Back to back weekends are killers,like Nelson and Mid Ohio coming up. Many can just not swing 2 in a row financially or time wise. The lack of (regional) races in June and July (1 at Nelson) with all the races packed into the beginning and end of the season does not make good planning sense.

With entry fees averaging almost $300 and fuel prices through the roof drivers are going to be choosing to race close to home to cut expenses. If they do decide to make a long tow they will pick the track that they like the best and for most in this division that would be Mid Ohio.

One way to help car counts is to limit the number of races. I know that a division is supposed to put on 6 Nationals. Maybe it's time to cut back to 5, one per track. We had 7 this year with one cancelled due to low entry.

12 regionals with four being restricted and attached to national weekends. These usually invite only a small group of regional only cars to help boost the attendance. The problem with this is that maybe those people will skip another race that they would have otherwise done thus hurting car count at that event.

Does the Regional Champ Series really need to have so many races? Again a few less races (5) with no more than one per track would possibly help up the car count.

And lastly the condition of ORP is despicable, with the NHRA owning the track road racers (and the Indy region) will never get a fair shake, they just don't care. Maybe it's time for the club to do whatever needs to be done to get back into Putnam Park.

Just some thoughts.
Dave Dawson
FST88
Assistant Race Chair SBR

First, National should show they are different from the Wash. DC bureacracy and make do with less(from the regions) for a change. They made part of the current problem and should help fix it. How can Larry Dent help lower our Insurance rates?

Consider a double Nat. at Mid Ohio with a friday practice/qual day. A second qual on Sat and races from then on. Make it a spectator event and bill it as "Racing beginning Sat. At 1:00 and all day Sunday". This might help raise the club's stature with track Mgmt(if possible).

Perhaps some regionals should be shifted to more SCCA friendly tracks rather than Mid-O.

Be flexible with Indy region as they attempt to improve the situation. This is a very accessible part of the division for many if the facility were more racer friendly.

I can recall many Mich. racers over the years that only ran Mich. races. The economy there has especially affected those races. This will take a few years to cycle through. I prefer Grattan to Gingerman.
That said, Gingerman has never had a decent date on the schedule.

Re-joining the division hosting the Runoffs would be a pretty smart move. Grattan, Gingerman, and ORP all suffered this year with less "access" to the racers in Cendiv, esp. Chicago. Some racers would prefer to race away from the large fields Rd. America will be seeing. The great lakes tracks are an obvious alternative. Detroit racers should consider that they might soon find themselves in a larger Northeast division.

Kentucky is a matter for 2010.

Dayle,

I would first like to comment on some of your points (the others I generally agree with, or do not disagree).

Under Assumptions
1. That some national drivers that aren't planning on going to Topeka have not been racing may be true, but there may be other reasons that some national drivers were not competing this past year.
4. Yes, Mid-Ohio is expensive, but it is also a great racetrack that drivers like. I believe it is possible to put on profitable races there. You just need to control costs and get the car counts up.

Under Facts
4. I would not count on Bluegrass being an operational track for SCCA races until it gets closer. Regions have "scheduled" events there for next year, but there may be some risk that it is not ready by those dates.
6. Cincy's event was well attended when you consider the economy and fuel prices. Costs were well controlled and it should come out on the positive side.

As for what to do within the division for next year, I'll throw out my nieve opinion. It looks to me like each region in the division is looking out for themselves (as they financially should). However, openness and cooperation between regions should be considered and encouraged.

An example would be for each region that is planning a race at a specific racetrack, to provide a focal point that joins with the focal points of the other regions to put together a collective voice that the racetrack deals with. The track would most likely rather deal with the SCCA instead of individual regions. In the end, the track will still be contracting with each region, but a more consistant track product should result for all the regions that put on races. It might also be potentially beneficial to investigate a multi-year deal.

Especially as some potential new tracks come on line, there will probably be regions that currently are not "racing regions" that will want to take on putting on club races. This should be encouraged and they should try to work with a region that is currently putting on races to quickly learn some of the finer points of putting on an event. Existing "race regions" should be willing to share their knowledge, hopefully, for the benefit of all.

