Colorado Karting 2006 and beyond

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  • #41222
    swhannum
    Participant

    Greetings and happy holidays to the Karting community. I don?t post very often but there seems to be so many critical topics and issues on our plate right now that I just couldn?t resist. I truly believe that in addition to the overall progress last year, we, as the Karting community are staring a ?turning point? in the face. My hope is that we may all come together, (which I address), and realize where we?ve been, where we are now and the choices that lay before us. I realize that there are potentially many technical issues out there regarding our future and I really won?t address those, in part because I don?t feel qualified to do so. Rather, the following is a compilation of observations, experiences, and success principles that other motorsports and sports in general have consistently found to be what brings the best results for everyone concerned. We can only benefit from these if we observe and learn regarding the larger picture. Some of you out there are aware of my motorsports background. My intent here is not to throw my resume around nor am I volunteering or running for any office. Furthermore, I currently have absolutely no financial stake in the success of Karting and therefore simply offer the following out of a sincere desire to help and contribute if I can. I respectfully submit this food for thought and want to thank everyone that worked in the spotlight and behind the scenes to make such wonderful progress during the ?05 season!

    1. ?There is no such thing as teaching, only learning.?
    Monty Roberts.
    We cannot afford to re-learn all of the lessons that virtually every other form of motorsports have already suffered through, and incidentally all came to pretty much the same conclusion. Not only can we not afford the time, it?s grossly unnecessary. Obviously we are not IRL or NASCAR or NHRA but the same principals apply, it?s just a matter of scale. Although there are many examples, I will just give a few. Sit down and watch SPEED channel when they have a ?History of? show on sometime. Look at any of the big time motorsports in their infancy. Look familiar? These were great old times but what do you see in these old pictures? You see grungy weekend warriors, dirty holey cloths, two day beards, dirt and weed infested race tracks with no amenities, junk cars & tractors half dismantled & rusty 55 gallon barrels laying around in the background, no money, no sponsors, (at least not beyond the name of the garage where the racers work during the week) yet enough passion among the participants to somehow overcome it all. Contrast that to what these sports look like now. I?m not saying that all our venues are as bad as race tracks of the 50?s. It?s not hard to tell the ones that take some personal pride in their facilities. ?Yea but those big fancy tracks take big money? you might say? You?re right, but much of what could be done is either cheap or free. I remember when I was with Bandimere Speedway, there was literally a junk yard to the left of the main entrance. They used to call it the ?bone yard?. We in the marketing dept. used to direct the attention of the client to the great view of Green Mtn. to the right as we drove them into the facility to pitch them on some sponsorship proposal. He finally cleaned it up. While I was with NHRA the big push from Dallas Gardner, NHRA pres. at the time, was to ?Update our ball parks?. Dallas was sharp and he was exactly right. The stick and ball crowd, (and the media), were sitting in stadium sky boxes snacking on calamari and drinking mint juleps while much of motorsports and Drag racing in particular were trying to keep from getting splinters in our butt from the broken down grand stands and felt lucky if the hot dogs were warm and had relish! Every drag racing facility in the country looks the way it does now because of that initiative. The corporate interest and subsequent dollars that have come to motorsports would have never happened if they were all still racing in dirt fields. I will address more about sponsors latter.

    The rest of the community must be responsible also. We the racers are responsible for the image, professionalism and promotion of our sport as much as the tracks are. I couldn?t believe how many times this year I saw a racer and/or crew come to the trophy presentation with jeans so filthy and holey that I didn?t see how they kept them up or kept from spontaneously combusting in the mid day sun. Kids standing on the podium, with no shirt? Language being yelled across the pits and spectator areas that is less than family oriented. Before you say ?Oh come on you wimp that?s racing?, I spent 14 months racing with John Force on his crew and you bet there were some ?words? thrown around. But at the race, in front of spectators, kids, sponsors, officials, are you nuts? We had a code of conduct and you had better toe the line or you were history! We need to clean up our act on our own. Example: Every driver should wear their driving suite to the trophy presentation or maybe they shouldn?t get their award and points? The race staff, officials and sanctioning body should also present a clean professional image. Again, it doesn?t have to be expensive. Just something consistent, relatively clean and ?Official? looking. Bottom line, if we are fortunate enough to get a potential sponsor, member of the established media or even a curious family thinking that maybe this would be a fun way to spend a few weekends, Its up to all of us to make the best impression. Learning from the experiences of other sports also applies to other areas as will be discussed in part.

