RACE FORMAT CHANGE POLL

[Sobottka]

on a 600 you can do 10 races a weekend!!! i agree w/ spooner, im gonna do 5 races, it makes no difference to me weather ive got 10 races to choose from or just 5. why with less races do entries have to skyrocket? will overall entries really drop if there is 30 races to choose from instead of 40?

[Jeff]

And for reference, CCS overall growth is up and is healthy year-to-year (which is better than some other orgs mentioned in this thread).  The costs however, are growing disproportionately to revenue.

There hasn't been a rate increase for license or entries in several years (I believe either 03 or 04 was the last change).

The fact remains, costs continue to increase at a more rapid pace than revenue.

Do you honestly think that CCS doesn't analyze and scrutinize profit/loss and the competitive organizations around the country?

[Jeff]

will overall entries really drop if there is 30 races to choose from instead of 40?

Yes.

[Spooner]

I think they really need to work on getting spectators.  Look how many sportbikes are riding around these days-you think that if they actually KNEW that there was racing around that they would go check it out??  I think they would!  I work at a shop in KC that centers on sportbikes and roadracing and we constantly get in guys that walk in, see a race bike and say 'there's racing around here??' 

I think CCS needs to work with the tracks to get some REAL advertising out there.  If we could get just 100 people to show up I would be blown away!  I know dirt track is very well advertised around here and they get thousands to show up!  If we get more people coming to spectate and raise awareness then more people would end up racing.

[rwracer]

It seems the best option was left out.  Keep the GT Classes and revert them back to real purse races.  The comparable race classes in "that other org" seem to always have healthy grids, at least on the East Coast.

So keep GT Purse races, raise the per race fee, drop GP (it no longer makes sense anyway, not unless you bring GP bikes back into them and drop inline 4's out).

Anyway, that convoluted mess is my vote.

[r1owner]

I agree with what Spooner is saying.  It's beating a dead horse, but why not lower the gate fee to 5/head/day?  I'm a big proponent of charging less to get more people in.  I still can't understand why a regular test and tune drag at Gateway on a Tuesday night will bring in several hundred spectators and we can't get nearly that many at a motorcycle race.  I guess it's because there are more people into cars than bikes...

What's better 50 people at 15 or 200 at 5?  Do the insurance costs increase as the number of spectators increase?  Just curious.

Also, I thought our license fees actually increased this year as did race entry fees. 

Apply the same concept to lower race entry fees and maybe more people will do more races or you get an additional 20 racers that weekend.

[tzracer]

The whole spectator idea is not going to work. Not that many people are going to show to watch club racing. Not enough to make any significant impact on your fees. Besides, if many did show, the tracks would consider the events to be spectator events and many tracks charge higher fees for such events.

Club racing is for racers, not for spectators. ISTR that CCS spent money on advertising and never got return on the investment.

I would rather that CCS concentrate on putting on races and improving the organization than spending money trying to attract spectators.

This is club racing. It is for fun. You should be expecting to cover all your expenses out of your own pocket. You should never count on any purse money. For me, purse/contingency money is icing on the cake. Nice to have, but not necessary. I race within my means. If money gets tight I cut back on my racing. It is not worth ruining myself financially.

[rwracer]

...This is club racing. It is for fun. You should be expecting to cover all your expenses out of your own pocket. You should never count on any purse money. For me, purse/contingency money is icing on the cake. Nice to have, but not necessary. I race within my means. If money gets tight I cut back on my racing. It is not worth ruining myself financially.

And I submit that different people race for different reasons and purposes and while your reasons work for you they certainly won't work for everybody.  That's why "largest appeal" has to be the primary justification.

And for me, racing should first be about racing, the "hobby" thing is secondary.

[George_Linhart]

Keep the GT races.  Eliminate the really small classes or run them combined with other groups (Ultra LWSB comes to mind - I think its a cool class and is fine to keep - run ULWSB with LWSS).  Redundant classes (SB/GP, Heavyweight/UNL) need to be rationalized.

Charge people for crashing and causing red flags - maybe you get 5 free rides on the Crash truck per year - anything beyond that you get hit with a $20 fee per incident.  The habitual crashers are putting us all in danger and are causing delays in the schedule which reduce everyone's track time.

Get rid of the per head entry (or lower it significantly) and just raise the entry fee for each of the races - it really discourages people from seeing the sport and maybe getting more interested.  My wife doesn't mind what I spend to enter the races but she does fume over paying $35.00 to drive in the gate.  I could probably get some friends and family to come out to watch if they didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for this non-spectator event.

George


 

[r1owner]

The whole spectator idea is not going to work. Not that many people are going to show to watch club racing. Not enough to make any significant impact on your fees. Besides, if many did show, the tracks would consider the events to be spectator events and many tracks charge higher fees for such events.

Club racing is for racers, not for spectators. ISTR that CCS spent money on advertising and never got return on the investment.

I would rather that CCS concentrate on putting on races and improving the organization than spending money trying to attract spectators.

CCS should spend money... not to attract spectators... but more racers. 

There are many street riders that don't even know this culture exists.

[YellowDesmo998]

and prbably never will on their own due to $25 gate fees.  I don't mind paying it as a racer but my wife shouldn't have to pay it.

[SV88]

Pilling on. My wife didn't appreciate the 2 drive and $50 for her and our eldest daughter to see me race at BHF (my first race); luckily we didn't have to pay for he two youngest.  I think that lowering gate fees for spectators and bringing in more food vendors would help overall