Re: AX Attendance Falling Off
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2019 6:51 pm
Hi, first of all, overall compared to some AutoX I first experienced on the east coast, I have to say you guys are doing an outstanding job running AutoX! Thank you for great job!
That being said, even excellence can be improved upon. So, I have the following suggestions to make AutoX more appealing and hopefully increase attendance:
1. Combine classes: Combine some of the adjacent classes, so that there is more in-class competition. Some classes are competitive, but many classes have fewer than 4 entries, so medaling is not as meaningful. Part of the fun over time is friendly competition. The club should probably aim for at least 5 cars per combined class. As a side benefits, it might also reduce the amount of points optimizing and accelerate the awards ceremony at the end.
2. Precise BRI: If you do #1, then you should also change the BRI to be based on the exact car performance points, not the combined class level. It would ensure that if you're bundled into a larger class with faster cars, you still have a chance to excel in the BRI.
3. Paid corner workers: A few years back the club experimented with hiring some automotive engineering students to do corner working. I think that was a cool idea, not just to get out of corner working, but it also felt like doing a nice deed for poor students. Also, if they could become regulars maybe we'd have more consistency in corner working.
4. Increased separation: With fewer cars, we're getting plenty of practice laps. We should increase the separation between cars, even if it means we get 1-2 fewer laps total over the day. When corner working, I still feel less safe than I prefer having to run to pick up cones, hoping someone up-track is watching and has my back. When driving, it would reduce how often I see knocked out cones, and also reduce the need for re-runs.
5. Track layout: The track layouts are generally awesome, but perhaps need to be slightly more cognizant of ruts and dips in the pavement. While corner working sometimes I cringe as I hear the GT3s and other lowered cars scrape the ground at speed, and I can appreciate why they stop coming.
6. Later on-line registration cutoff: I think on-line registration used to close the Wed before the event, whereas now it seems it's a week ahead. It would be great to move it closer to the event again, as close as practical. I know it's a lot of work for the volunteers doing registration, but I suspect this change would enable the late-committers to attend more often.
7. Later tech/check-in/start: We have to be there to tech at by 7:15AM, but don't start driving until 9AM. That is a long gap. With fewer cars, tech shouldn't take as long and we shouldn't need as long a buffer. Waking up while it's still dark is painful for some of us. Pushing back the schedule to cut off tech at 8:15AM would be welcome, even if it means perhaps not starting running until 9:30AM.
8. Penalty for hitting many cones during practice: We should to encourage people not to hit cones even during practice. One way to do it is only cars that were mostly clean get an extra practice run. It doesn't have to be precise, just ballpark. Give us 5-6 practice laps and if you've hit fewer than 1-2 cones total you are invited for an extra practice lap if you like. Or maybe you are alloted an extra timed lap later.
9. Coffee & donuts for everyone in the morning? Since we're all getting up early and skipping breakfast, that could be a nice touch (like Cars & Coffee). Generally for this as well as #3 above, I'd be fine raising the entry fee - I don't think the fee is a big deterrent considering the other costs of participating (like tires, etc.) dwarf the entry fee expense.
10. Friends & family rides: I always felt it was a bummer I couldn't share the experience with my friends/family. I've had the opportunity to drive at Thermal Club, and it's really satisfying to be able to give a friend/girlfriend a thrill ride. I also feel it's a way to introduce people to the sport. Right now you have to be an instructor, but perhaps the requirement could be reduced to not being a student or having a certain experience level.
Again, I think you guys are doing an awesome job, and I just wanted to offer some constructive suggestions to make it even better.
That being said, even excellence can be improved upon. So, I have the following suggestions to make AutoX more appealing and hopefully increase attendance:
1. Combine classes: Combine some of the adjacent classes, so that there is more in-class competition. Some classes are competitive, but many classes have fewer than 4 entries, so medaling is not as meaningful. Part of the fun over time is friendly competition. The club should probably aim for at least 5 cars per combined class. As a side benefits, it might also reduce the amount of points optimizing and accelerate the awards ceremony at the end.
2. Precise BRI: If you do #1, then you should also change the BRI to be based on the exact car performance points, not the combined class level. It would ensure that if you're bundled into a larger class with faster cars, you still have a chance to excel in the BRI.
3. Paid corner workers: A few years back the club experimented with hiring some automotive engineering students to do corner working. I think that was a cool idea, not just to get out of corner working, but it also felt like doing a nice deed for poor students. Also, if they could become regulars maybe we'd have more consistency in corner working.
4. Increased separation: With fewer cars, we're getting plenty of practice laps. We should increase the separation between cars, even if it means we get 1-2 fewer laps total over the day. When corner working, I still feel less safe than I prefer having to run to pick up cones, hoping someone up-track is watching and has my back. When driving, it would reduce how often I see knocked out cones, and also reduce the need for re-runs.
5. Track layout: The track layouts are generally awesome, but perhaps need to be slightly more cognizant of ruts and dips in the pavement. While corner working sometimes I cringe as I hear the GT3s and other lowered cars scrape the ground at speed, and I can appreciate why they stop coming.
6. Later on-line registration cutoff: I think on-line registration used to close the Wed before the event, whereas now it seems it's a week ahead. It would be great to move it closer to the event again, as close as practical. I know it's a lot of work for the volunteers doing registration, but I suspect this change would enable the late-committers to attend more often.
7. Later tech/check-in/start: We have to be there to tech at by 7:15AM, but don't start driving until 9AM. That is a long gap. With fewer cars, tech shouldn't take as long and we shouldn't need as long a buffer. Waking up while it's still dark is painful for some of us. Pushing back the schedule to cut off tech at 8:15AM would be welcome, even if it means perhaps not starting running until 9:30AM.
8. Penalty for hitting many cones during practice: We should to encourage people not to hit cones even during practice. One way to do it is only cars that were mostly clean get an extra practice run. It doesn't have to be precise, just ballpark. Give us 5-6 practice laps and if you've hit fewer than 1-2 cones total you are invited for an extra practice lap if you like. Or maybe you are alloted an extra timed lap later.
9. Coffee & donuts for everyone in the morning? Since we're all getting up early and skipping breakfast, that could be a nice touch (like Cars & Coffee). Generally for this as well as #3 above, I'd be fine raising the entry fee - I don't think the fee is a big deterrent considering the other costs of participating (like tires, etc.) dwarf the entry fee expense.
10. Friends & family rides: I always felt it was a bummer I couldn't share the experience with my friends/family. I've had the opportunity to drive at Thermal Club, and it's really satisfying to be able to give a friend/girlfriend a thrill ride. I also feel it's a way to introduce people to the sport. Right now you have to be an instructor, but perhaps the requirement could be reduced to not being a student or having a certain experience level.
Again, I think you guys are doing an awesome job, and I just wanted to offer some constructive suggestions to make it even better.