    2. The Nature of Interdependence
    Nature is independent of needs. Although everything in nature is interdependent. The same is true of our Karting community. This is not an opinion open for debate, it is simply true. Even though it may be self evident, it is not always observed or realized. It is fairly easy to witness to what extent any member of an interdependent system does not realize their interdependence. Often by what they say and more importantly by what they do. The root of this ?attitude? or paradigm is the same regardless of whether it?s a racer, a track owner, promoter or a sanctioning body. The root is found in the ?scarcity mentality?. This is where anyone and/or everyone are trying to get their piece of the pie because by golly there?s only so much pie! This alone has and will plague the potential success of any interdependent group as much as anything could. The racer needs the tracks and needs to understand that most tracks are businesses. Even if they are run by passionate participants of the sport they must financially survive at the point the owner can justify. The tracks need the racers, and they have needs. They both in most cases need a governing body and the governing body needs them. They all need support through sponsors, the media, etc. etc. etc. They are all interdependent. If each member truly recognizes this fact then the guide as to making the right choices becomes more long term. Instead of ?what?s best for me, right now? it becomes ?what is best for the sport long term is also best for me?. Another critical component of this is trust. If you simply do not trust the other members or if you have been given reason not to trust them, the members will always sub-optimize. First step?realize our interdependence. Second?speak and act accordingly.

    3. Management vs Leadership
    As I mentioned, kudos to everyone that did so much to make ?05 happen and to go as well as it did. One observation is that although races can be run and run well, and the back room can be managed quite well, the sport or at least the CSC lacks leadership. This is not critical of any one person or group of people because one would have to identify the person or persons that are responsible for leadership first. And since there is no one or group in that role I can?t offend anybody. This is also not the fault of those who did a great job ?managing? everything this year. How can I say this? I know that there is this ?CSC Board? out there that apparently runs the CSC. However if you ask a question like who all is on this board? You will get a different answer from each person you ask. Somehow a Race Director and Tech Director were appointed which was a 100% improvement but they seem to have a lot of responsibility and no authority? Try asking these questions: Who can talk to a sponsor? Who can establish the series schedule? Who is the representative to the sanctioning body? Who decides where a race, when a race and how many race? My hats off to the people we do have out there trying to improve things but I feel their frustration because there?s no pecking order. This was the same situation we had with CORA (Colo. Off Road Assoc.) They could run a great race for the racer but could never put on an ?event? or draw a spectator that didn?t have relative racing. They had good managers but no leaders. After incorporating a successful stadium off road race into my Coors High Altitude Bug Fest they asked us to take over the CORA series. By the next year it became the ?BF Goodrich Off Road Grand Prix Series? presented by Tire Centers, Inc. We didn?t have a magic wand, we just took the helm and moved forward in a direction that was overall best for the sport. We had to make some changes and not all of them were popular with everybody. To this day it was the best off road series ever in Colorado. Defined: Management works within the system, leadership works on the system. Whether it be appointed or elected, we need leadership and no one should expect them to do it for free, its real work to take something like this to the next level.

    4. Question: How many classes should compete in the CSC?
    Answer: The least amount possible while optimizing the potential growth of the sport not any particular class. Look, I would love to be able to include anybody and everybody but that is not in the best interest of the sport. You are better off with 150 karts divided into 8 classes for example than 150 karts divided into 16-20 classes. This has been proven time and again in almost every form of motorsports. In NHRA drag racing it was always to our frustration to try and explain to sponsors and the media how we could have three World Champions? If changes are necessary however, the racers should get as much time as possible to make transitions, etc.

