I think the below quotes are all great points, and none of the classes ever really address them in these types of discussions.
Quote:
4. One thing I have not seen much mention of? Where is the new or next racer coming from? Getting car counts also involves getting more people interested. In Canada we promote our series to the Karters who want to move up as well as to those in the mid-30+ who have a bit of dispossable income.
I realize that many of the current FV folks have a large investment in spares and knowledge they don't want to give up, but that doesn't help build the class or attract new blood.
How far into the future are we talking about? Is the goal to get garage queens and current owners out, or bring new blood in? If people already made the plunge, and then parked their car... chances are "life" happened, and no rule change is going to get that car our of the garage. New blood or converts from another class are another great source, but the competition for that blood gets stronger every summer.
I would love to see the stats showing the average age of a FV racer compared to some of the other successful classes within the SCCA. My guess, is that the average age in FV trends upward as the average participation trends downward. I don't know if that data is available anywhere, but it might give some insight into part of the problem. I wonder if the prod car guys and the GT guys are facing the same trends? I have nothing against age and treachery, but without newbie drivers and newbie cars, any class is going to have trouble.
It's too bad we have no means to do "good" market research. I would love to know what the majority of people between 20 and 50 want out of their racing program. And, what that same group thinks of FV.