1 (edited by Mitch58 November 6, 2022 6:01 am)

Topic: Odd Thursday Attendance

Yesterday I was on the phone with Robert Lee (AKA REL-13) one of the east coast proxy organizers.
During the conversation we talked about the difficulty of getting a group together to run proxy cars which led to the subject of how covid and people moving has led to low racing attendance in general.
  He said that in Conn. they had the same problem for a while. They have 4 or 5 tracks that they rotate through as part of their regular racing.
  What they did was have each track owner build a set of IROC cars for each track and have a few extra controllers, they included this IROC race as part of their weekly program at each track so that new racers can just show up and race without having to buy a box of equipment they know nothing about. They are now back up to about 10/12 regular racers each week.
We should discuss this as an option.
  For (guest) racers at my house I have already built 3 older Slot It cars with 18K H&R motors, these cars are very smooth and easy to drive yet are capable of running in the mid 6s on my track. I also have three non adjustable 35ohm controllers that work very well with these motors. It allows everybody to be on the same footing the only advantage going to those most familiar with the track.
  We already talked about moving the BRMs from being on the schedule every week to a rotating basis and replacing it with another 1/32 scale class.
  My initial thought is to replace it with something like this as the first race each evening allowing new racers to come and participate on an even footing then perhaps stay and Marshal or borrow a car and controller and continue racing for the evening.
  This may help new racers get their feet wet without the intimidation of having to buy $$$ worth of a product they are unfamiliar with.
  Just an idea, we can discuss it as a group either on this platform or in person when we get the chance

Post's attachments

20210211_075012(1).jpg 695.44 kb, file has never been downloaded. 

You don't have the permssions to download the attachments of this post.

2 (edited by docdoom November 7, 2022 11:26 am)

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

what about just getting three of new nascar cars and put thunder slot rubber on and go race those with pm controllers. Less chance of breaking of parts sush as spoilers mirrors  ect

The secondnidator

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

It's a good idea, Mitch. Now that I'm back to my regular routine (no play rehearsals/productions), I can go back to racing. Aside from the Tacoma 24 hour race, I'll be ready to go back to odd Thursdays!

4 (edited by docdoom November 8, 2022 8:31 pm)

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

I wonder if we contact Allen and see if we could get a club deal on 3 of the new  RevoSlot RS0133A Alfa Romeo GTA White Kit 1:32 if we tell him that we are trying get more people involved in the hobby.  everybody springs 20 or 30 Washingtons might be worth a shot. Hey Monte you still on good terms with Allen? think these is something he would be up for? If not maybe three of us good spring for one each and if it does not work out, we have another car we add to our ever-expanding list

The secondnidator

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

I can talk to him but I doubt his position will allow for a discount. He pretty much needs every dollar.

As for me, already have one.

"Big Smooth"

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I have been back racing some. Though not at the Thursday races just yet. The 6pm start is just a hair earlier than I can usually make happen, though I intend to start trying harder.

My push back against this as a viable way of increasing attendance is this. Would we ever turn anyone away right now that would like to come race because they don't have cars or a controller?

My experience, and certainly my practice has been to loan any interested person a good car or controller at any time. Al let me borrow a controller for more than one of my first few races there as well.

I guess I just don't see how this is going to change the attendance level if that's the case. Seems to me that getting people to turn up in the first place is the hard part, after that getting a car and controller in their hand is easy.

I have seen many people show up for a few race days since I have been part of the club, but for some reason we don't have a high retention rate.  Upon typing this, i realize that may be because of the number of cars you need to complete just a few nights of racing. That IS something that could potentially be curbed by the IROC thing, though if they want to stay with us my guess is they will be buying anyway.........

Just my .02, I think this subject is worth some thought as a club for both 1/32 and 1/24 racing. We are gonna need some newer racers at some point to keep alive.

Zack

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

So I'm gonna wade in here. PASER started an Open Track Monday routine that has also died off substantially. In my mind simple schedules have always been a plus! I.E., Odd Thursday Night racing. You always know when it is happening. You don't even have to keep your eye on a calendar.

This year the racing schedules for Saturdays are FULL, and attendance has been pretty darn good! Again, easy to keep track of. It's Saturday there's racing somewhere.....

With all that said, and keeping "simple" as a priority, PASER is moving their Monday Open Track schedule to EVEN Thursdays. Opposite weeks of the NASTE Odd Thursday schedule with the idea of; it's Thursday, there's racing somewhere! Racers can adjust their week knowing and counting on Thursday as "race night"!

Emails will come out with more details regarding the PASER schedule. As far as NASTE goes, my only thought is classes.....My personal feeling is you need to cut back on the number of classes you actually race, and simplify those classes. I've been part of NASTE since 1996 and for the life of me I can't even figure out what's being raced anymore! What attracted me to racing 1/32 was the simplicity. I didn't have to spend a great deal of time working on the cars, and the classes we raced were quite diverse. It seems to me that nowadays all the cars run about the same regardless of the class.

My 2 cents...........I'll shut up now...........   ======Bill

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

No Bill you are right on target. Me and Al had that same discussion last race. That we need to pick handful of classes and run those cars for a full year and then rotate one or two out and bring couple others in, so everybody knows what we are running for the next year or so. example
1.group c ak gfx
2. can am
3.sport car 1
4 sports car 2
5, trans am.
and that would be it for the full season
next season we can drop a few and add replacements from the list or if everybody likes what we have stick with it till it get stall and make a change..

The secondnidator

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

Agreed. It's hard enough preparing a car for a single class, let alone for all the ones we run. But does that answer the issue of non-attendance? I know for me, sometimes it's a bit tough making the drive to Portland with what I have to do here in Newberg (Airbnb guests, goats and sheep, etc.). We have the Airbnb blocked for the rest of the year, so that won't interfere. I hope to be racing again very soon!

Re: Odd Thursday Attendance

The drive is one thing we will never be able to fix. Just have to figure out how to make the racing worth the hard yards!

Zack