Quote Originally Posted by dickita15 View Post
Why are there so few of us that do?
Easy: Time, money, and personal motivations.

There's only so many weekends available in which to partake the hobby, and those are taken up with driving (and the off weekends are usually used fixing the race car). There's only so much money available for the hobby, so that which may be left over is used for driving (instead of using travel money to F&C).

Plus, when you're at the track, there's only so much time between sessions, with none left for working a corner (I try to tech whenever possible, but my participation prevents me from being consistent.)

I've been asked to work events exclusively (Scott's trying to get me to be a chief, while Roberts is trying to convince me to enter the stewards program) but my interest is in driving. To be brutally honest, if I'm not driving or participating in some capacity (such as crew chief, enduro manager, or paid data aq guy) my motivation to spend my discretionary time and money "be there" is pretty damn thin. Does that make me selfish in that regard? Absolutely. Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not.

I suppose if I were ever to become disabled to the point I can't drive or ill and can't pass the medical, then I might consider further participation as a volunteer. But I can't say that for sure, as I don't know what my motivation would be at that point.

Drivers see the SCCA as a service provider because, frankly, that's what it is. While drivers recognize that volunteers provide a valuable service, they also invest a lot of time and money to be there; in effect, to provide the club atmosphere that the volunteers can "enjoy". Granted, it's a lop-sided affair, but short of charging the drivers more to provide to the volunteers (which would probably kill the goose) there's not much more you can do about it...conversely, if the volunteers decided it was no longer worth it, then the goose commits suicide...

Ours is a system that relies on drivers wanting to pay-to-play, and volunteers wanting to volunteer. Short of some other motiviation to get drivers more involved, I suggest that's going to be hard to overcome...

GA, former National F&C license holder