2010 NE NATIONAL SCHEDULE

[Robert Zecca]

Due to the current economic situation and attendance at Nationals in the NE I would like to throwout the following thoughts about Nationals for next year. I feel we need to limit the amount of Nationals and if possible by doing this we increase the car count per event then we may be able to lower the entry fee.

Have a National race at the following tracks:

Watkins Glen hosted by Glen region w/partner
Lime Rock Park hosted by NER/MOHUD
Pocono Would be a double hosted by Tri Region
NJMP hosted by NNJR/SJR
Summit Point hosted by DC

Part of my idea is to also limit Regionals as well and maybe hold only two events in total at LRP. If this is the case then NYR would host the second event which will be the NARRC Runoffs. We will discuss regionals at a future time.

This would be 5 tracks and 6 races. In order to do this we as racers need to throw out all the pros and cons and then see if we can get the regions to agree. We can have some regions team together and hold an event together.

We need to have driver town halls at both Nationals and Regionals for the remainder of this year so that we may get the feedback of the drivers and even have some drivers represented at the Minicon so that the regions can work together to put together a schedule that will reduce all events and be fair and equitable to all concerned. We can make this happen. We MUST MAKE CHANGES NOW TO INSURE THAT WE HAVE A FUTURE LATER. We as regions can not go on running events only to lose money on each event.

I speak to drivers on a daily basis and most agree that we should limit our events, bring up participation, give them somebody to race with and work on bringing entry fees down. If we think outside of the box we can accomplish this. We can use some ideas from the TEAMDI PROIT series that is a proven formula and adopt them to our Nationals. Lets bring back Nationals to the glory days with spectators and make each race an event.

Please let me know your thoughts and then we can make some announcements on driver meetings.
Thanks in advance for your help and concern.

Sincerely,
Bob Zecca
NNJR Secretary
www.proitseries.com

[Marshall Mauney]

What happened to Beaver Run and Nelson Ledges? I have a feeling that the people on the Western side of NEDiv woudn't be very happy with this plan - I know that I wouldn't have been when I lived in Pittsburgh.

I would also point out that the rules now count 7 events for Division points. How far are you expecting people to drive who are in well-attended classes?

[John Nesbitt]

<snip>

Have a National race at the following tracks:

Watkins Glen hosted by Glen region w/partner
Lime Rock Park hosted by NER/MOHUD
Pocono Would be a double hosted by Tri Region
NJMP hosted by NNJR/SJR
Summit Point hosted by DC

<snip>


Sincerely,
Bob Zecca
NNJR Secretary
www.proitseries.com

Seems just a tad New Jersey-centric, doesn't it?

And Pocono remains a double, no matter who else gets kicked to the curb.

Why not Summit, Glen, BeaveRun, Nelson, Mosport, and NHMS? That's 6 races, and with a better geographical distribution.

[RobLav]

Take this to the Divisional meetings where it belongs.

[Tom Valet]

What happened to Beaver Run and Nelson Ledges? I have a feeling that the people on the Western side of NEDiv woudn't be very happy with this plan - I know that I wouldn't have been when I lived in Pittsburgh.

I would also point out that the rules now count 7 events for Division points. How far are you expecting people to drive who are in well-attended classes?

BeaverRun doesnt have a National now in 2009. Nelson was very poorly attended--90 cars TOTAL and only 26 wings and things TOTAL.

Mosport will be even worse. We went last year, there were 70 cars TOTAL at the National; this year will be worse I bet. We wont be going this year, it is nearly a 10-11 hour tow from Long Island, not worth it if nobody else shows up. For the same reason we didnt go to Nelson. Too far and too poorly attended.

Divisional points count 7 races, but you can now use 3 out of division races toward your points.

Personally, I think it is a good idea to limit the number of races and keep each divisional race geographically close to each other.

Take care.

Tom

[stonebridge20]

Bob, To make Nationals more enjoyable. How about when the ProIT has a date at a National that they race last instead of in the middle of the day. That way the track workers have a few days to clean up mud,rocks,oil,fenders,bumpers or whatever else falls off or out of those cars instead of making a National group run their race over the top of that stuff. I think all the spectators that ProIT brings out to a National would be happy to wait till the end of the day for the big show. ProIT does nothing for National except BandAid the entry money by bringing in 30+ entry fees. The ProIT "formula" is nothing new. Give a couple hundred bucks to the winner and call it "Pro" and you will get 30+ entrys for pretty much any class either National or Regional. It happens every Saturday night at every mud bowl across the US.
If you want to bring back the "glory days" to Nationals,....Then advertise them. Local radio and print ad usually works well for small business. Each SCCA region is in effect a small business. Advertise the Nationals to get the people (return on investment gate money) in and the trickle down will go strait to regional racing as any new members either driver or worker would have to start there and then over time, move up to National and the trickle down would trickle back up to National. Word of mouth just isn't cutting it in the small business of SCCA anymore!

[Marshall Mauney]

Personally, I think it is a good idea to limit the number of races and keep each divisional race geographically close to each other.

Would you feel the same way if that "geographically close" group of races was centered 400 miles away from where you lived?

[Phil Wellner]

Shrinking the NE Div schedule sounds like a hard decision to make, and I agree with Agnif, I don't think that increased car count, without more, is going to draw bigger crowds.

I'm a newcomer to SCCA racing, and from my perspective it's helpful to have more races on the calendar. I need all the track time I can get/afford (once my car is back together), and since my work schedule is unpredictable, I often have to bail on race weekends at the last minute. More races on the calendar means that I have more chances to take advantage of work-free weekends and head to the track. Is the situation so critical that the national AND regional schedules have to be cut for next year? My suggestion is to try the schedule change for one or the other--and hopefully the dip in turnout ends up being a 2009 problem and more drastic measures aren't needed.

-Phil

[lex123]

deleted

[Tom Valet]

Would you feel the same way if that "geographically close" group of races was centered 400 miles away from where you lived?

Should we continue to have events that are far away from the majority of the racers who turn out for the events, so that we can cater to a few people? At the Nelson National, one single FF turned up. The overall attendance was pitiful. Same goes for regionals. Take a look at the Beaverun regional for this past weekend. http://mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=429037 42 entries. Every race at Nelson Ledges turns out a handful of cars. 66 cars for a double regional in May. So why should races continue to be scheduled in places where nobody shows up.

[Hardingfv32]

The economy is going to take a long time to get back to 2007-2008 levels IF ever. This has to be part of your planning model. Low car counts will be with us for a while. It is hard to believe that most Regions will break even this year. They would be fools to use the same plan next year.

Let the tracks/events with the best numbers get the dates. You are not going to be able to save every event.

Things have changed and we need to adjust accordantly.

Brian