RACE FORMAT CHANGE POLL

[Spooner]

Yeah, keep the hw stuff for the 750 riders.  There are many more of them than 2 stroke guys in my region.

Just nuke ULightGP, lwgp, mwgp, ungp, but make one race that is like ungp-call it formula 1 or something.  If anything it makes it easier to understand the classes, and would make the day a bit shorter so we wouldn't have to rush so much to get everything done.

[SV88]

I also agree with Dean's point - eliminate HW.  I know that I will now wait until after the 07 regs are finalized before making any kind of modification decision with my SV or R6

[Bubba]

Dean and the GP region are WAY different than some of the other regions. He may be able to do away with HW but I think the MW region needs to keep it for entry numbers($$) Kevin is not going to eliminate ANY class that has strong entries !!

[Jeff]

I wouldn't be so sure about that Bubba...

What everyone needs to consider is the WHOLE picture, and unfortunately we don't necessarily see the whole picture.

If you pull a strong class, can those riders go into another class and build it up?  Is there an incentive for riders to do it?  Will it cut costs?  Will it affect rules?

There are a million things to consider based on what any given objective is.

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

That also brings up another point-many guys just getting into this are very confused with all the different classes.  Supersport and superbike/GP makes the most sense because its basically modded and not modded.

Problem with that is solved if people actually READ the rulebook.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

MotoGP and AMA Pro racing have great influence on bikes sold, just look at when the 600's and 1000's got so popular. Now MotoGP is going back to 800cc bikes. Track after track here in the US is having to make changes just to accomodate the 1000's and tires are being pushed to their threshold (and wearing out at incredibly fast rates on the 1000's). There have been rumors of the AMA Superbike class going back to Heavy Weight class bikes in the near future - following suit of the MotoGP. I'm not so sure that eliminating the (2) Heavy Weight classes is going in the direction that racing is going. Being someone that is over 200 lbs a 600 just doesn't work for me, to get the same power to weight ratio the majority of the 600 racers have I need a bit more Hp, but not excessive like on a 1000.

I pointed out before the 2006 season started that due to flaws in the new points system the majority of people who would get Top 10 plates would be the riders in the biggest classes due to how high their performance index is when finishing lower in the results as compared to those in smaller classes finishing better, in other words Middle Weight riders would have a huge advantage. The only exception to this would be riders who are constant podium finishers and run at least 6 classes, this is the reason Ed Key was able to get a Top 10 plate, but also the reason he got screwed out of a #1 plate. Jump forward to the final Top 10 points in the MW region and 7 rode Middle Weight bikes, 2 of them on Light Weight bikes and 1 on a Heavy Weight bike (riding only a Unlimited bike is statistically impossible to get a Top 10 plate when the max number of classes you can run is 4). Elimination of even 1 Lightweight class and 1 Heavy Weight class would mean that most likely every rider in the Top 10 points championship in 2007 will be on a Middle Weight bike - if that's the case you might as well change it to the "Middle Weight Points Championship" so it accurately depicts what it really would be.

[cardzilla]

That should be a dead horse he's spanking because the spectator thing has been hashed over and over again until it's stupid. Please ..........spectators are not going to show up in droves to see you race. You are not Hayden and joe blow on the street could care less if you are racing in his back yard. Sorry but that's fact.
CCS won't be spending any extra money on advertising anytime soon and part of that is because they only consider expensive advertising methods.

As for gate fees....this is a money maker for CCS and the tracks. CCS gets the majority of the gate but the track gets a cut of it too. Yes that means the more people thru the gate the more money they all make however, it has been proven over and over that advertising in national mags and racing papers doesn't get more people to the track.

For the few people that are surprised there is racing locally they won't bring in enough money to offset those advertising costs. Although there is a cheap way of advertising that the orgs continually ignore. The simple flier sent out to local dealers in a roughly one hour travel time of the race track. It's easy to do and costs are low but for some reason they won't do it.

I have to respectfully disagree with you.  Turnouts (fans) at Moroso are always good from what I remember.  I've never been to Homestead, and Jennings is non-spectator so those are 2 fl region tracks that I can't comment on, but what's the only difference?  Henry promotes the race and the racing is GOOD!  Speaking from a fan's perspective I would enjoy watching the shootout as much as an AMA superbike race and I could do it for a fraction of the price.  Let's not forget that we don't need MotoGP turnouts to help the financial cause... just 500 people at 10 bucks a pop would really help everyone involved.  I started racing after attending the GNF in 1992 as a spectator... I seem to remember a LOT of folks showed up to watch the racing that weekend.  A lot of things would have to change in how we operate, but I don't think anyone would mind when purses increase.  Just my .02

[unter_kid]

"I started racing after attending the GNF in 1992 as a spectator... I seem to remember a LOT of folks showed up to watch the racing that weekend."

I'm in the same boat (except it was Road America 2005), but what attracted you to that event?  Were you going to the AMA races at that venue that same year???, and just wanted to see what this whole club racing thig was about?  The whole point of advertising is getting people who couldn't give two shi** about what you're doing untill they saw your little add.  The ammount of $ that would have to go into advertising to increase the club racing fan-base could NEVER be off set by the new influx of fans.  Not saying it's not a blast, but aren't we a little partial?  Look at the SCCA events.... I've grown up around that stuff, and you see the same people at EVERY race....why??? Becuase those are the people who are pouring their hearts and soles into something they love.  Bottom line....if you don't love racing, you're not going out of your way to see a club-level race.  Guess we just have to bite the bullet and realize we aren't going to have everyone and their mother paying to see us race    but it sure is fun isn't it?
 
My .02

[HAWK]

As was mentioned before the advertising need not be expensive. Flyers at the bike shops within 15 miles of the tracks. How about a flyer that gets a spectator in for $5, Spectator gets a different wristband for $5 admission and the racers still pay the $25 that CCS wants. Run like this for a trial period and if the idea works then we could see our gate fees lowered and CCS has lost nothing. If the idea doesn't work then at least we tried and CCS has still lost nothing.

[Super Dave]

That kind of advertising can be done by riders.  A computer, a printer, and a copy machine will go a long way in promoting individual riders or teams at club events.

[251am]

Keep GT and drop either Superbike or GP. GT races are the only class that CCS runs that is even close to the time on track of a national level/pro race.

+1

However, I do not see how raising fees is going to attract more riders? Most of the purse classes were eliminated last year, the refund policy was made more restrictive, and certs from the CCE Org were only allowed to be used by mail- in processing? Add on to that pile the growing list of riders who are not receiving their contingency monies and it seems, at least to me, that there is a ton of other improvements to be made first that would bring more racers out. 

  Wanna add some trailers to the paddock? Have a  T.C. track championship at BFR and others. Regional mini endurance races that are 2 or 3 hours long. THEN you could do away with a class or 3, and THEN you would see an increase in #s.   My .02     

[Super Dave]

No, increasing fees won't make the grid bigger.  But race day has a cost.  If classes are eliminated, then the race day entrants have to compensate for that loss of revenue and the increase in time on track. 

TC's haven't been dramatically popular.  It returned to CCS in 2001 and receeded to its present form.  It was actually a 200 mile race, but it's down to 200k now.  Entry fee has remained the same.  If one won overall, you got a free entry.  I don't think that's in place anymore.  It's jammed into regular weekend schedules ratherthan being exclusively at ASRA events.