I believe that the way things are going, the only
fair and reasonable way to solve the attendance
problem is to have two series of events, to really
split off Rookies and Champs.
Let's not put in any entry cutoffs, or onerous restrictions
on entries. We really do want to continue to recruit
new drivers! We just need to find a way to give all the
chance to run in uncrowded events, and learn autocrossing.
After all, some say our mission is to develop the winningest team
of competitors at Nationals..
Suppose we put on a Rookie Series -- only open to those with
less than two years' experience and those signed up as Mentors
or instructors. These rookies would be also
learning to run events by chairing events and running them
with the help of some select experienced drivers.
The incentive for mentors and instructors is the chance to
run more events and get the additional seat time. No
points would be given to mentors and instructors, but Rookies
would compete for trophies as now.
We also put on a Championship Series, open only to those
who have competed in a certain number of autocrosses
(Rookie series or other clubs). There would not be any
Rookie program, and no instruction at these events. Entrants
must pre-register for the series and pay in advance for all
events. The goal would be for people to run in a specific
class for points.
There could be eight or ten events in each series, and events
would never conflict, so Championship entrants could
always be available for mentoring.
The Autocross school could be combined with the Rookie Series
such that nobody who did not compete in Rookie series could
attend the school. I for one hate wasting my time teaching
people who just want a day's entertainment with no real
interest in the sport..
All of the Slush Series would be Rookie events, and no
Open class trophies would be awarded -- also all experienced
drivers must be mentors and/or instructors to be able to run.
Fewer serious autocrossers would attend Rookie events. No
Rookies would be eligible to attend the Championship Series.
Each would have a more reasonable number. We should be able
to bring in 150-175 to each event, which would be a very
reasonable number. Those who just liked to run and didn't care
about points would run the rookie events as mentors for no points,
but maybe lots of seat time. Those who didn't want to train
rookies would get a serious series for hard-bitten competitors
running with experienced folks only, run by experienced folks
only. Fewer events, but better. And they could also attend
AAS, NASA, and Sac events to get a full plate of events.
This would also mean fewer events in the Championship series,
which would answer some complaints by our serious competitors
about too many events.
We would not have to get any more venues than we did this
year, for example. We might assign Championship events to the
best surfaced sites, too.
We could start this year's Rookie Series off in this way -- no Open
Class trophies, Rookie trophies only. Old timers can run only if
they take a mentor or instructor role. Extensive training
on running events for the rookies. We can continue the
program next year.
Jerry
Jerry Mouton mailto:jerry@moutons.org Laissez les bons temps
rouler!
|