Upload the results the next morning and/or find volunteers that would rather help out at 9pm than 9am? :gotme: seems like theres about 5 people in here so far that are passing because its too early.
Good point… I know alot of people are scared / embarassed their first time out (in any form of racing).
FYI… i always seem to get screwed while working… i have been stuck on course from the end of my run until my run group was called up again a few times over the last years…
i ALWAYS park my car… pop the hood, look things over, and report to work, and sometimes im stuck working until its time to run again…
that gets frustrating…
I have heard the work complaint before - and it is important that if you think you are out there for too long, you have to mention it to the worker chief when you report for your next work. He’s trying to make sure everyone gets relieved as fast as possible, but it all depends on when your fellow drivers report for their work assignments. If everyone does what they are supposed to, you shouldn’t be out there for more than 10 or 15 minutes.
this is true… but ive been around for a while and i always get the :rolljerk: response when i start bitching…
its not a big deal… but it happens…and kind of sucks…
Dunnville.
At the end of the year it can be done for about the same budget, time invested, etc. and, is just soo much better.
X…
P.S. 99_civic_si is just sour about his muffler issues at TMP. 
Remind me at the next event you are at, and I’ll take care of you.
Oh, and one thing about the “it’s too early” argument. At ECCN, if you prep your car the night before, you can arrive at 9:00, register, tech, do a course walk, and start running at 10:30. Now, if you arrive earlier, you will have more time to coursewalk, or prep, but you can get away without it. And you can always leave whenever you want.
Is there anyway to implement a system where you only pay for the amount of runs you take?
Assuming there are 5 runs @ $5 a piece, a member could be required to pay $25 upfront, but then if they decide to leave early or run less, could be refunded $5 per run skipped.
Also is it possible to lower the entry costs by buying bulk packages? Perhaps a member could pay $150 at the beginning of the season and have entry to all local events.
Or the possibility of setting up gift certificates? I know plenty of guys would love a $100 gift certificate for their birthday, enabling them to race. Plus it’d be a great gift to give.
It’s a win/lose situation there. You might gain 5 people moving it later and lose 5 people who want Sunday evening with their families.
Honestly, you’d probably lose more than you gain because getting to ECC by 9am isn’t that hard for most people and by running later you’re taking away the time most people use to unwind before starting the next work week.
:repost:
and the gift cert idea is stellar, that’d be my request for the forseeable future from the wife
I’ve always thought that the “too early” excuse was pretty lame. There’s no reason not to crash after the event which is what I normally do. And I’ve made it to plenty of events where I was still drunk from the night before.
So while I’m pretty flexible on a lot of things, I’m not going to alter a schedule that’s widely used around the country for 5 people that might show up.
Besides, I’m generally up by 7 for work, which is probably on the late side by a lot of peoples standards. So figure for your average once in a while autocrosser that’s not changing tires and doesn’t have to load a car can get there 9:30-9:45if they really want to push it and annoy Jim. Your still looking at probably about sleeping in 2 hours later than you normally would, so even if you were out late, your not really losing all that much.
Plus, I’m usually at my best hungover… really
The costs (sanction, insurance, site rental, trophies, t-shirts, gas for the van, etc.) aren’t dependent on how many runs we take, so I don’t see a way to do that without the region losing money.
Lowering the entry fees is next to impossible - especially with the low turnout. The entry fees cover insurance costs, site fees, operational costs. We just bought a new(er) truck to replace the 40 year old one we have now. If we started getting record attendance, at that point we could re-evaluate the pricing structure. But for now, we are stuck with the costs.
What about implementing a refer-a-friend system, discounting novice rates, discounting racers coming from other regions.
Making the website more friendly, decreasing the hardcore attitude, promoting the event more at the universities or other car forums? Cross promote with AJs or Onyx?
Get the more expert drivers to instruct more often. “Learn from the best” Instead of “Learn from the guy driving the automatic tercel”
Just throwing anything out there.
Hey now, there is nothing wrong with Sarahb’s instructional abilities!
The cost complaint doesn’t really hold a lot of water for me. If you seriously aren’t autocrossing because $30 for an all day event is too much then either:
A: You don’t really want to autocross and probably wouldn’t show if it was $10.
2: You are too poor to be putting the extra wear and tear on your vehicle in the first place.
I know it’s not WNY, but is there a Xerox event this year?
No, we lost Xerox last year. We’ll be running at Seneca until the fall, then we have two more events at RIT.
:lol: “all day event”.
The part you’re really there for and paying for is 5 minutes or less. The old timers who talk about hanging out and chatting with buddies aren’t the ones doing regular work assignments and going through the single driver grid. The majority of your day if you’re a noob or casual autocrosser is spent sitting in grid or chasing cones, especially with with only 60 or so people since it makes the rotations faster.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they’re not working because without them doing things like tech, registration etc the event doesn’t happen, but those positions do lead to a much more social experience later in the day when the casual people are in the run/work/run/work try to find time to eat and take a piss grind.