The increase in event entry fees (not WNY / FLR’s fault) thanks to SCCA’s new insurance/weekend-member BS was a big one for me. I don’t do enough events to make having an SCCA membership worthwhile anymore and the non-member price is outrageous vs the seat time.
The transport/distance thing is why I don’t come to WNY - by the time I load / drive with my trailer I might as well spend a few bucks more to just go to the Glen - since my fuel costs are a major portion of a total weekend’s expenses and the two are almost the same distance for me (Buf vs WGI from where the trailer/car stay in Webster, from my appt Buf is closer).
That’s about it for me - if I catch a ride out and co-drive someone’s car I’ll suck up the extra entry-fee cost and deal with it, but other than that I won’t be doing much of any autox this year, I’m working on getting a few more DEs under my belt, joining the instructor-training (debating PCA vs BMWCCA) ranks and hope to be wheel-to-wheel racing in a few years. AutoX is great for sorting out a car and as a refresher but I don’t enjoy it enough to buy $2500-3k (my Pilot Sport Cups are useless out there, I’d need A6s or a set of “road” tires) in wheels/tires to run a car that is in stupid XP vs spending that at the track.