Misc. thoughts on no events in Canada anymore :(

[sdef]

When I saw the most recent issue of the Drift I was disappointed to see the club has lost money at Calabogie and Mosport in the past, and is now not going to reserve the tracks anymore. When I think of the best times I have had with COM it is the trips to Canada. So here are my thoughts and questions-

For those who thought of going to Calabogie and Mosport what made you decide to not pay for the event? Was it the month/days of the week? Price of gas? Family commitment? What would have made you register and pay for the event?
I have some thoughts on how the club could offset the money lost at an event.

Would you be willing to not get a trophy? In the Drift it was listed that $870 and $1100 were spent on trophies at the two Canadian events last year. If you have to have a trophy would you be ok with a paper certificate with a $5 gift card to Dunkin Donuts?

I use to run with CART (Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team) they ran auto crosses throughout the race season. It was $20 for the event in the morning and then $2 or $3 for each extra run you wanted to make in the afternoon. I was told that they used the money to help offset the price of other events. Is this something COM could do? Would our membership be interested in attending an autocross? I would be willing to volunteer my time at every event to help set the track up/down and do timing. My guess is they would make about $1000 at each event, but I am not sure if they had to pay to use the parking lot. Last year CART ran 14 auto cross events. Even if they had to pay half to rental fees, they still would have made $7000 last year in auto cross events.

Could we cosponsor Canadian events with other clubs so that there would hopefully be no loss of money but money made on the event?

Could we raise membership by $5 or New Hampshire events by $10

Let’s get creative and find the money for these events in Canada. Those of you have been to a Canadian event know how much more enjoyable these tracks are than NHMS. Calabogie is 3 miles of track, 20 turns, and about 3 years old! There were times when I felt I had the track to myself because no one ever caught me and I never caught anyone else on the track. NHMS is 1.6 miles of older track, and 12 turns.

Regards to all,

Stuart

[chaos4NH]

Great ideas/suggestions!
CoSponsorship of events is something we are currently working on. John Spain has been in contact with other clubs over the past 6 months. We are working on it!
Will Martin similar thoughts about working with autox groups. We are working on it!

[escortracer]

Those are some good ideas. However the trophies are the reason I race with Com. It is the only thing I have to show for my money. Maybe it would be a better idea to see where money is spent elswhere as an incentive to certain people. As for the auto cross, it does not appeal to me but that is just my opinion. Cosponsoring with other clubs is a good idea as long as the competitor from the other club classes themself correctly. Incorrect classing can cost the club money as it has already done this year.

I enjoy the Canadian tracks I think they are more fun than NHMS. I was only able to attend one event however because of my work schedule. Last year If I'm not mistaken I attended everyone, and I encourage all members to attend these tracks you will be pleasantly surprised.

Correct me if I am wrong, last year the board raised registration rate at NHMS by $25.00 dollars compared to the Canadian tracks. In my opinion raising rates sounds like a good idea, however we may lose more members and revenue.

[cuda6666]

BTW, Mt. Tremblant is in Canada.

[Shawn624]

I prefer the events that are less hurried and less crowded. This year it was my intention to attend only the away events because I enjoy them much more than the crowded NHIS events. Then I went to some of the NHIS events because a crowded race track is better than a wide open yard full of leaves and a crowded dump run. I believe that all of the Canadian events were weekdays with the possible exception of one holiday. A trip to Mosport almost always includes the Wednesday after the event and the Sunday before for traveling. I often make up work before and after an event using the weekend before and some late nights before and after. Mosport undermines that effort. It actually takes twice as much time off for a two day Mosport event during the week than it does for a two day NHIS event during the week.

It's well worth the time and the trip, but I can see why some people can't make it happen. Teaming with another club for a weekend event sounds like a great idea.

[brucesallen]

Stu,
Great ideas. You ought to come to the club and Board meeting next week. We have discussed all of these ideas at one time or another. Specifically on trophies, we cut the budget in half several months ago and now it is a small portion of the event cost. Toni has been coming up with great trophies at this lower expense. It is almost impossible to make up for an $8,000 loss on one event and the Board has decided that we no longer can subsidize Mosport and Calabogie to that extent. Club members have voted tih their checkbooks. A couple of years ago we cut out Summit Point for the same reason. The only hope is joint events with other clubs and John Spain has been working aggressively to that end.

[morrism]

For all the COM events, the biggest factor for me that I don't have the vacation days burn so that I can participate in a weekday event. Based on the same vacation days are precious principle, I also stay away from events where I will need vacation time to travel to and from the track. Calabogie is as far as away as I can go and still make the drive home on the same day as the event. It also helps that Calabogie has been on a holiday. I would love to go to Mosport, but considering that it is often midweek and would require 3+ days of vacation time, I have not done it so far.

