The Jeff Poor memorial had the lowest turn out in years. To put this in perspective, this was the first race of the year, a day after a school, and in a year with only four regionals at LRP (the most convenient track for most at one of the SCCA’s largest regions). What would normally be a huge turn-out, was quite visibly different as soon as you entered the paddock. While usually packed to capacity, with this years paltry turnout there were prime paddock spaces open throughout the day.

The impact was obvious on the track as well. While we are usually asking the head office for permission to run our overfilled ITA/ITC group, we had barely 20 cars last weekend. One of the side effects of this was turning my race into a big yawn. With a full race there are people to play with at every level, but my race turned into a time trial after lap one. I raced right in the middle of the pack, but the pack was so spaced out that I ran most of my laps without even seeing another car.

So now I’m registered for the next race. March 27 is now $280 – nearly double what it was just a few years ago. Plus, they’re charging $20 for spectators at the gate. I don’t think many of my friends are coming to watch me drive around the track by myself for $20/pop. If this keeps up, I’m not sure how long I’ll be racing either. At least it was fun while it lasted.

[This message has been edited by Jake (edited May 15, 2005).]