JB's Brain dump.

[lawnman]

Good stuff here. As far as JB's proposals:

1) 50% off the entry if they are a club member, 25% off if not a member but ran the morning motos. Love it, run one round, of a 5 race series in this fashion. Members of the team use their finish as a separate moto finish, which is actually Round #5 of the series, w/o running a separate day (5 rounds accomplished in 4 race days). Run this one at the last round to add excitement.

2) Love it. Run one round of a 5 race series in this fashion.

3) Run us in the a.m. (better track) and the others in the p.m. The little ones can sleep on the way home, us drivers can't. The club should favor the members when it comes to track quality, time, etc, otherwise what's the point of a club for vets. Older age people tend to be more early riser types and getting little ones going for an afternoon event is much easier.

4) Love it. Run one round of a 5 race series in this fashion.

5) Start on time, arrange classes so that next moto can be started when the last rider from the previous moto is 1/2 to 2/3rds way around the track (depending on track length). Put the beginner women, kids, minis toward the end of the rotation so that these motos would be held until they are w/in sight of the finish before the next moto start. This is how we did it @ HL for all LL Qualifers w/ 18 motos in each rotation (Larry had a daily cut-off time which he taught me to meet by gaining time in the morning).

A good announcer can do everything that is done at the Riders meeting. This (riders meeting) is a throwback to another era and needs to be seriously re-thought, half don't attend anyway. Most of them are a formality, no real info. Bring the meeting to where everyone is, which is the first moto start. Moving people on foot kills time. Bring food/refreshments to the flaggers and scorers. Do whatever track prep is needed after the first round and start the second round. I wouldn't do the $$$ back guarantee to be done by a certain time, too many things out of your control.

[jbrown62r]

ahhh the grand pooba of issues MONEY

There are so many ways to approach this issue. We could start by saying that MX is one of the cheapest forms of motor sports racing. We could site examples like off road truck racing where the tires cost more than a dirt bike, or go cart racing where tires are only good for one race and cost 400 bucks a weekend. How about sport bike racing where entries are over 100 bucks and heaven forbid you lay the bike over, not much left after a 60mph get off on pavement.

So an angle we could take is that MX racing is pretty cheap, and we shouldn't be focusing on trying to make it cheaper. We should be focusing on marketing to a client base that can afford to race MX. I'm a fan on finding new clients, but its much easier and cheaper to just keep the clients that we already have, or have had in the past. The people that I'd like to focus on have been to the races in the past, or their parents may have raced. Most of the people that I have talked to that still have bikes, but do not race. They still ride and often practice at the prepped tracks. This tells me that they still have maintenance and operating expenses that go along with a dirt bike, but they are not willing to spend the money on race day. If we had their interest they would find a way to come up with the money to race.

So how to get those who have bikes out to the track? There are several ways to get bodies out there.

Lower the cost of entry- If you ridiculously lower the cost of entry and market the heck out of it you might get enough participation to offset the lower cost. In order to safely lower the cost of entry the promoter has to lower the expenses involved or offset the different in income with sponsorship funds.

Give away a few free entries- Sponsoring a few riders could lower the costs for some. Maybe do a pre entry raffle?

Put people to work- comp their rides if they flag or help out around the track the day before. There is always work to be done and I know the OTMX rarely turns away helpers. I know I would love to have 20 people out there helping and would not feel bad at all comping more entries each week.

More swag/give aways- While swag and gift cards to bike shops does not lower the cost of entry it could lower the cost of maintenance and possible sweeten the pot for the rider who is on the fence about coming out.

Have less races through out the year- If there was only a few races a year families could budget and possibly afford to race those few races. Currently there are races almost every weekend in our area and it seems like the local promoters are just adding more and more events every year.

Gas company sponsorships- Advertising free or discounted fuel really seems to spark interest. Fuel in the truck and bike seems to be my largest expense week in and week out. A promoter can buy prepaid cards for fuel, or get sponsorship from a company to assist.

Working with local promoters to keep costs down- I know this may seem odd to some, but working with all the promoters and volunteering services to each other could lower the operating costs for all. If this savings was passed on to the riders it may help.

If a promoter were to play with raising or lowering the cost of entry I don't feel that it should be done during a series of events. Its not fair to the other promoters if one lowers cost from 40 bucks down to 10. This would make the others look bad and that's not what any body wants. Prices and rules should be close while running races under a sanctioning body.(in my opinion)

It has been said by several of the surrounding promoters that we need to charge more for entry. Its been said that we should charge similar to Cali pricing. 25 for practice +gate fee 40 race entry +10 gate fee + camping fee + transponder fee.


Again no simple answer, but a few ideas of things that could be tried.