There should be an open recognition of who the race officials and workers are, and where they come from. Each region should work diligently to grow officials and workers to support events in their area, but to also share the resources where needed (as well as call on other regions for help).

I know that there will be a lot of negative comments about my thoughts, but I challenge the ney sayers to turn their attitude around and let's see what we can do if we try to work together.

More races, less races, combined regionals and nationals, dual nationals, and double nationals are all combinations that are going to be debated. The GLD leadership needs to put a plan together and let the regions know the plan before the Roundtable in November. The regions should then come to the meeting ready to support the GLD plan.

Jerry Cabe

I will speak of the National program. Make it something that drivers want to go to like Cincy's 8/8/08 Regional. GLD needs to drop IRP/ORP, move the 1st National into May, do not race on Mother's Day. Do not schedule a double at Nelson and then the following weekend at Mid Ohio. Mid Ohio is the biggest Gem in the GLD inventory and if any track has 2 races it should be there.
Drivers are looking for competition and quality track time on a fun course. GLD needs to find ways for the fence sitters to bring those cars out for a National weekend. I am sorry to say it comes down to promotion. With the Runoffs moving back to the Midwest that may help our numbers. If we do not make some changes then we may be in for smaller fields when it is moved again.

Maybe the BOD canidates will share their views on what will improve the National Championships in GLD.

Tom Patton

Dayle & GLD Members,

I appreciate the comments submitted by all so far and thought I would chime in from my perspective, especially since I work in the Motorsports Industry. First off many series and sanctioing bodies if not all are down, whether it be car count, attendance and especially sponsorship. The ones that overcome in tough times are the ones that change and adapt. The bible of the GCR is holding us down, especially as it relates to track time in Nationals. There is no reason we need 45 minutes per class of practice and qualifying. All of tracks offer test days on Friday. I have 4 races this year in 2 double nationals. That works great. The SE Region ran 3 double nationals this year and 11 Nationals. I understand weather has a big factor but each double national I ran we had 40 to 45 minutes of qualifying time no pratice. Each session was qualifying. I used 15 to 20 mintues! Its qualifying you need one hot lap and then shut it down. We should consider spliting the sessions. Combine similiar lap time classes or groups, i.e. 15 minutes SRF and 15 minutes EP, GTL etc. without stopping if you break down push it to safety and wait until the 2nd group in the session gets their 15 min. in.

The doubles make so much sense on your travel, hotel, fuel, food etc expenses. We have 2 holiday weekends at least where we have Friday or Monday as a holiday. The region revenue is obviously much better as well, as higher entry fees, plus added car counts.

I am upset that the combining and elimination of groups was overturned by the BOD. Combining classes and consolidation of classes is a must. Sorry if I offend some but I am in SRF, we have great car counts and I never complain if we have to run with EP, or GTL or any others to make a strong field. It's racing and negotiating slower traffic is part of fun. The GCR says a minimum of 5 groups, it does not say try and squeeze in 8! Some of which had less than 10 cars this year, that's not quality use of track time.

I am open to any changes, but changes are a must before the GLD is sucked back into CENDIV.

Thanks - Jeff Barrow SRF #06

I am a novice driver running in HP, so my experience is pretty limited, but as a new driver I would like to share my views. Double regional events seem to have lower entry fees, lower expenses (tow, motel, etc) when viewed as two races vs one, more track time, two credits on your license for the same buck. Personally, I think regions could skip the free Saturday night dinner and lower entry fees. Just my two cents. Thanks

Is is possible to run limited class Nationals? Say have 7 weekends but only have a class run at 6 events or maybe have 5 Double Nationals with a class only running at 3 of the weekends? The limited classes would allow more seat time or something else to improve income. Limiting the number of weekends would greatly reduce the tow and lodging costs. I know this is out of the box but I don't think the currrent path is going to get us back in shape. Can we squeeze in a PDX at these events to generate some money? I am sure there is a better idea out there somewhere, we just need to keep bringing up ideas and find it.

