MSTACH

100% agree with this.
PCA should allow non-Porsche cars into their race weekend.

PGas32

I kinda doubt that sim racing is contributing to the overall decline in PCA CR participation, but I will say that personally I'm happy that it exists as an alternative. For the cost of one weekend of real life racing (ok, maybe two...) I now have a great setup in my basement and I can go scratch my competitive itch one or two nights a week. No dually, no gooseneck, no days off work, etc etc.

I had a good run in SPB back before I really got into the thick of raising kids, and I certainly miss the time spent at the track hanging out with my pals. But besides simply being unable to race anymore due to time constraints, I really fail to see the value in it anymore. I own part of a 996 that I could take to any PCA race I wanted, but it's tough to get excited about spending $4-5k (and that's before I hit or break anything...) to run H class. It just seems like every line item of a race weekend has increased by a few hundred bucks, and where before I might have been willing to spend some time in the doghouse to get to the track, I just really can't justify it with the 'new' price of things.

lcrain

Yeah, no comment on a direct correlation between PCA CR attendance numbers and SIM racing. But SIM racing can provide legitimately fun competition at significantly lower stakes vs. actual racing. I have a friend who built an incredible M3, raced it a few times, bought a SIM rig and I haven't seen him since.

I am about to have my first child and I can't imagine my wife is going to be super pumped for any big race weekend where I am gone for at least 3 days. Ignoring the costs, it is a huge time suck. Not just the time to go to the race but practice, working on it, etc. SIM racing will likely fill that void for me, personally.

sbelles

Lots of reasons I suspect. Cost is obviously a big one. Over a dozen years with PCA Club Racing I've seen dozens of younger new drivers come in only to stay for a short period when they had a crash, blew an engine etc. Most probably had underestimated the required budget to start with. I've also seen a huge growth in AER, WRL, Champ, Lemons and other amateur series as well as more opportunities for people to break into pro / semi pro racing. The competition just keeps expanding. I just ran my first PCA race in a couple of years since I've been running AER for more track time and (theoretically) lower cost. It hasn't really turned out that way though. While there are plenty of older folks there, the median age is much lower then a PCA race and those of us with enough means to race Porsches are aging quickly. I'm not sure what the answer is but if PCA Club Racing is to survive another decade, they need to figure out how to recruit more racers. Relatively cheap mid-engined car groups are a good start.

tgsmith4845

My first comment on this thread is, WOW! This started only 3 days ago and it’s already up to 7 pages in length. This is obviously a topic that we feel passionate about and that needs addressing; and so many of you have volunteered to help correct this problem in PCA Club Racing. That is amazing. With that type of member spirit we have to be able to fix this.

There are many great points made in the threads above from well respected drivers and racers across the country. I’d strongly recommend that someone at the PCA CR National level capture all this input and develop a plan to address the issues and drive positive change. Those in the business world would call this Organizational Change Management, OCM.

Here are my thoughts. Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily representative of any affiliated organizations. As many of you are aware, I am a former regional track chair, current PCA club racer and “former” PCA CR Steward, so I’ve seen the problem from a few different angles. I’m happy to share in private why/how I was fired as a PCA CR Steward if anyone’s interested. Suffice it to say that I observed some very inconsistent applications of the rules and called it out. To me personally, the reluctance to discuss issues within PCA CR is a major part of the problem.

1) PCA CR National attitude, willingness to adapt and evolve based on member feedback. - The best member-led organizations regularly poll their members for input and recommendations on what is working and where they should improve. We are all very vocal, in general, but I don’t recall ever being asked by the PCA CR leadership for input.
2) No clear, visible path from DE to Club Racing in PCA. Great comments above about re-instituting a Racers’ School for anyone interested in becoming a PCA club racer. POC does an excellent job running their Racer’s Clinic and their growth reflects how successful it is. There were 20-some prospective racers in the clinic a few weeks ago at Buttonwillow. That’s 15-20 new racers per year just in the SoCal region alone. Another example is the racing school program they run at Eagles Canyon Raceway. Great program which produces dozens of racers a year. In my region we’re looking to bridge the gap between DE and club racing in a few ways: a) A quick “Introduction to Racing” discussion in every DE Drivers Meeting, b) Encouraging greater interaction between DEers and racers, and c) Offering coaching for Advanced DE drivers using data and video, led by a few club racer volunteers. This is all based on feedback received from members.
3) PCA CR Rules, including the 13/13 rule and passing rules, have literally been around for decades. Decades. Might be time to adapt and evolve. Modernize the rules set.
4) Inconsistent application of the rules. Rules are only good when they are fairly and consistently applied.

my .02

- Tim
SPB07

Matt Romanowski

Towards your first point https://www.performanceracing.com/ma...ay-competition

Emphasis by me.

PORSCHE CLUB OF AMERICA

It should come as little surprise that Porsche was one of the first automakers to recognize the value of a formalized owners’ club and the organization of performance-focused events for members to participate in. The brand’s strong ties to motorsports as well as a dedicated fanbase led Porsche Club of America (PCA) in Columbia, Maryland, to begin hosting enthusiast events way back in the mid-1950s.

