Subject: Re: NO WAY!
> Jim and Thom are right on, here. My car is different, unusual and cute
but
>not likely to draw thousands of paying spectators to vintage events.
> Promotion will not lower our costs. Case in point: SVRA at Mid-Ohio.
Very
>well promoted. Lots of corporate sponsorship (for a vintage event). Draws
>30,000 to 40,000 spectators. All of this gets you the honor of paying the
>highest entry fee of the season, for often marginal track time.
> I support and enjoy SVRA events, but promotion of that one has not been a
>benefit to the members. It may even have played a part in running off a
very
>enjoyable HSR vintage date at Mid-Ohio in July. (now replaced with Watkins
>Glen)
>
> Doug Meis -- 1967 Honda S800
> Team Escargot "RUB SHOULDERS, NOT FENDERS!" (and very much opposed to the
>idea of hard drivin' lunatics crashing and burning trying to win that
>championship and prize money!)
>
Doug,
Please consider who benefits from promotion and in what direct and indirect
ways. Barbara Trueman and her daughter Michelle own the track and have
owned the gate since the first SVRA event. They have consistently worked
the local media and the local car clubs and have built the gate from small
to large, and to my eye it fell off in the last year or two. SVRA gets no
share of the gate but indirect benefits are there. The combination of a
good, safe, clean track and a large crowd brings more entries. 80% or so
of SVRA revenue is from entries. Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen carry SVRA so
that they can provide 7 more events that might not stand on their own. I
think that is a HUGE benefit to the members. Let's hope that we can keep it
that way so the new owner, Peter McLaughlin, can maintain the full schedule.
The fees are only higher at Mid-Ohio and the Glen because they are 4 day
events. On a cost per day basis they are OK. SVRA entries are a bit
higher, but the SVRA costs are higher than most others: Larger staff.
Wider travel costs. Better insurance. Full time management. Consistent
policies.
As to the loss of the HSR event, this probably relates to the declining gate
at the SVRA event. SVRA asked for a second event long before there was an
HSR and Barbara always said that she would not dilute the primary event.
The HSR (non-spectator) event was supposed to be a test to see if there was
dilution, I suspect that there was as I see no other reason for Mid-Ohio's
surprise cancellation of the HSR event.
Racing regards
Pat Ryan - Unfair Advantage Racing Team (UFART)
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