Marcus Merideth
Candidate for Area 4 Director

Concerning tracks, ORP is real bumpy, although if they fix it then things should come back. The likelihood of that is very minimal. So Putnam Park would be a great alternative. Running Nationals gives you longer races, which means more seat time and less money. Double Regionals that cost over $300.00 is a little steep and short races. If you run National / Regionals, that’s even more money and some Regional guys don’t stick around for the National. Running Nationals is not indicative of trying to qualify for the Runoffs, but for a longer race. For me, I like Nationals for that reason. As the previous post, maybe split the groups per day. Run some classes Saturday, giving them what the GCR says for Nationals. Then the rest Sunday. Alternate it between race weekends throughout the year. That way for 1.) you’re there one day. 2.) you’re not waiting around all day to get in the car. 3.) saves lodging and food money 4.) saves time, whereas the boss (wife) doesn’t complain because your gone all weekend. Give region members incentive to race all the races, like a discount on the last race. Also a cheaper entry fee would be nice too.

My Two Cents!

The problem of the shrinking grids that we now face is in my mind primarily a result of the split of our division. Whlie the economy and increasing fuel costs certainly had a negative impact, those factors are out of our control. The split of the Division has literally spread our previous car count/membership over two divisions and more race events. This was a foreseeable outcome of the split and now we have to figure out what, if anything, can be done to rectify the resulting problem. I was not directly involved in this debacle however based upon the "reasoning" behind the decision it was simply not justified. As an active racer in the Division I was and still am mad as hell about this.

Assuming that we cannot deal with the split of the division at this stage we must focus on getting more participation out of our Great Lakes members. For many of the racers that I talk with one of the major costs of racing is simply being away from work. Double race weekends would help to reduce travel costs and ultimately the time away from home. When I speak with club officials
I am told that these are difficult to schedule and require cooperation among the regions which is not forthcoming. If elected to the BOD I will take every action possible to make these types of events happen and will work towards ending conflict among the regions.

Quality Faclities, Quality Events, Quality Time!!

As Mr. Patton pointed out, Mid Ohio is the Great Lakes premier race course and we need to make every effort to showcase this facility and gain more race dates. While I certainly appreciate the inflated costs of hosting events at Mid Ohio this is not an insurmountable task.

Hosting events on Mothers'Day, early in the spring at our northernmost track or at facilities that are in deporable condition simply depreciates the value of all of the events in our Division. We need to bring our regions together to work for the better of the Division. We need them to cooperate and work towards hosting high quality well attended events. If this means co-hosting events then so be it. In looking at the race calendar each season I am struck by the large number of events we have scheduled. We need to weed out the low attendance events; this by itself will help increase event participation. Again, I believe that the racers, those who vote with their pocketbook would prefer a small number of high quality well attended events over a large number of "run of the mill" events. In this regard I have spoken with a number of people in the motorsports industry who concur and report that while attendance at "regular events" was down in 2008, premier events still did well.

Calling on history we might also consider ressurecting the "Showcase Series" that was run a number of years ago. As I recall these events promoted some contingency awards and "press coverage" at tracks throughout the Division.

While I can go on with other ideas that "I" have; what is most important is what "YOU" the Great Lakes racers want and will respond to. The club needs to canvass the racers and find out what will get their cars out of the garage and onto the track! Unfortunately with the schedule to be determined in the upcoming weeks I am not sure that we have any better information to base decisions on than we have had over the past few seasons.

Rest assured that if elected I will do my best to talk with as many of you as possible and sift through the ideas looking for the combination that will result in high quality, well attended events. We need to be proactive in searching for solutions instead of standing around complaining about poor turn outs and bad track conditions!

Finally, I will work towards bringing the Runoffs to the Racing Capital of the World, Indianapolis! This will most certainly help the health of our Division.

