Loco4G63T

iTrader: (27)

I agree with Finchypoo about the whole toy concept. Everyone I talk to isn't too interested in fast "toys". To most of us on-road racers these chassis' are racing equipment. I feel this way about my on and off road vehicles. They are a means of competition and not a toy. The only time my stuff sees the front of the house is when I am centering my steering. To get the off-road guys into on-road, you must simply find disgruntled racers looking for clean racing lol I personally love both and find them equally exciting too watch and race. I am 33 and been doing this on/off since I was 18. Problem is I love real cars and motorcycles which explains my addiction to anything with wheels and a motor. I have built and do own my own race car (DSM Drag/ Street). I am a tactical vehicle mechanic = Upper end of blue collar work due to income. Its still not enough money for me to buy all the kits I want ....... LITERALLY : )
I am divorced but an extrovert when it comes to people. I am on the other half of the R/C race crowd from what I have seen and than there are others that have no intention on socializing unless its R/C related. One of my best friends is like that. I believe the key to on-road is coaching from veterans. Veteran racers should walk around the NOOB pits and pick up a car or 2 and let them in on some speed secrets. Don't throw the guys to the wolves too early and keep them in their own experience level groups even if there are only 3 of them. This is just my opinion/ experiences 8 ) Feel free to blast LOL.

patorz31

In Edmonton our club has 90 members and we limit everyone to 2 clsses on race nights and we still see well over 100 entries every Friday night. We work real hard to keep the new people coming back. We have an open class where it is "run want you bung (No Monster Trucks)" as long as it won't hurt the carpet. After a few nights you see the new people show back up with a Tamiya mini or a TC. Everyone helps them out and makes sure they run alright.

The biggest thing is the tracks, make them too technical the newbies get frustrated and never come back. Make it too open and the hardcore racers bitch. We have to setup every Friday Night and we do a pretty good job of mixing the tracks up with a nice free flowing one, this week and a more technical one the next. Keeping the balance to grow the club is the hardest part.

Loco4G63T

iTrader: (27)

We have someone even better.............SCOTTY ERNST!

SlowerOne

I live and race in the UK and I am not sure it is because we are the mecca for everything fast. We have a good mix of blue, white and executive collar racers and a lot of clubs available.

You may well envy our BRCA Nationals series (nice to hear that, we put in a lot of work to make them so good) but you need to remember that we have 60 million people on an island of 94,000 sq miles, and Washington State has 7 million people in 74,000 sq miles. There are 11 US states that have a bigger land area than the UK and you have 300m people. But, to put on a big race, you lot are a long way from each other!!

Our catchment area for drivers is better connected and shorter distance than anything you have. The most people have to trail to a BRCA National is about 400 miles - most travel less than 200. We manage to get 100 people to each of our 10 National events each year - not that big a deal when Portland can get 100 people to a club every Friday!

So yes we have events to envy, but look at at this way - we are a small country with a lot of people and good connections. Little wonder we have well-suported events!

We have two permanent indoor tracks in the whole of the UK - so that's not the issue. The rest are clubs who roll out their carpet every week, lay a track, race and then roll it all up again.

Permanent tracks are not a reason we have better and more events.

We have the GT12 class which goes a long way to reducing this perception. The cars are simple, they all work out of the box and they are cheap to run. It has exploded at our clubs in the last three years.

We decided to run a Regional and National series for this class. Inside two years we have established Regional races that get 25 to 50 racers, and in our first year of National races we have entries of 70 for GT12, 20 for GT10 (WorldGT) and 10 for F1. That is in addition to the 80+ people we get at our LMP12 (12th scale) Nationals. If you need a class that is easy to build, drive and maintain, then get on to GT12. These links might help - the video is awesome!

http://www.racing-cars.com/pp/Car_Sh...paStox_GT.html
http://www.zen-racing.co.uk/catalog/...12-race-p-1099
http://mardave.co.uk/catalog/product...t-edition-kit/
http://vimeo.com/87656931

We do have a referee for every heat who calls the positions and makes sure the faster drivers are given good passage through their races. More importantly we do not tolerate bad driving and issue warnings and stop/go penalties for offenders. That helps a LOT with giving everyone a good race and it is greatly appreciated by our racers.

I am not sure I can answer the question posed in this thread, but I hope some insight into the (very!) hard work that goes into our acclaimed National series, our demographics and our hugely successful GT12 class might give you all something to work with to get your carpet on-road racing numbers up.

skater-deez1

iTrader: (78)

Dirt track mentality! I live in a town with one of the larger dirt sprint car tracks on the east coast located in it. Guess what racing thrives......you guessed it dirt! Sometimes geography plays a part, just wish this country was full of sweet roadcourses!

Realtek

iTrader: (1)

With all due respect, no one does it better than America's own Scotty Ernst!

kawi650

iTrader: (8)

I was thinking more like the difference between F1 and NASCAR broadcasts.

kerry

iTrader: (1)

sorry

kerry

iTrader: (1)

Would be interested in getting more information and details how you do and manage this as I feel its important to racing as a whole
Would you mind sharing or sending me some information? Would be greatly appreciated