Was kind of shocked to see the press release this morning about capping the
number of Nationals entries. Got me off my ass to fax in my entry real quick!
I'm on digest so haven't seen any responses to it yet... but I'm assuming
there will be a couple of sides to the issue:
o You should have gotten your entry in on time
o We should never turn people away from autocross as long as the site permits
o We should cap it at 1000 just because
o We should only allow people who have qualified (trophied at a tour or
divisional) to enter.
Obviously there's going to be points on either side of those. Personally,
I side with #2 (see below).
I checked back in my archives and found this post from Lindsay Wilson,
reposted without permission (sorry!) but I think it's
interesting. Following the thread, there wasn't really much discussion on
it... Rocky responded saying he didn't know the answer but basically
thought we shouldn't cap if possible, a couple people talked about events
in Texas starting to get too big for 4 runs, and then it ended up in Mark
Sirota's [correct] analysis of car starting intervals determining running
time, not course length. I don't think the real question ever got answered.
>D a t e: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 14:50:11 -0600
>F r o m: Lindsay Wilson <lwilson1@ford.com>
>S u b j e c t: new debate question, 1K in 2K?
>
>Question;
>
>Would it be a 'good thing' to have 1,000+ entries at the
>2000 Tire Rack SCCA Solo2 National Championships?
>
>In 1997 we hoped long and hard for the 'magic' 1000 entries
>for the 25th anniversary. Got 927 "competitors" as I recall.
>(Check me on that please Rocky E.) Every year since, we have
>talked about the magic 1,000. What would happen if we actually
>got those 1,000 entries? Not much really, a roughly 10% increase
>wouldn't mean much. We'd hardly notice the extra 100 or so drivers.
>BUT, what if in trying to get the 'magic' 1000, 1200 or 1400 show
>up? An extra 300 - 500 WOULD be noticed! LONG days. Tight
>paddock space, crowded award party, etc.
>
>So, the question I ask; should an effort be made to get more drivers
>to the 2000 Tire Rack SCCA Solo2 National Championships?
>
>
> Lindsay
Being from San Francisco region where we have recently started requiring
membership to run with us to help slow our increased attendance problems I
can stand on both sides of the issue. But in our case, it's more of a
space and time issue than I think happens at Topeka. Except I guess the
banquets will be too busy with 1200 entries (I would skip a banquet to be
able to attend otherwise).
This thread also came up about limiting one of the tours if I recall.
To answer Lindsay's question: Yes, I think it's a good thing to have that
big attendance and that many people enjoying our sport. If we need to find
a way to get them all to run (Run Monday... 5 days or more? A lot of horse
shows run over a week or two) or a way to make them fit in a banquet hall
(maybe not serve dinner) then I think that's what we need to do. Limiting
our sport especially at a national level is, imho, a way to discourage
those people that do run regional events to try to compete and want to be a
national champion. I for one find national events far more enjoyable than
regionals... but I'm glad I stated in the SFR regional program and was
nurtured from the beginning. I'm not a competitive national-level driver
but that's where I want to play.
--Darren
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