Regards,

John LaRue

We have a pretty good little series, the East-West Challenge for regional FF and CFF. We've been doing pretty well but of course the economy hit us pretty badly this year. Issues we have:

The division split has probably hurt the number of drivers willing to fight through Chicago to come over to Grattan and MidOhio.

The scheduling made us decrease our series schedule from 5 weekends to 4 because there were no regional races in the middle of the season. The old CenDiv had a hard enough time resolving conflicts when we were all one division and supposedly worked together. This appears to only have gotten worse with the split.

What I propose: I tried to write a web application to create a site where raceers and workers could indicate interest in racing at a particular event. NO, not register like DLB, indicate interest. No, not look at who has registered like on DLB, but only indicate interest. Like at the beginning of the year.

It would be a simple matrix with each column being a different event. Each row would be a different class with rows for various worker specialties. Each box of the matrix would show how many people had logged on and indicated interest. The whole matrix would be viewable in one scrollable window.

The idea is this would "build buzz" as they say in the marketing game and encourage drivers to reach critical mass. It would also help race chairs to see if critical mass was building for their event.

I was told by people why I couldn't do what I have just described. If anyone thinks it's worth doing the idea is now out there.

Seat time is the key. Every event should be a double. Reduce the conflicts between Regional, National, and GLD / CD. I was able to attend a few CD events but was limited due to conflicts. Schedule considerations based on our weather. Start the season south and then to the north. Consider combining the Divisions. Times have changed and we need to be able to adjust to keep the sport going. Once things have turned around, the split may be justified.

I made choices not to attend ORP and NL based only on the conditions of the tracks. I would return to these only when conditions are better. Keep in mind that the people putting on the event were great! Mid O is a great track even though it cost more than some of the others, which has not stopped me from attending.

I know some regional groups ran at a National event. Why not combine all Regional and National events? Put everyone together for the class. Might be harder for scoring, but could increase the car count and reduce event conflicts. Driver would have to declare Regional or National with entry. Might look bad when the Regional guy is the overall winner!

From a driver view, the more events the better - back to seat time through the entire season. These ties back to schedules and conflicts. One post above suggested a method to capture interest or intent. This could set the stage as each team works through their conflicts. Post the proposed schedule after the run offs, collect the interest, lock in the event based on the interest.

I know there is a tendency not to schedule events around Holidays, but to me these are bonus days. I may not have to use a vacation day or be "sick" to be able to get there and back. Again the interest survey could help out.

Let's not forget about the workers! No racing without this great group. Conflicts with events can run us to the critical level for having the event. We need to consider actions to keep them coming. When they have fun - so do we.

Pat Goolsbey

I am member of the central division and prior to the break up, my son, daughter and I did about 50 total race weekends at Grattan, GM and Mid-Ohio. We have two SRF's. You might recognize one of the two cars which was the purple 79. We loved racing at Grattan and GM. Won many races and had the srf track records for a time. We haven't been back for two years do to 3 things.

The last race we did was a national at Grattan. We came to register and found that our entry was one day late and they charged me a late fee after 10 years of racing there. This was the first time I had ever been late, but they would not even consider waiving the fee. We paid the late fee and then during the weekend we were having problems with the car. A number of drivers went to the Chief S and asked if he could extend the hardship past the one lap, as they had already combined two groups and had the time. This is what he said to me. "There is not a chance in hell that we will do that". I did not argue with him, I just went my way thinking what a Jerk. Why not just say sorry we can't do that. So we had the one lap hardship lap. Big help. That was the last time we have raced at Grattan after 10 years of loving the track. We use to make all 4 weekends. 2 Nationals and 2 double regionals.

The 2nd reason is the split. It has not worked well for either of the two parties. Forget the pride! Pride can be an obstacle's to survival.

The 3rd reason is the cost of driving from Minneapolis to the Michigan tracks. One way of making this worth our while is to have Double nationals. This would be a win win situation for, the division as it would have to rent the track only once, the workers, as it would cut their travel cost in half and for us it would also cut our travel cost in half. Have no problem paying double entry for two races. So where are we now racing. All of the races we were doing in Michigan and Ohio are now being raced in the Midwest division. MAM, and Topeka. Easy to get to and the people are very nice to work with. They actually bend over backwards to get us to go there.

