SVRA/VSCDA - Members

[dougie]

Hello all-

I thought I would float this question to members of both these clubs. Why is it that what appears to be the premiere fall vintage event for each club is held on the same weekend in September each year? I would think the turn out for both events would increase if the weekends were staggered. A few of us here in the NW are starting to plan a 2012 trip to Road America for VSCDA's Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival and would love to catch SVRA's race at the Glen. I'm sure I'm not alone in this observation, maybe someone has the insight.

Thank you,

Dougie

 

[Monkeywrench]

You're not and I'm not sure either. VRG, VDCA, SVRA, seems to be always conflicting with dates.

Some of the small bore competitors don't really like SVRA since their entry fees are a little higher and track time is slightly less. There seems to be a lot of "us vs them" with the smaller sanctioning bodies vs SVRA, but they all use SVRA's rules, so go figure. Not all of SVRA's events are well attended, but you can guarantee that SVRA's Gold Cup, KIC, and Watkins Glen Gran Prix are all going to be very well attended. They're as close to SCCA's June Sprints or Runoffs go as far as car counts, competition level, and atmosphere. Healeys like yours would be in Group 3 and they typically have 50+ car fields at the Watkins Glen event, so you'll always be racing with someone.

Unless the Road America event is a "marque" race, I'd spend extra go farther east and run at Watkins Glen.

 

[CurtisJ]

As long as you're driving all the way across America, why not come a week early and run at both Lime Rock and Watkins Glen?

 

[aeronca65t]

Great question. There's lots of variables to this schedule conflict.

I can tell you that when I was RaceChair of one of the eastern clubs (EMRA), it was real hard to get dates unless you asked 3 or 4 years ahead of time.....and even then, with no guarantee.
That's essentially what Marianne Shoemaker (at Watkins Glen) told me.

Each track has it's own system and date calendar and there's really no coordination between them (unless the clubs facilitate it).

Also, there at least two new tracks scheduled to open and we already have two fairly new ones in the northeast (plus the effects of the "club thing" at Lime Rock). So things are likely to get more complicated.

I know that me and others at VRG have been urging Tim and the guys that run the Classic Motorsports Small Bore Cup to move their Savannah date so they could also join us at our Jefferson 500 event. We've finally been able set this up for 2011 (and are very happy), but this stuff takes time and there always seems to be a mulititude of factors affecting things.
A few years ago, NASCAR wanted a last-minute, extra weekend of testing at Pocono. So they "bumped" the NASA-NE region out of their slot (at the last minute). Since NASA-NE had more dates at Pocono, the managment let them bump EMRA out of a following weekend. This stuff happens regularly between the bigger for-profit groups and smaller, non-profit clubs. And it's not always done nicely.

VRG has been running a growing, early September vintage event at NJMP for the last three years. This year, SVRA has walked in and has taken that event over. They have more money and have paid staff to push their viewpoint. I guess that's the way it is.

By the way, it'll be interesting to see how things go at SVRA. Peter McLauglin in now sole owner (as of a few weeks ago). In the past he was part-owner and SVRA and HSR had a partnership. HSR has now been divorced from SVRA. And Carl Jensen (the guy running SVRA on a day-to-day basis for a number of years) has suddenly left. And there's Rahal's group, which looks like a flop, but may still compete with SVRA somewhat (it'll have no real affect on the smaller clubs). Lots of stuff happening that makes future calendars seem hard to predict.

Meanwhile, some of the smaller, non-profit clubs are trying to work cooperatively. VRG has VDCA and VARAC on their calendar (and vis-versa). You may see more of the small clubs banding together to survive.

 

[Monkeywrench]

My understanding is the Ferrari Club stole SVRA's late September/ first weekend of October date at NJMP last year. I guess it all has a trickle down effect. SVRA's 2009 NJMP race had ~120 cars or so. I'm not sure how that compares to VRG's turnout.


Not to bash the smaller clubs, but isn't EMRA hurting, and their whole aim was to attract low budget racers? The economy effects everyone, but it effects the big bore/ Can Am / Formula car racers less than it does the budget minded small bore racer. You can't fault SVRA for going after those guys... they're still showing up to the races.

 

[aeronca65t]

My understanding is the Ferrari Club stole SVRA's late September/ first weekend of October date at NJMP last year. I guess it all has a trickle down effect.

Not my understanding, but either way, it all does trickle down.

.....SVRA's 2009 NJMP race had ~120 cars or so. I'm not sure how that compares to VRG's turnout.

VRG was similar.

Not to bash the smaller clubs, but isn't EMRA hurting, and their whole aim was to attract low budget racers?

Actually, EMRA was going OK. I ran my first EMRA event in '72, so they have a long history as an alternate to the SCAA. But in '08 it was discovered that there was some funny money stuff going on. Not cool with a 501C non-profit. Lots of folks quit (including me and 7 other board members) and the bad guys stayed on and almost bled it dry...then walked away. Kind of like a Bernie Madoff deal. These days there are some good guys back in charge, but it may be too late. It was a great club. The current economy had little to do with EMRA's problems......it was financial shenanigans by a small number of creeps.

I don't blame SVRA for going after customers. They are for-profit and it's a business decision. As long as they offer folks a safe environment and a good amount of track time at reasonable rates, they'll do OK. It's the same reason way NASA has does so well against the SCCA.