Quote Originally Posted by lateapex911 View Post
It's been a while since I have seen the numbers for Lime Rock, but what a lot of drivers don't understand is the costs involved in racing there. The rental is HUGE. No, really, it's MASSIVELY HUGE. Dick provided it above: $53 THOUSAND dollars. I bet it's the highest per mile and per racing hour in the country. Or maybe just the highest. Seriously.

But wait, there's more. The region has to pay Lime Rock some ridiculous fee for a keg of beer. And the food, and the guy sitting in the ambulance and the tow truck, and on and on.

There's a phrase folks use about good deals that aren't: "The big print giveth, and the little print taketh away". That doesn't work at Lime Rock. For Lime Rock it should read "The big print screweth, and the little print screweth some more".

Add to the beating that Lime Rock provides, a region has numerous other expenses. That bottle of water you drink at tech on a hot day? Not donated by some sponsor. I know, because I've chaired races there, and I've paid for it. My bill for such things was around $400 one year. There are plenty of other costs that get incurred as well.

Short story, I bet NNJR is looking at over 60K to put a race on there. MoHud nearly disolved because of the financial hit they took there recently.

i agree with Dick and Andy, the test/race deal is a good one. The test day is cheaper than Lime Rock charges, will be run better, and will be longer. Trust me on this if you've never tested at Lime Rock. AND, you won't have to schlep the trailer home Tuesday night, just to schlep back Friday night.

More convenient, more track time, less towing costs and cheaper = winner.

I plan to test and race.

(my quote in my frst post was a song lyric just to see if anyone got it..nothing else...)
Nice write up Jake. I can personally tell you that the NER CRB had many lengthy discussions about LRP and it came up more than one time to simply let the track go away. There are some people who like the track, but because of the expense those people are small and getting smaller each year. The $53 thousand dollars includes the Ambulance and Wrecker, but does not include the food, insurance, SCCA racing fees, etc. At the end of the day it costs a region well over $70 GRAND to rent LRP. You guys do the math. We typically loose our shirts at LRP and have to make it up at other tracks. Since the other tracks are all down, that means the regions are taking on HUGE risks. I sincerely think that if the car counts are down that LRP could loose more dates next year. And that's ok in my book as this is all about supply and demand. BUT if you don't like it than you have to attend... Talking about it, complaining about it, etc will not resolve the issue.

Just my .02

Jeremy - NER Road Racing Treasurer