A proposal on improving AX.

**OUTRACE** · 09-29-2004, 05:39 PM

Ok boys and girls, this might seem a bit odd because I've only done 2 AX events in my lifetime, but I've read the recent posts on the topic and I'd like to throw my hat in the ring.

1) I did the most recent SCCA event at Pennington Field (#6?). That was my second AX. My first was almost 25 years ago with ER or something similar to them (at Northpark Mall, believe it or not.)

The first thing that amazed me was that the two events were operated the same way. 25 years of progress and the AX industry has gone nowhere. Oh, they keep their manually entered data on a computer now instead of a clip-board, but that's hardly modernization. Manual data entry is manual data entry regardless of its level of electrification.

The second thing that amazed me was that the entry fees haven't kept up with inflation. If they had, then it would have been $1.50 to enter back in the day.

2) I've told some of you my race creds, but for the record, here it is again. I raced motorcycles for 18 years. I'm a 3 time regional roadrace champ. I'm an ex-race director for WERA. I'm a current race school instructor. I mention these only so that you can understand that I really do know something about club level racing from the local, regional, and national viewpoints.

3) A bit of perspective. The Central Motorcycle Roadrace Association (CMRA) is the local (TX, OK, LA, AR, KS) racing organization. They have been affiliated with several national sanctioning bodies, but they have recently gone out on their own as an independent, self supporting organization based on their strengths and abilities. They are highly successful and have retained all of the corporate support they previously had with the larger sanctioning bodies.

I will base my proposal on my personal experience with the CMRA and their prior sanctioning bodies.

5) Yes, that was a long prolog, but here's the meat of the topic.

The CMRA puts 500+ entries onto an open track over a period of 6 hours. Each race consists of 8 laps plus one warmup lap, one cool down lap, and gridding. Basically, each race lasts ~15-18 minutes.

Barring unforseen situations, such as an accident that requires shutdown of the track, medevac, or an exploded motor that oils the surface, CMRA events run on time every time.

CMRA does not have "trailer troubles". The "computer guy" is completely responsible for the computer system. He has a backup unit and in 8 years of racing in this region, I've seen problems with obtaining results exactly once.

CMRA uses electronic transponders for lap timing to .001 sec. Yes, the system is expensive. Yes, the racers have to buy and maintain their own transponder. Each transponder is linked to an individual racer.

CMRA racers do not have to perform a work assignment except as a condition of their provisional licensing. The CMRA pays corner workers an insanely small amount ($25 plus lunch plus "the best seat in the house") for a full day of picking up crashed motorcycles and dealing with injured riders. They work one hell of a lot harder than your average SCCA cone drone, and they do it eagerly. Read the policy here:
http://tinyurl.com/6runm

And how does the CMRA do it all? With money.

If I'm racing, I still have to pay the gate fee to enter the facility. What a concept! An entry fee to make the event appear more interesting while simultaneously providing spectator control and generating revenue!

If I'm racing in 4 events, my total for the day will be a whopping $170 plus my gate fee of $10 for the day. Yup, that's $180 plus the $400 in tires I'll destroy during the day...... but what does it buy me?

Sunday morning practice - 3 sessions of 20 minutes each. That's 1 hour of live track time.

Four 15 minute events. That's another hour of live track time.

Kids, that's two full hours of "oh my!" time in a single day. It's not a bad price when you consider that my most recent SCCA event cost me about $2.50 per minute and a half day standing in the sun while I waited for my "opportunity" to be a cone drone.

A price per minute comparison gives me $2.50 for the SCCA and $1.50 for the CMRA.

For what it's worth, the CMRA is very successful and nobody complains about a lack of track time or too much downtime. And when you're done, you can pack up and go home.

OK, so what am I proposing?

1) Raise the entry fee $5. With 200 entries, the $1000 raised can be used to pay corner workers and buy infrastructure. If we paid the corner workers $50 per day, we could have 100 corner workers and still have 1/2 our money. Add the fact that racers wouldn't have to work Mafia deals with their "connection" or wait around all day to complete a work assignment and it sounds like a winning plan to me. (Can't afford $5? Should you be racing?)

In metro areas, there should be no problem getting corner workers. The CMRA does it even though their races are held in the boondocks.

2) Use the increased revenue to purchase a lap-timing transponder system like real racers use. Rent the transponders to novices. Let regular racers buy their own if they want.

3) Invest in some infrastructure such as the trailer. I have two computers sitting unused here in the house that are probably better than the stuff I saw in there. Certainly one of our other members has access to free equipment too. Besides, what's a good CPU cost nowdays? $500? Does the trailer have a network and a client/server architecture? Why not?

4) Assign ONE PERSON to deal with corner workers. It will be his job to get water out to them, pick them up for lunch, and redistribute them before the afternoon session. They are HIS.

5) Assign ONE PERSON to deal with Novices. Hand each novice a single page sheet that explains how the day will go, from soup to nuts. Deal with them as if you'd like to see them return.

6) Restrict facility access to racers, crew, and spectators who have paid and signed the release.

7) Charge everyone $5 bucks a head to enter - period - unless you're a worker bee. Can't afford it? Don't bring the whole posse.

Again. These are proposals, not a rant. They're ideas that have been used successfully by other organizations.

Feedback please....

**altiain** · 09-29-2004, 07:29 PM

Feedback? You've got a lot of good suggestions there. Unfortunately, as much as I think that a lot of what you typed makes sense, I also recognize that most of it is waaaaay too radical for Texas Region to adopt.

Don't get me wrong - I think you've got some really good suggestions. But the stuff oyu suggested will never happen at the Regional level in SCCA Solo, because that's not how it's done at the higher levels. I'm not suggesting that it isn't how it should be - just that change of that magnitude would have to start at the National level and trickle down through the SCCA.

That's not to say that it wouldn't be a bad idea if someone were to start an alternate autocrossing series...

**channelmaniac** · 09-29-2004, 07:34 PM

I guess the hard parts would be where and insurance...

Computer gear isn't hard... Timing rig shouldn't be that hard to build either... break a beam of light... and that would work until you get the more expensive transponder system.

A good supply of cones would cost a few bux - probably more than a cheap PIII system (which would run about 80 to 100 bux for a good used one WITH a printer - First Saturday anyone?)

I'm sure someone will have a trailer that can be borrowed

RJ

**Kestrel** · 09-30-2004, 07:36 AM