    5. Question: How many races should there be; CSC / Club?
    Answer: First we must recognize a few points. A. In order for the sport of Karting in Colo. to have much credibility and validity there must be an upper level of competition available. B. You can?t have much of a valid ?State Championship Series? that all takes place at one track. C. This necessitates a multi race series that is geographically diverse. So, is there a magic number? No, it?s a matter of balance. I?ve produced and/or been involved in series or anywhere from 3-19 races annually. D. Given our climate, geographical area, and other factors, 8 races for the CSC should be totally manageable. From the online survey this seems to be the common opinion. There was talk of there being too many CSC races. Not the case. To the contrary, if there are too many races, there are too many club races. It is also a fallacy that a track will make more money the more races you have. I have heard tracks complain that they don?t make any money on club races. I also understand that JB had his best year ever with no club races at all, congrats JB! It?s no wonder why a track may not make money when there are 12 club races and three tracks within a 30 min. drive? If there were fewer events each would be more attended and be taken more seriously. Racers need a balance too. Without dragging this one issue out too long, all things considered a complementary and balanced schedule would include 7-8 CSC events state wide and approx. 6 club events at each respective track that chooses to run a club series. The club events fill an important role within the sport but overkill is harmful to all of us.

    6. SKUSA
    Some of the questions being thrown around are: What did we need SKUSA for? Why do we need SKUSA now? What did we get for our money? Etc. etc. etc. All valid questions and deserving of answers. This one is just my two cents worth. In the transition to actual rules and guidelines, a race director, tech director etc. SKUSA probably served a necessary role. Again, when you have no clearly defined leadership and no appointed responsible enforcement of even the implied rules, it creates a lot of turmoil. A sanctioning body should provide a few key benefits to a series and/or track. A. Reliable, consistent, enforceable rules and conduct methodology. B. Financial benefits through the accumulative buying power of tracks, races, clubs, series and racers. C. Overall promotion, institutional marketing efforts and logistical support as needed to allow the sport to flourish. If we get at least that, then it?s well worth the $75 a year.

    7. The chicken or the egg? (Sponsors & Growth)
    Sponsors and the most effective way to grow our sport are two very closely connected topics. Why does anyone need sponsors in the first place, after all they do require more work if you do it correctly and plan to keep them happy. Therefore you have to weigh the benefits against the additional administrative time and see what you come out. What do you fundamentally need to attract sponsors? You need something of value to them like exposure to a captive audience. (I realize there are many other dynamics here but we?ll use this to make the point.) Well, how do you get a captive audience large enough to be worth promoting to for the sponsor? You advertise. Where do you get the money to advertise? From a sponsor. You see where the chicken or the egg bit comes in. You can?t have one without the other but you can?t get one until you have the other! This is all to make the point that in a major market like Denver we simply cannot afford to spend the amount of money that it would take to attract any sizable crowd and that even if we had the money people are not going to go that far out of their way to get to any of the tracks available to them. (Bandimere may be the only current potential exception to this but you still have the affordability issue.) Not only is this issue critical to attracting sponsorship to the sport but also in attracting more participants and spectators to the sport. Therefore: Since we cannot afford to bring the people to the races, we must take the races to the people. Bottom line, the sport cannot and will not grow significantly by holding the majority of our events at geographically undesirable venues. Regardless of number of races in the series we must have as many races as possible like the proposed ?Greeley Grand Prix? within the annual schedule. If the series consists of 8 races then a split of 50/50, tracks to temp. venue and street races would work well. Here is an example of where what is best for the overall growth of the sport long term may not sound so great to a member who is just trying to get ?their pie? today! What they don?t realize is that if it is successful the pie gets bigger. Markets like Greeley that are sizable in population but where our race can be the biggest ?happening? in town, at least that week or possibly even that year, is where we should be. It?s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. The Town of Grand Lake has also shown an interest in hosting a street race around City Park as part of the series.

