Originally Posted by
DOMIT
Well... my other hobby is priced by the hour (no, not talking about those darned 1-900 numbers again...) so it makes sense to me to do so. I can go to these races, be a spectator, and pit for my buds, and save that money... sure, travel cost is still there... but I'll have nearly as much fun (had a great time at the finals, and was just there to pit for the guys) without spending as much. Entry, parts, tires, fuel... By the same token I can go rent a 7GCBC Citabria for $98 per hour wet, and have more fun with that. (And I DO consider "fun per dollar..." I can rent a Cessena 152 for a LOT less, but the Citabria has more value in fun factor.)
ROFL ~ you really sounds like you've got the whole 1-900 thing down pat.
Anyway, I guess we can equate a lot of things "by the hour" - but then if one would factor $98 x 8 x 2 = $1,568 for a weekend of flying.....
I think I'll stick to golf as my highend annual diversionary funding.
Originally Posted by
DOMIT
Well, I have friends that are usually running in those later mains... so I guess I have a good reason to be there...
Sounds like a good reason. Maybe they'll still be around when you get some more expereince and wheeltime and pass 'em by.
Originally Posted by
DOMIT
Hmmmm... the last races I've been to, the track IMPROVED throughout the day, starting out dry and dusty and turning into a very nice "blue groove" by the end of the day. Ruts and bumps? ummmm... this IS offroad racing!
I travel quit a bit, so maybe I see "more" different surfaces. Yes, bluegroove, but I've also seen ruts so deep you had to change your line as the day went on and I've seen holes develop that swallow cars and didn't spit 'em out.
Originally Posted by
DOMIT
As for the day being too long... Of course if none of us 8-minute-main racers shows up, the day is a lot shorter too... perhaps we shouldn't be there at all? This is my point exactly... I'm paying to allow this big race to happen, so the A main can be 45 minutes or an hour, and I get to run 8 minutes? It's about fun more than competition... although both are elements of the hobby. I'm saying I don't get enough for my money to be worth it. I am seriously considering skipping the OKC round of RC Pro for this reason. I haven't signed up yet, haven't renewed my membership... and I'm not sure if I will.
I'm not saying that you don't have a valid point about your 8 minutes vs. the 45 - personally I think the only thing 45 minutes proves is who has the deepest tire bag. But that's another discussion. Come to think about it, I guess part of what I'm now saying is that by increasing your runtime your tire bills go up as well. If I don't make the A, I don't want to race that long, and I'd just as soon save tires and fuel for another day of club racing.
Originally Posted by
DOMIT
This is also probably a big part of the reason that some of the faster guys won't "step up" to expert... because they'll only get to run little short mains since they won't make the A.
Well I'm not going there, I've already had enough of the "I wanna trophy" discussion for one day... LOL
Originally Posted by
DOMIT
The Nitro Invitational that we just ran had 15 minute lower mains... the day was fine (granted, it was a smaller race, less entries) and I enjoyed the chance to run long enough to "settle in" and drive better... the pit stops added to the entertainment... (I changed cars since the last "big" race... same motor, but I can drive this one harder so my runtime suffers, had to pit twice to be sure I didn't run out.) It also made me realize what a bad "deal" the other races are. That one was $35 for a 2-day event, with BBQ dinner provided, no membership needed (well, I guess you have to be a Texan lol) and I got to run a 15 minute main...
Well, sounds to me like another example of "Everything's bigger in Texas." LOL
No, it sounds like it was cool and that you had a good time and plenty of runtime.
And there again, I don't know that I'm an advocate of big races being a "everyone come" affair. Sure it's good experience, and an experience in itself, but smaller regional or the Nitro Inv. you attended are good examples of races without all the trappings and entries on a National - yet bigtime enough to have a good time at.
Originally Posted by
DOMIT
If these promoters want to encourage the hobby, they need to even out the fun factor... your quote about "if you wanna play you have to pay" makes sense... so why should I pay more to play (by the time allotted) than the other guy does?
I don't know how to quantify it for each person. I just figured that when I first got into racing that making the A was my goal, and I just never felt shorted by not running as much as the bigboys (but I do know that I had to beg/borrow/steal a couple of sets of tires to get through my first podium finish).
At the same time I think that short of making all mains 45-minutes, or whatever the A's run, leaves people grumbling (what I only get 20 minutes?). I've been to races in which they ran electric too, and the electric guys were grumbling that they were having to marshall the longer gas mains (valid point, but what do you do?).
I just tend to think that at some point, at some level, that you can never make everything "fair" for everyone or keep everyone happy all the time.
~ Keep 'em between the pipes 