I've just spent some time reading this thread and I'm really bummed out to read that SoCal is closing and is basically beyond saving...Jim & co. are good folks but you can't compete with massively increased rent!
I used to race 3 or 4 times a week in the SoCal area, driving from OC to Simi Valley or other areas just to try out a new parking lot club. I met some of the hardest-working people running clubs just to make a few people happy, including a guy in the Tacoma area that put his life and soul into a club that unfortunately folded a year or so back.
Now I'm in Britain and seeing how a different group of people tackle the same problem of racer turnover.
here are some suggestions or things that people could try:
1. Local shops shouldn't specialize in one type of RC or another, RC is cyclical as it's been mentioned here a few times. If off-road is big in the area right now, stock off-road parts and kits. If/when it moves to on-road, stock parts for those kits. I know this is very simplified but you get the idea.
2. Got a track that just closed? Go open source! SOMEONE somewhere will know about a parking lot that is unused (ask a Wal-Mart or Home Depot manager, etc.), get a cheap laptop and printer off Freecycle.org or eBay, find some free lap timing software, get lumber for barriers off Freecycle, charge a few bucks per entry and get the word out. JUST DO IT.
3. Once you get going and have a few regular members, call a quick meeting with some mature regular racers and see if they'll be officers in the club. If they are willing to take responsibility they'll put a little more effort into things. Organize a set of classes and rules (base them off what you can find at another club or track), get a club charter and ask people to join the club for a yearly fee to get reduced (or free) racing.
I don't mean to make it sound so basic if I have, I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence, maybe lots of you here have tried to start clubs (I haven't but I've thought about it, I just don't have the 'people person' type of persona) but I'll bet lots of you here haven't tried it. Check on MySpace or here on RCtech or local websites or shops to see what sort of group (on- or off-road, electric or nitro) needs catering to, and get them to show up.
Some of the clubs in the UK have been around for decades, most of them have permanent tracks (on- or off-road, depending on track), and the shops nearest the clubs cater to the needs of the club members. No shop that I'm aware of is actually directly connected to a club/track, and no shop actually owns a track. Many times, the shop owners are members of a particular club and are at the clubs on club nights or at local events to get the word out. The club members also generally contact shops or distributors or manufacturers to get help, banners, raffle prizes, etc., for the benefit of the club, not themselves, which makes it a self-perpetuating cycle.
I think having a for-profit shop own a track is part of what has led to this big 'crisis' of tracks shutting down - when an entity exists that HAS to put itself first, ahead of other concerns (like a track or club) then of course those other concerns won't matter as much. There's nothing wrong with having to feed your kids or survive as a business, but a club mentality gets people to volunteer their own time for no profit, for the benefit of the club members only, not to make money.
I hope I've been clear... it's disheartening to hear that tracks and shops are shutting down, but right now the focus in the US is on outdoor, dirt tracks - the market will rebound eventually and things will sort themselves out. It's not good if you're a TC racer and your local on-road track has shut, but things can be done in the meantime.
