greg,
I applaud your cautious nature. I understand that this deal came together quickly after the PRI show and I believe the full details will be unveiled at the national convention at the end of January. It is unfortunate that the timing of the 2010 GCR release scooped the official announcement.
I do not have every detail but the national office was able to find a title sponsor for the national racing series. The club will get some sponsorship money, national racers will get some contingency money. Racers running National races will now have to run the series sticker which I am told are free in place of the previously requires Club Racing sticker that we had to pay for. Regional racers may run either the national series sticker that is free or the club racing sticker which they may still buy.
I do not see the problem. Is it not a good thing that SCCA was able to sell a title sponsorship for the national racing series?

[Greg Amy]

Is it not a good thing that SCCA was able to sell a title sponsorship for the national racing series?

Possibly.

Ok, Dick and Dave, I'll hold my fire until we see the details. As we know, that's where the devil is...but at first glance, I have two issues with series sponsorship in amateur Club Racing: it's mandatory and it intermixes the sponsor with the sanctioning body.

On the first point, no matter how this is detailed, it's not "contingency sponsorship". Contingency sponsorship is an optional system where someone will pay a racer contingent upon their finishing results and their running the sponsors decal(s). The key difference here is that contingency sponsorship is optional. What if you choose not to support the sponsor, either that you're confident you won't do well enough to take advantage of the program, you don't like the sponsor, you have a competing sponsor, or you simply don't want to put a sticker on your car? Well, regardless of the reason, you can choose to not put that sticker on the car and choose not to accept the reward. I personally will never put an advertising sticker on my car unless I have something to gain, and in some cases I've consciously chosen to forego potential contingency sponsorship because of disagreements with the company (do not infer this to mean I have an issue with this specific sponsor; I do not).

But with a series sponsor, you do not have that option. These decals - and it's "sponsorship" - are mandatory, whether you can benefit from it or not.

Further, when one accepts series sponsorship and mandates advertising on all cars, it is incumbent upon the sanctioning body to ensure that all competitors benefit from the sponsorship, not just those fortunate enough to do well. Once you accept series sponsorship it cannot be divided out based on results, especially in non-professional club racing; with mandated sponsorship support comes mandated racer support. You force me to run a sponsor decal, I damn sure better be getting something in return, even if I wreck out on the first lap.

Finally, when one intermixes a sanctioning body with a series sponsor, lots of ugly things can happen. Look what's happened to professional motorsports and series sponsors, not to mention its effects on other sports. I'm not breaking out the black helicopters here, but who's to say what this deal really entails? What kind of deals did it take for the Club to make such a sea change? Again, I'm not saying that anything is happening - I really doubt it, especially this early in the game; after all, most things do start with good intentions - I'm just saying that there's a distinct potential for apparent improprieties, certainly the more intermixed the Club gets into these kind of deals.

I suggest my concerns really come down to the mandate and the decal. Had Topeka spent this effort to gain such a series sponsor and one, made it truly a contingency sponsorship (i.e., made it optional) and two, did not provide the appearance of potential impropriety with the inbreeding of the mandatory Club decals with the sponsor (i.e., made a separate decal for it) then I'd probably be right up there applauding the idea and gladly slapping those decals on my car when I run Nationals. But as it stands now, my hackles are raised, watching for the devil's shoe to drop, for the opportunity to say "I done tole ya so"...

GA


* Are we really claiming one of the big advantages of this program is that someone gets the three decals for free instead of - what? - $3 each, especially when the vast majority of racers are already running the Club decals that they already had to buy...? C'mon, we can do better than that...

** I suspect this should be a separate topic. If it goes too much further I'll split these posts out.

[924Guy]

Maybe I just haven't been around long enough to be cynical; personally, I think it's great that a sponsor is willing to step up, recognize, and provide such support for our little hobby.

[RacerBill]

I think that Mac has it right, that we may be reading between the lines where there is really no writing. And it is great that someone has stepped up to help our sport.

But I also remember the contention between sponsors such as CocaCola and Pepsi at NASCAR events and even (IIRR) AT&T and NEXTEL/SPRINT at NASCAR events. However, we are not talking about megabucks here (yeah, even a couple of hundred bucks is mega bucks to me), and we should wait and hear from some other suppliers (Racer Parts Wholesale, Pegasus, Continental, etc) and see what their take is. Do any of us receive sponsorship from any of these vendors?

I, myself, tend to shop around at different vendors, purchasing needed items from different sources (some vendors carry items that others do not). But where I have a choice, I purchase from Continental Motorsports. My reasoning is that their selection is good, and their prices are fair. But the most compelling reason is because they stepped up and took over the stand at Mid-Ohio when the previous vendor decided to leave. Jim and Jeannie are there for us, the racers, just about every weekend. More than once, I have been able to get a needed part that kept me in the game that weekend.

I hope that my fellow racers step up and recognise the support that SafeRacer is showing SCCA (that's us!).

[gran racing]

Mac, I don't think any of us are saying anything negative about SafeRacer as it relates to this deal. At the same time, IMO it goes back to what Greg said before. There's a difference between a contingency and this type of sponsorship in CLUB racing. Pro racing is another thing. The $15K in rewards given out, I personally would have rather it be done in another manner than based on winnings (if done as a series sponsor). Let some of the back to mid pack drivers benefit from this as much as the front runners. Heck, in most cases they probably need the help more anyway.

we should wait and hear from some other suppliers (Racer Parts Wholesale, Pegasus, Continental, etc) and see what their take is. Do any of us receive sponsorship from any of these vendors?

First thing that came to mind was SPS. (The company that runs the SCCA merchandise website.)