Getting Rid of Regional/Majors Distinction?

[jumbojimbo]

But the issue is not that I want to see more local coverage. The issue is making people understand that the current focus on national/pro level racing/solo/etc is undermining the ability to get new people involved because it gives the wrong impression about what is required to be involved. It gives the impression that you must be rich or want to make racing a career.

What has happened with the Majors is that we have doubled down on the mistaken idea that gravy flows downhill. That if we show the pinnacle of the sport and show that we are dominate in that aspect, it will flow downward and attract newbies. That newbies will want to associate with the best. But that isn't what happens. The focus on expensive classes and big time programs gives newbies the impression that they can't buy a $3k car, spend $7k a year and have a great time. Read sportscar and it's clear that in order to get involved in racing you need a $35k car and another $20k a year to run your minimum 4 events. And that gets you the "cheapest" car a B-Spec. If you want to run in a "real" class, the price goes up both in money and time.

That's the fight, changing the mistaken impression that in order to thrive we have to be the pinnacle of the sport. A couple of random articles about regional racers who overspend to go to ARRC isn't going to do it. What we need is to consistently show that the vast majority of racers compete on a shoestring budget and have fun doing it.

It's the same problem with solo. It's always national national national. When a new person picks up SportsCar they don't see any of our activities as something they can do. They see it as something that someone with more talent, more money, more connections, etc does.

I know, national will say that's the job of the regions, to push the local budget friendly venues. But that's a problem. You can't focus on the pinnacle on a national level at the expense of entry level programs. You certainly can't continue to cater to the top 5% on virtually all decisions. And you can't continue to only focus on "winners" and "excellence".

That's problem #3, the focus on "winners". It's always about the guy who comes in with talent and money and dedication and wins wins wins. If I see on more article about some young kid who burns the midnight oil and thrashes the competition with his "alien" talent... The reality is that the majority of competitors aren't winners, they can't be. They don't have the talent, resources, dedication or need to be winners. They don't need to be winners to enjoy the sport. But you wouldn't know that from reading SportsCar. Everybody has to be a winner to be successful and enjoy themselves. That's why we have so many fricking classes, nobody is happy finishing 23rd, everybody has to be a winner. You can blame today's "me" culture, but we've refined the idea and we document it very well in SportsCar.

Edit: I know I'm kind of harping on SportsCar as the issue. But the base issue of thinking that "national" programs and that the runoffs is the goose that lays the golden eggs is the issue. Everything from classing to schedules comes down to national/runoffs first, regionals get the scraps. And that's the tail that wags the dog. In the long run the way to be successful is to rebuild the programs from the bottom up. Don't send me questionaire's about the runoffs. Ask me one single time about what needs to be done to encourage me to run regional races.

[gran racing]

You have a lot of excellent points there Jim.

Would you be willing to write and article about your regional experiences?

[jumbojimbo]

You have a lot of excellent points there Jim.

Would you be willing to write and article about your regional experiences?

Ha ha. "Don't complain or you get nominated for the job!" I might be able to write something. I can draw from the general ITC group on a variety of subjects too, like "don't stick us with SM or we won't come to your race, we're not joking around, we mean it."

I hope my rant doesn't sound too angry. It's just a fundamental difference in focus. Just don't get me started on the subject of including pictures of underage girls in tank tops...

[seckerich]

But the issue is not that I want to see more local coverage. The issue is making people understand that the current focus on national/pro level racing/solo/etc is undermining the ability to get new people involved because it gives the wrong impression about what is required to be involved. It gives the impression that you must be rich or want to make racing a career.

What has happened with the Majors is that we have doubled down on the mistaken idea that gravy flows downhill. That if we show the pinnacle of the sport and show that we are dominate in that aspect, it will flow downward and attract newbies. That newbies will want to associate with the best. But that isn't what happens. The focus on expensive classes and big time programs gives newbies the impression that they can't buy a $3k car, spend $7k a year and have a great time. Read sportscar and it's clear that in order to get involved in racing you need a $35k car and another $20k a year to run your minimum 4 events. And that gets you the "cheapest" car a B-Spec. If you want to run in a "real" class, the price goes up both in money and time.

That's the fight, changing the mistaken impression that in order to thrive we have to be the pinnacle of the sport. A couple of random articles about regional racers who overspend to go to ARRC isn't going to do it. What we need is to consistently show that the vast majority of racers compete on a shoestring budget and have fun doing it.

It's the same problem with solo. It's always national national national. When a new person picks up SportsCar they don't see any of our activities as something they can do. They see it as something that someone with more talent, more money, more connections, etc does.

I know, national will say that's the job of the regions, to push the local budget friendly venues. But that's a problem. You can't focus on the pinnacle on a national level at the expense of entry level programs. You certainly can't continue to cater to the top 5% on virtually all decisions. And you can't continue to only focus on "winners" and "excellence".

That's problem #3, the focus on "winners". It's always about the guy who comes in with talent and money and dedication and wins wins wins. If I see on more article about some young kid who burns the midnight oil and thrashes the competition with his "alien" talent... The reality is that the majority of competitors aren't winners, they can't be. They don't have the talent, resources, dedication or need to be winners. They don't need to be winners to enjoy the sport. But you wouldn't know that from reading SportsCar. Everybody has to be a winner to be successful and enjoy themselves. That's why we have so many fricking classes, nobody is happy finishing 23rd, everybody has to be a winner. You can blame today's "me" culture, but we've refined the idea and we document it very well in SportsCar.

Edit: I know I'm kind of harping on SportsCar as the issue. But the base issue of thinking that "national" programs and that the runoffs is the goose that lays the golden eggs is the issue. Everything from classing to schedules comes down to national/runoffs first, regionals get the scraps. And that's the tail that wags the dog. In the long run the way to be successful is to rebuild the programs from the bottom up. Don't send me questionaire's about the runoffs. Ask me one single time about what needs to be done to encourage me to run regional races.

Just moved to the top of my list for "getting it', great post!!

[Ron Earp]

You can't focus on the pinnacle on a national level at the expense of entry level programs. You certainly can't continue to cater to the top 5% on virtually all decisions. And you can't continue to only focus on "winners" and "excellence".

But the base issue of thinking that "national" programs and that the runoffs is the goose that lays the golden eggs is the issue. Everything from classing to schedules comes down to national/runoffs first, regionals get the scraps.

Good post. I and some fellow racers are becoming dissatisfied with the SCCA for these points and others. We all participate in a racing club, but for the most part if you're not participating in one of the majors classes you're barely recognized as a racer in the club. Very simply, the organization caters to a minority of the racers while the majority is written off as regional participants and therefore outside the scope of inclusion for the minority activities.

Nice proposal outline Kirk.

Haven't read much of SportsCar in years. Scan Pobst article, look for new toys, place in round file beside john.