Summation treat us like customers, consider merging back and double nationals. For the record, the incident at Grattan was the only time in 10 years that we had a problem, but it still sticks with us. Kind of like getting a bad steak at a restaurant. Do you go back?

Looking at the tentative 2009 schedule, why are there Nationals on back to back weekends at different tracks? Cadence is key to finding the time to enjoy our hobby. If it becomes too much of a hassle we find something else to do.

Also, I agree with Pat above. I too am a Central Division racer but I've always tried to race where I want to race regardless of what division or other artificial delineator exists. But frankly, now post split its more aggro to go east. My reserved number used to work on both sides of the lake, now thanks to a split that appears requested by administrators not the members, I have albeit minimally more expense and hassle to change numbers to go run. When I inquired the first year after the split if they would grandfather CedDiv racers with permanent numbers at all I was flatly told no, only GLD region of record drivers can have a reserved number in GLD. Well, thanks for the hospitality.

Interestingly, I have done one and exactly one National in NEDiv each of the last few years. Even though I was not a NEDiv member, I was invited to request a permanent number in the NEDiv. And, by the way, I was not charged for it and they contacted me to see if I was coming back and wanted to renew it for another year! So, maybe thats not how its done in GLDiv, but I have found myself driving through GLDiv instead of stopping within to go race.

Interesting thread... I'm glad I waited to chime in. I didn't race at all this summer (2008) due to a number of issues - but if I had it is likely my vintage legal Lola S2 car and I would have run more vintage races than Nationals. And before you say "Oh, vintage wanker", I competed at the RunOffs in 2006 and ran two Nationals in '07.

I have absolutely no interest in tearing up my car at ORP and Nelson Ledges. Period. Mid Ohio is a fantastic venue - and so we race one National there, three sessions. I get three sessions a DAY there (for THREE days) at a vintage event. And yes, the entry fee is higher - but the entry fee is not one of my top three weekend expenses, maybe not even top five...

I have been on the receiving end of some comments from officials similar to those outined above - not exactly a warm fuzzy feeling. "Spin once more and we'll send you home" - it was sleeting and I was on slicks for crying out loud! You think I was trying to spin???

Race on Mother's Day? My wife says never again.

Race in Sleet or Snow? I don't think so, I'm not allowed to spin anymore, remember?

Race on back to back weekends? Nope, gotta prep the car and cut the grass sometime.

The new schedule for Great Lakes Nationals is a start - if a bit sparse. But at least a trip to Topeka is no longer the PRIZE!!!

I wish I had more answers but I don't often drive home from SCCA Nationals anymore thinking what a good time my crew and I had. This sport is about competing and making memories and if most of the memories aren't good - the sport will no longer prosper. Just as the Regions have to compete with other groups to rent tracks - they also compete for MY racing dollars. For a growing group of competitors, SCCA has lost its way. Too much rough driving and overzealous officiating and cost escalation - too many attempts to race venues at which Regions can make money but competitors don't particularly wish to race. We'll see what 2009 brings...

I was at the scheduling meeting at the Round Table in Dayton. The meeting was interesting to say the least. We did our very best to spread the schedule but were not able to eliminate the back to back with NL and G'Man. There are fewer National races and there is a double in there too. All in all, not too bad. Fewer races should make the car counts go up (along with the Runoffs being in our backyard again).

Dayle Frame

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GLDiv webmaster; Wounded Turtle Racing HP#80
WMR Director, webmaster

I would disagree with the above statement made by someone about Putnam Park. I have run that course on multiple occasions, it is an excellent course very smooth with A LOT of runoff room, except in the last turn. And if people are worried about one turn then the best advise is to stay on the track. If it's good enough for CART and now the IRL it is most assuredly good enough for Club Racing.
The problem that SCCA will have is getting on the schedule, it is typically full over a year in advance.