[larry63r]

Charging $25 per practice is not working here in California. All the tracks are hurting for riders and the more they charge the less riders they get. The riders would rather buy a season pass and go to Mammoth Bar, Prairie City, Carnegie or Hollister and ride all year. The pass is only $50 and gets you into all the state parks. All the parks have MX tracks and I can tell you that the track at Mammoth Bar has more riders on it than MMX, E st and Riverfront combined on any given sunday. I think the local tracks here would make much more money if they charged $15 per rider like they used to when there were 100-200 riders a day at every track. $15 x 100=$1500 is a lot more money than $25 X 20=$500 for the same amount of work.
Another problem that the local track around here have is that they are made to hard for 80% of the riders to have fun on. Most of my friends won't go to Riverfront, E st, MMX ,Argyll or Scotts track at Prairie City because they won't clear the jumps and they don't want to get landed on by some kid that is not smart enough to look out for the slower riders. It is no fun trying to ride while looking over your sholder all the time. That is not as much of a problem for us because we break up the practices by skill. That is fine for my son but I still won't ride in an open practice. I would rather ride in a beat up, dust bowl by myself than have to worry about getting ran over on the track. I have been hurt too many times and I am already disabled.

[lawnman]

JB, again, good stuff on your idea list. I originally thought that the MONEY issue (of the three) would be the most complicated, but after your thoughts, I've changed my mind. MX, like going to dinner and the movies, the drag races, water/snow skiing, whatever. It doesn't really revolve around money, as much as it does ones time and interest. If you have the interest, you will always find the time and the money to pursue your passion.

Category #1: If you are totally into it, whatever the fee, you'll pay it. You'll take time off work to travel to the race, and travel home. You will ride on a poorly prepped track, because you crave track time. You'll enter multiple classes, and pay the fee, because you want to compete as much as you can. You'll buy whatever aftermarket item the magazines tell you to. You'll eat less to buy a fresh set of tires for the next race. The question is, what % of the members, or prospective members, fall into this category?

Category #2: I suspect that most fall into the "I used to race" (when it was real cheap - I remember $10.00 entry fees) and want to again, but wasn't prepared for the costs. or, the "I'm a racer, it's my hobby" type. I don't include the bike/gear costs in the equation because even in the day, they weren't "cheap". It is only by today's standards that an $800.00 DT-1 looks inexpensive. However, the total cost of a weekend of racing is a tremendous burden.

And that burden, for most, is discretionary. They don't have to do it. And if they are of this second category, and the race-related costs are too high to justify, they won't. Unless...the take-away value is there. What's that? That feeling you have driving home Sunday evening. A really fun, well prepped track. As much seat time as possible. A nice setting is an added bonus. Something to do in the area after the practice/race is a bonus. (What about Casino gaming/dinner coupons for race winners/raffle winners)? I just did the OTHG Fernley event and a lot of the buzz on the forums about attending this race is the night life that is available. It's not available at most tracks. Compare that to a national-level track in Rancho Cordova. Great track, nothing much in the immediate area to do but sit in the RV out at the track. Now combine the two and you have a take-away value for the consumer. A take-away value weekend offers a bit more and seems multi-dimensional. The non-racing family members have something to do, which makes it easier for the racer to go to the race. Seems that Fernley, Sparks, Reno, Stead & HL all have the ingredients to offer this value and should be promoted more. How about a link of entertainment/activities on the site?

I will always pay for a safe track that is run efficiently and on time. I will avoid amateurish operations. Split practices by skill means a safe day and money well spent. Start at what time you say you are going to and I will return. Be inconsistent and I will look elsewhere to spend my money. Establish an atmosphere of good and safe racing, and I will tell my friends, who may spend their money there also. Keep gate fees reasonable, don't charge me camping fees to park on a piece of dirt w/o any amenities other than noise, dust and mud. Enforce curfew and pit riding rules and I will not drive home thinking I wasted my money. Spread the races apart on the calendar so I can budget and schedule. Offer something a bit different and unique and I will pick that series over a run of the mill series. Have someone pick out of a hat, at random, the _______ place finisher in ________ moto and give them a dinner coupon at a local restaurant (which just lowered the cost of the weekend and gives the non-racers in the group something as well). People who attend a lot of races but don't win trophies, and pay a lot of entry fees over the years, love nothing more than a chance to come away winning something.

Nobody (well almost) minds someone making a profit if there is value in exchange for their hard-earned dollars. Look for ways to discount as much as you can for everyone, not for a select few (sponsorship). Don't spend money on bike/gear trinkets (that I may not even want/can use) to give away, use that money to keep costs contained. For me, I know this sport costs money, I accepted that when I got in. In any economy, but especially a slow one, it boils down to what did I get for my money?