FredC

you are right. used to be a big race for PCA. Calendar is now either too full or misaligned.

NaroEscape

I really wanted to do this race this year. But being one of the only weekends we have off since late February, a 9hr each way drive did not sound appealing. I'm finally getting things fixed from the 'rub out' from VIR. Missing Road Atlanta just killed me as its one of my favorite tracks. Not to mention a bunch of other work related (Nadine's) conflicts that just made Mid O too difficult this year.

bill3

For those who've already been to MidOhio, how are the gas prices at the track (93 and 100)?

nineball

if memory serves 93 is $5-6 and 100 i *believe* is around $8. there is a bp just in town about 7-8 mins from the track.

mikew968

100 was like 12/gal

dgrobs

Not sure those are current numbers……

chartersb

PCA Club Racing is not as appealing as it used to be. Car counts now v 10 years ago are down across the schedule. Total number of PCA licensed racers is down. There are a ton of racers out there who are just not choosing PCA. Every PCA race already competes for racers against every other PCA race and HSR/SVRA, WRL, AER, Champ Car, Lucky Dog, POC, PBOC, SCCA, NASA, IGT, GT Celebration, Trans AM XGT, TA2, etc etc etc. A lot of options for someone who wants to race. What could be done to make PCA Club Racing more appealing?

John H

Several years ago, I dipped my toe into the other sanctioning series pool and ran with NASA and HSR (International GT?) For two reasons. First, I was pissed I got a 13 for a very minor one car incident due to a mechanical issue. This was in 2006.
Second, I noticed I was spending a lot of money just on travel and time off to travel. NASA for one had multiple events at my local venue and others not too far away. I could do more events for the same or less travel expense.
For the biggest part (other than the people), I came back to PCA because the others offer much less track time over the course of a weekend. I only get to do a limited number of weekends so when I go, I don't want to be sitting around all day twiddling my thumbs.

PCA should do more to tout the amount of track time/bang for the buck IMHO. My two cents.

nineball

hence the "i believe". haven't bought gas at a track in over a decade - just too expensive.

NaroEscape

^^THIS
Unfortunately as I said above, we're having to miss this weekend at Mid O. So to 'compensate' I'm running the SCCA race at our local track Carolina Motorsports Park over memorial weekend.
Schedule:
Sat - 20min quali, 30 min race
Sun - 10min qulai, 40 min race

That's it. 1:40 of track time ALL WEEKEND.

Why is PCA losing racers?

1. Too many classes. Except for a few classes, most have 2-3 cars AT BEST.
2. Porsches are getting too expensive. Older car values have skyrocketed. Newer cars are super expensive compared to what people race in other series. We are a vendor at the Southeast NASA events and I'm shocked at how little everyone spends to race. Even the big boys in NASA and SCCA have less in their cars than we have in our SPC, and that's considered "Cheap" for PCA standards.
3. Distances. There are 3 PCA races relatively close to us in Charlotte. All the rest take a day drive each way. Even the local BMWCCA has more races close to us than PCA. NASA-SE has something like 10.

jdistefa

In advance of the weekend I want to thank Chip Henderson and his team for organizing the Mid-Ohio race.

It flat out sucks that more people aren't coming to support the event and experience one of the best sports car tracks in North America.

Jas0nn

I'm not sure I agree with this. Prices for most 911CUP cars now rival those of Cup cars (anywhere from $60k to $80k), and yet seen we've consistent and significant growth in the class - to the point where we're approaching car counts close to when these same cars could have been had for $15k. (Today, that's the cost of core motor)! Which isn't to say that there aren't cheaper places to race. But I don't think $$ are the issue ...

NaroEscape

I’m just telling you what I hear from racers in other groups.
Everyone else considers PCA racing as “Rich boy racing” and to be honest…walking a PCA paddock vs any other group (except maybe HSR/SVRA), they’re right.
Most people in NASA race the entire 10 race weekend season down here and spend less that I do in 4 weekends. There are VERY FEW people in PCA that run 10 race weekends.

dgrobs

Very light attendance here at Mid-0.

Club Race and Advanced DE, both VERY light.

Oh yeah, T-1 has grip. A lot of grip.

The rest of the track, not so much, still….

Word I hear here is full repave in the fall. Can you imagine this track with grip? Would be very similar to Pitt Race, the squirlies anyway.

jerome951

First time I've been to Mid-O for about 10 years, and the degradation of the racing surface (except for T1) is pretty disappointing.
Can't wait for the full repave...