By the 1990s, the Porsche Club of America was ready to take things a step further, establishing its own Club Racing series. Today, PCA Club Racing hosts more than two dozen races per season as competitors chase championship trophies in their respective classes. And as PCA Club Racing business manager Connor Henderson pointed out, many of the club’s competitors established their path toward the podium through the PCA high-performance driving events.

“The HPDE program is about giving these owners the opportunity to get these out on track. Motorsport is what the brand is built on, so it’s a natural step for a lot of these drivers,” Henderson said.

PCA’s high-performance driving events typically consist of five track sessions over the course of a day. Instructors accompany the students for the first three sessions, then the students run a fourth session by themselves. An instructor then hops back in for the final session to provide additional real-time feedback and coaching.

“That fifth session gives us a chance to discuss any questions that might have come up,” he told us. “Inexperienced drivers might not know where they can focus on improving, so that feedback is really important.” He said that while drivers join PCA and sign up for HPDEs for myriad different reasons, the overarching theme is a desire to do more with their cars.

“Some are the folks who have 20-year-old cars and finally have the financial freedom to do a track day. We also see a lot of father-and-son teams, but it’s all over the map. Last year we had a lady in her 70s who had watched a Formula 1 race and had decided it was time to get on track for the first time. It really takes all kinds.”


Once the basics are established, the program’s emphasis on coaching and feedback allows drivers to focus on ways to improve their performance. “That’s when you start to see the more in-depth questions,” Henderson said. “They start asking about how they can better prepare the car, and how they can better prepare themselves as a driver—what they need to do to be faster. And within that, there’s always a select group of drivers who want to be the best, and once they’ve achieved a goal that they’ve set out for themselves, they’re ready to move on to a bigger challenge through competition.”

As with sanctioning bodies like the SCCA and NASA, those seeking to make the transition from the HPDE program to PCA wheel-to-wheel racing must earn their provisional license by attending the PCA Club Racing school. Henderson said that while they often recommend that these folks consider starting in Spec Boxster—the club’s most popular racing class—some drivers are a bit more ambitious.

“We had this retired gentleman who brought a 911 GT3 to his first track day and immediately took to it. He told us about how much he enjoyed it, and we noted that if he was interested in doing so, he could pursue racing. Despite our initial recommendations, he bought a GT3 Cup car with a 997-generation 911 GT3 RSR engine shoehorned into it—a combination that was built for a Continental series. He hired someone to work on his car and a pro driver to coach him, and he ran it in our GTA3 class. Later he decided to move to a 991-generation Cup car and race it in our GTC7 class because it offered an even higher level of competition.”

PCA Club Racing events typically consist of sprint races as well as 60- to 90-minute enduro races, the latter of which allows for driver changes and more seat time. While that offers plenty of competition for most, Henderson said that a number of club members have also ventured out into grassroots endurance racing, IMSA, and other series.

“Those tend to offer a different form of competition, and we fully respect that. A lot of times we see folks do that, and then later come back to race with PCA. At the end of the day, the camaraderie is the most important element of our Club Racing program,” Henderson added.

ExMB

I have never seen that format in any event I’ve instructed at; auto solo. Usually solo is at the instructor’s evaluation with or without checkride by the event CDI. Also most events only have 4 sessions per day.

erliuic

I can't help but notice Gridlife and WRL have been very popular and both of them have fewer classes, sizable fields, cheaper tire costs (200 tw), and streaming on YouTube to share with friends and family.

LuigiVampa

It would be great to see some national committee people show up at races and DE to talk to drivers and get our input.

I think what you can see from this thread is a little frustration that drivers don't feel like we are being heard. That being said, many of us have the attitude of "how can we help?"

Everyone wants to see PCA be successful so you have a willing corps of people looking for positive changes.

Lastly, it boggles my mind that Porsche NA doesn't do much for us. PCA has over 160,000 members and that has to translate into over a billion dollars of cars. We are the most loyal and Porsche owners out there so you would think they would cater to us a little more and throw some sponsorship dollars our way. Why doesn't that happen?

ExMB

I think National actually did show up at a first time region event at OIR that was held under the PCA moniker. So its not impossible.

P.S.
Too lazy to search for that thread in this forum.

LuigiVampa

I know that National people show up all the time, but what I meant was showing up with the specific intent to really talk to people to find out their thoughts.

I realize that there are many many opinions in the paddock, and it can't be a democracy, but it would be nice for there to be input. I've spoken with both the Zone 2 rep (at VIR last week) and the Zone 1 rep in the past. I'm just saying this should happen more and they can get a wider swath of opinions.

Carlo_Carrera

As others have said many times.

It’s the cost.

ProCoach

Why then is the TOTAL number of track event and competition event participants across the country and around the world increasing?

Carlo_Carrera

I should have clarified.

I was referring to only PCA events.

dgrobs

Porsche Club Racing in particular, not total events. It is decreasing on the CR and DE side. The numbers show that.
I can’t speak for racing, talking strictly about the HPDE side. Just from this thread, it’s obvious that CR is following the same trend.
Talking specifically about PCA.
Cost has become a HUGE factor.