Summary: please get more weekend or holiday dates, I am willing to pay more for said dates!

[breakaway500]

I am glad I went to Mt.Tremblant and Mosport this year. I would go back in a heartbeat to either venue,and I was disappointed to hear Mosport and Calaboogie will not have COM dates next year. There is no comparison to NHMS.
I understand how convenient NHMS is,however the sacrifice to attend the Canadian events is worth it many times over,in my mind.

I am glad at least Mt.Tremblant is still on the schedule and wild horses could not keep me away.

I recently caught a special on Speed By Tom Kendal at Curcuit Mt.Tremblant, who was testing the new Hyundai Genesis V8 sedan, and it brought tears to my eyes as they travelled around the circuit. I felt home sick.

[tju-vette]

Like many I'm sure, for me it's a matter of time off and money. I would love to run the full COM schedule and may end up kicking myself that I haven't made it to any Canadian events as of yet, but doing that takes a lot of resources.

I would like to see COM co-sponsor with other clubs if that helps keep these events alive and going. Having a variety of events to choose from is certainly nice.

[chaos4NH]

I am glad I went to Mt.Tremblant and Mosport this year. I would go back in a heartbeat to either venue,and I was disappointed to hear Mosport and Calaboogie will not have COM dates next year. There is no comparison to NHMS.
I understand how convenient NHMS is,however the sacrifice to attend the Canadian events is worth it many times over,in my mind.

I am glad at least Mt.Tremblant is still on the schedule and wild horses could not keep me away.

I recently caught a special on Speed By Tom Kendal at Curcuit Mt.Tremblant, who was testing the new Hyundai Genesis V8 sedan, and it brought tears to my eyes as they travelled around the circuit. I felt home sick.

Ya, I get tears in my eyes too!! 2007 truck and trailer stolen, 2008 crunched the car! Are you sure we have to go back there?

[Shawn624]

Ya, I get tears in my eyes too!! 2007 truck and trailer stolen, 2008 crunched the car! Are you sure we have to go back there?

Kinda feels like you left a little part of you there, huh?

There are little parts of my last motor there.

[rajito]

There's a permanent mark on Jihad Alley from my blue car. I'm sure if you sniffed around in that area, you'd probably detect a faint trace of some bodily emissions as well.

I still love that track. What kept me away from many of the events this year was vacation time and money. It probably costs half as much to do the NHMS events as it does for Mosport, Tremblant and Calabogie, but if I wanted to go to NHMS, I'd just attend an open test day.

I'm hoping to hit WGI and Tremblant next year.

Raj

[StephanAlfa]

We need tracks like Mosport and Mont Tremblant... it brings excellence to the club, that we go to these tracks with so much legacy.
I think at least ONE in Canada should be a must and we rotate every year. Given this, we also whould make it on a week-end when possible because of the travel time. It's a lot easier to take a Fri+Mon off to travel to and from than having an event on week-days.

Also why not try new tracks? the new on in NJ, Beaver Run, Pocono. It's just a question w/o much research...
Raj and Sam: Leaving "mementos" in Canada is reason you are better today

[John F]

I agree with Stephan! I'm not so exited about Mosport, but I definitely want to drive Calabogie and at least drive a complete lap at speed in Mont Tremblant! It appeared as though we shared Tremblant with another group, as I've never seen a lot of the cars before, but that may just be a splinter group that only shows up at the northern tracks. It definitely looked as though the club made money there. Weekdays are not a real issue, at least for me.

One question: If we're dropping two of the Canadien venues in 2009, can we get a warmer time of year for the Glen or maybe two events there? Third week in April messes with "she who must be obeyed"'s time off from school so I can't get there then.

[mr2sc]

I'm not a 'regular', but just want to chime in and mention how guilty I felt not doing Calaboogie, but especially Mosport with COM.

Even though Mosport is only 4.5hrs ea way for me, its tough justifying taking off 3 days midweek when I already had 4 open-track Mondays at Mosport (on 3-day long weekends!) and 1 Sunday at Calabogie (3hrs).
That was enough Mosport...

I'm pretty sure that most locals favor weekend dates too, which is 1 reason why COM has difficulty getting them to participate. ...that, and their unfamiliarity with the COM structure, T/T process.

All things being equal, I'd always prefer attending a COM event (the people are great), but the timing of events has been a big issue for me (as well as for the people I've tried to reel in).