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ok but isn't the point that there are fewer people doing it?
What I’m observing is that despite the rise in costs, there are more people on more tracks than ever, today. A LOT more doing Drivers Ed than all forms of amateur and professional racing. And more doing all forms of racing than ever before. Look at the proliferation of the tracks, the fact that most tracks have a waiting list for rental dates.
The orgs that aren’t doing as well need to look in the mirror, because the target market is not shrinking.
__________________ -Peter Krause www.peterkrause.net www.gofasternow.com
"Combining the Art and Science of Driving Fast!"
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What I’m observing is that despite the rise in costs, there are more people on more tracks than ever, today. A LOT more doing Drivers Ed than all forms of amateur and professional racing. And more doing all forms of racing than ever before. Look at the proliferation of the tracks, the fact that most tracks have a waiting list for rental dates.
The orgs that aren’t doing as well need to look in the mirror, because the target market is not shrinking.
Seriously? This must be very regional. There are regions that have membership in the very low 100s and are spread out with tracks 100s of miles away. PCA, AFAIK, has asked those regions why they don't put on events and were told that the $ isn't there, that the membership is too small, that it might take several regions getting together to put on 1 event, etc. Just look at this track map and see where there are gaping (some big) holes. And that doesn't even cover driving distance in some cases, which could be multiple days, one way, in some cases. Even if some had no issue with that outlay, would they?
Originally Posted by LuigiVampa
At the VIR race I was told that technically Zones do not have the authority to hold a race, only regions. If that is true, and that is PCA's excuse, it is easy enough to ammend the PCA bylaws to correct this issue.
Correct. How would a Zone spread the cost between regions? Would that cost be based on how many participants from each region, if any? The $ PCA gives back to regions (based on membership #) in some cases only covers the cost of travel for Pres & VP (in some smaller regions) to attend their out of region (Zone?) meetings.
Here's a map from an earlier thread on this. Blue marks are races planned for this year east of the Rockies. The others are tracks that held races since 2017. In 2017, there were 31 races and this year there are 22. The stripe of lost races through the Midwest is pronounced.
I think people are hitting on a lot of reasons for the decline that build on each other. Let me add that the perception of PCA racing is that it's for high-buck cars from GTB1 and up. If beginners with entry-level cars don't feel comfortable, or respected, then they will go somewhere else to race.
And I totally agree that the pathway from DE to racing is a leap over a learning gap. The best option is to attend racing schools which adds a barrier to entry. Regions that want to grow racing should offer programs explicitly to move DE drivers into racing.
Yes. quite serious. I'm at the track a few days every week, and there has been a marked uptick since the pandemic. A lot of it is "always wanted to do it, time to pull the trigger."
I'm not talking about PCA Club Racing. I am talking about turnout for PCA DE's run by stronger regions, the absolute plethora of track days and DE's NOT associated specifically with PCA and ALL other competition organizations.
THIS is why I say that if a program isn't making sense or getting the support it needs to continue and grow, they need to figure out why and make changes. Some have and that has yielded results. No Margin=No Mission.
I look at the dozens of single make, manufacturer-supported and entry level pro race series now and recognize some old names from PCA Club Racing.
VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Michelin Pilot Challenge, International GT, FARA, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche GT3 Cup, Porsche Sprint Series (and now the Endurance series for the same cars), Ginetta, Radical, Revolution, MX-5 Cup, PSSA, FRP, F3, F4 and including the many track club series at LRP, AMP, VIR, MSR, Spring Mountain, you name it.
Few of these existed more than ten years ago, and if they did, it was just a few cars riding around. Now, bumper crops.
The barrier to entry for a DE is minimal. Racing? Not so much. That's what I think PCA could begin to work on, as outlined so well in some of this thread's posts.
Also, the creep of original two and three-day race weekends into week-long sojourns has impacted turnout for some groups, I think. But that's only conjecture.
At the VIR race I was told that technically Zones do not have the authority to hold a race, only regions. If that is true, and that is PCA's excuse, it is easy enough to ammend the PCA bylaws to correct this issue.
It's not true. For example, the VIR PCA Club Race has been a PCA Zone 2 Event and Watkins Glen is a PCA Zone 1 Event.
It's not true. For example, the VIR PCA Club Race has been a PCA Zone 2 Event and Watkins Glen is a PCA Zone 1 Event.
The Zone 2 rep is the one who told me this last week at the VIR race. Zones have run races but recently they were told its technically not allowed.
I've written bylaws for different organizations in a past life so our discussion was based on how easy it would be for PCA to remedy this small issue.
I will add that the conversation was started because we were discussing why the car count at the race is so low and how PCA could fix it. Ironically, this thread came along a few days later.
Last edited by LuigiVampa; 04-01-2024 at 10:23 PM.
Well there is a big investment in $$$ as we all know but what about the mounting investment in time to be competitive? There was a time before data you just went out to the track and drove. It took longer to figure out how to go faster in the analog world but there was also just the paid tracktime to figure it out. Then we got data. Then there were guys to analyze your data. You took your basic track skills and got actionable plans to use this new data. That took a bunch of time and more $ invested in data gathering hardware and someone to interpret it. Now we got race simulator that are no longer toys but educational tools. So now we got more time and more $ invested in the hobby. All this time the average guy using these tools are getting faster. If a racer just wants to race and not invest in data and now sim he may as well pick another sport. Maybe that's what some drivers are doing who just wanted to drive?
Interesting and important read. Several strong hypotheses in the thread that need to be investigated and taken seriously if one cares enough to turn this situation around:
There is a market for DEs and W2W racing, unclear if it is growing. The typical Porsche buyer and hence Porsche motorsport market is aging. Something the brand itself has been trying to address.
Competition is increasing. Many more DE and W2W options.
Customer needs are not being met. Racers have and will continue to defect to other venues if they do not like the product.
Very little is done to improve the product and its promotion. There is a lot of variation across events and classes.
Suppliers feel the pain as well. At some point it is not worth their effort to show up and support the race. Especially tire companies that send equipment and people.
The shops that support us also feel the pain. The fragmentation does not help their economics.
The sad truth is no one seems to care at the national level. I for one have offered to volunteer time to help figure this out but there are no takers. IMHO it will take a lot of change which pushes uphill against historical norms. At the top of that list is a a strong central team that can build an inviting culture at every event and provide consistency across regions and events.
04-01-2024, 05:59 PM
