Challenge I've posted for the Car Club at VT

[00GTJustin]

I've posted this on the CCVT forums:

"To encourage increased participation in autocross events by undergraduates and newbies, I'm going to put my own money on the line. Here's the deal- I'm going to put names in a hat sometime near the end of the school year. Whoever wins I'm going to buy them a one year SCCA membership. If you already are a member I'll pay your entry fee for two local events. I'm also weighting events as follows:

Random event local to VT: 1 Point
Blue Ridge Region SCCA event: 2 Points
Top 10 pax (adjusted results based on class): extra 2 points
Beat me in pax or raw time: extra 5 points

Each 'point' equals your name in a hat once. Whoever's name I draw wins!

Especially if I'm not at the event, please post in this thread to say you were at 'xx' event on 'xx' day, and if you post a link to results that's even better.

If mods could sticky this so that it's not lost in the fray that would be super!

Any questions about autocross there is a FAQ in the autocross section, or start a new thread and I'll answer all newbie/classing/etc questions there!"


I don't know if the club has any interest in upping the ante...I know for a while CCVT paid the same as SCCA members, but that's not really possible now. Either way I'm doing this, but wasn't sure what current BRR members thought about participating. Maybe I'll pay 2 and the club will pay two for a total of four? Or...a 'runner up prize'?

[rschumin]

I've posted this on the CCVT forums:

"To encourage increased participation in autocross events by undergraduates and newbies, I'm going to put my own money on the line. Here's the deal- I'm going to put names in a hat sometime near the end of the school year. Whoever wins I'm going to buy them a one year SCCA membership. If you already are a member I'll pay your entry fee for two local events. I'm also weighting events as follows:

Random event local to VT: 1 Point
Blue Ridge Region SCCA event: 2 Points
Top 10 pax (adjusted results based on class): extra 2 points
Beat me in pax or raw time: extra 5 points

Each 'point' equals your name in a hat once. Whoever's name I draw wins!

Especially if I'm not at the event, please post in this thread to say you were at 'xx' event on 'xx' day, and if you post a link to results that's even better.

If mods could sticky this so that it's not lost in the fray that would be super!

Any questions about autocross there is a FAQ in the autocross section, or start a new thread and I'll answer all newbie/classing/etc questions there!"


I don't know if the club has any interest in upping the ante...I know for a while CCVT paid the same as SCCA members, but that's not really possible now. Either way I'm doing this, but wasn't sure what current BRR members thought about participating. Maybe I'll pay 2 and the club will pay two for a total of four? Or...a 'runner up prize'?

I think this is a great idea. If the club will go along I propose that we forgo our portion of the weekend membership fee so that it will lower the cost to CCVT (MM too) members who are not current SCCA members. Using the credit for the weekend membership makes a First Gear membership very affordable. Maybe you could give points to people who do that.

[00GTJustin]

No one else?

[Scott]

I think this is a great idea. If the club will go along I propose that we forgo our portion of the weekend membership fee so that it will lower the cost to CCVT (MM too) members who are not current SCCA members. Using the credit for the weekend membership makes a First Gear membership very affordable. Maybe you could give points to people who do that.

I think this is a great idea for the CCVT and for the MM drivers.

[SierraFox]

I agree its a great idea and for you to step up like that is very respectible.

I emplore that the CCVT take advantage of this.

Thumbs up to you Justin!

[Goodspeed]

00GTJustin, that is a good idea!

I guess I'll introduce myself here, I've browsed the forum and finally registered. I am David G., current president of MM (same username at mmsports.org). I too am trying to get more people into autocross. I suspect that for the next season we'll have 6 or 7 dedicated participants, but we have more to bring in. In the past the club has offered to pay for each member's first autocross and we've always had a few that took the bait.

I'm a little confused about the latest pricing structure for attending SCCA events. I have heard that you now need a full SCCA membership to register, and that being 45(?) dollars this is pricey for college students and especially for our club to offer covering that charge. I am worried about the costs increasing and the deterrent to new people, believe me it is a huge challenge to convince a young freshman or sophomore to bring their car out and try something they've never done before.

Ray, could you or anyone else give me an idea of what it will cost for a membership/weekend membership (available?)/college club rate etc. for the 2009 season? 00GTJustin, in the spring I want to get more involved with CCVT, I remember when our two clubs would auto-x together so hopefully we can work something out.

- Thanks

[rschumin]

00GTJustin, that is a good idea!

I guess I'll introduce myself here, I've browsed the forum and finally registered. I am David G., current president of MM (same username at mmsports.org). I too am trying to get more people into autocross. I suspect that for the next season we'll have 6 or 7 dedicated participants, but we have more to bring in. In the past the club has offered to pay for each member's first autocross and we've always had a few that took the bait.

I'm a little confused about the latest pricing structure for attending SCCA events. I have heard that you now need a full SCCA membership to register, and that being 45(?) dollars this is pricey for college students and especially for our club to offer covering that charge. I am worried about the costs increasing and the deterrent to new people, believe me it is a huge challenge to convince a young freshman or sophomore to bring their car out and try something they've never done before.

Ray, could you or anyone else give me an idea of what it will cost for a membership/weekend membership (available?)/college club rate etc. for the 2009 season? 00GTJustin, in the spring I want to get more involved with CCVT, I remember when our two clubs would auto-x together so hopefully we can work something out.

- Thanks

OK, I'll do my best to explain this as I understand it.

Let me start off by saying that all of this is being driven by the need of the SCCA to increase the number of regular members. I'm not going to comment on the validity of that need or the methods being used to meet it.

Membership is required to participate in an SCCA sanctioned event. Membership status can be achieved in two ways. You can choose one of the regular membership options listed here http://www.scca.com/joinnow.aspx . For college students, the best option is a "First Gear" membership at $45/year. The other option is to purchase a weekend membership (actually 5 days) that will allow you to participate in a particular event. BRR's regular charge for this is $10, but we discount it to $5 for members of college car clubs as a way to encourage participation. The weekend membership can also be used to get a credit ($15 I believe) toward your first year regular membership dues.

So to answer your question, a new autocrosser that is a member of a college car club can participate in a BRR event for $5 more than the regular entry fee. I'm hesitant to give actual dollar figures as we have yet to set entry fees for next season. That caveat also applies to the SCCA weekend membership fees. I haven't heard that they are going up, but I can't say for sure that they won't.

Now, if I can editorialize for a moment. As the registrar I'll tell you that the weekend membership process is a major PITA. By offering the weekend memberships at a discount to encourage participation, we are making it possible for college car club members to participate just about all year on a pay as you go basis for the same or less cost than a First Gear membership. That is really counterproductive for BRR locally and SCCA nationally. It is my hope that college car club members will buy one or two weekend memberships at the most and use the credit to convert those to one of the regular membership options. That is the best option for all involved in terms of cost and effort.

Hope that helps.