    8. The Greeley Grand Prix
    I am pleased to see that the overwhelming response to Rusty?s announcement within the forum has been very positive including two of the participating track operators. My compliments to them for recognizing the potential benefits of including this event in our series. This is truly a rare opportunity. I realize that the published information regarding this proposed event is a little sparse particularly when it comes to who would be doing what? This is in fact one of the most attractive elements of the relationship. The staff from Greeley that has been represented during our meetings reads like the who?s who of Greeley?s ?make things happen? team. This is not some guy or even group of people who, like Mickey Rooney in those old movies said, ?I?ve got it, lets put on a show!? and had no experience with anything like this. These guys do this sort of thing throughout the year including the Greeley Stampede. The CSC would basically be responsible for the ?competition? element within the overall event and the race would be the feature attraction. I won?t kid you, there are a lot of details to work out and the first race probably won?t be perfect but they are looking at a long term commitment to this project and they are serious when they say they would like this race to be one of the ?must attend? races across the country. Although the potential overall benefits are huge I?ll mention one in particular. With the related media, spin-off promotions, spectators, coverage, etc. that just this one event on the tour could create, a series sponsorship could most likely be justified. Often times once the ?big one? signs, all the rest are much easier. Realize that racing organizations will beat on doors until their knuckles bleed and never have an opportunity like this land in their lap. This race needs to happen and we must look for similar markets within Colo. to expand into with a controlled growth plan.

    9. 2006 schedule.
    If we agree that a key component to the sports growth and validation lays with the potential of the CSC series, then the CSC schedule needs to not only be established as early as possible but be set first taking into account other events that would have a significant impact on the series. For example, if only 4 out of 150 racers ?might? go to another event outside the state, it may not be worth trying to schedule around. However an event like Greeley and its potential to draw from far and wide would need to be clear of other major Karting events. Track and club race schedules should then be filled in and around the CSC dates as needed. Oh yea?no Mother?s Day racing!
    Well, although I?m sure there?s more to talk about the two fingers that I use to type are pretty tired so I guess I?ll stop there. Again, kudos to the efforts made this year and I?ll help if I can. In any case we?ll be there, racing, living and learning.

    Merry Christmas!

    Scott Hannum

    #52110
    hotwheels1517
    Participant

    WOW for an average of one post a month that one sure includes a lot of food for thought. I will only comment on one item at this time. I am very greatful that we had a sanctioning body this year with tech.. I know there were things that did not go right and even a few personal complaints by me. However we need a sanctioning body with written rules if not SKUSA then one of the other nationaly recognized sanctioned karting bodies.

    Brian Moore,
    Father of Brandon #77 comer 80 and novice shifter

    #52111
    Jay Luttrull
    Participant

    CODE OF CONDUCT ?????

    Sott this is go kart racing most of the people are out here for fun. Sure we all want to win but come on who is going to show up with a collar shirt and khaki pants to get a trophy? Besides if you want to talk about a code of conduct why dont you look at yourself. And I quote “Cody 2
    Dennis 0″ Why would we listen to a guy that trashes a 6 yr. old kid and the tech director. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!

    Jay Luttrull

    #52112
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Jay,
    I must be missing something. What is wrong with wearing, if not your driving suit, then at least a presentable t-shirt and jeans, to the trophy presentation? Who said anything about Kakhi’s and a collared shirt. Doing this for fun, doesn’t mean we have to look like slobs while doing it.

    “Cody 2 Dennis 0”

    You are refering to an on-line post, not someone climbing into a 6yr olds face at a race. It is 1 persons opinion, posted on-line, and I’m not even sure it was directed at the 6yr old, but perhaps the adult involved with the driver. Either way, who cares, it was, what, 8- 9 months ago?

    I think that we have seen/and or been a party to something that was to say the least unprofessional. We must all remember, that when we are at any track for practice or a race, we represent not only ourselves and our team, but the CSC/Club, Sanctioning Body, and the karting community as a whole. I will be the first to admit that I had my own “challenges” this year and for that I am truley ashamed. I also promise to do my best to not repeat those mistakes next year.

    I assume that you are not dismissing everything that Mr. Hannum had to say because of this one issue. Personnally, I think he makes some very valid points. How about everyone else, what do you think?

    Drew Kunter

    #52113
    Greg Johnson
    Participant

    I for one am NOT going to wear my suit in 80-90 deg temps after racing . In fact I’m going to wear shorts and a greasy t-shirt.

    #52114
    Mitch Wright
    Participant

    Scott,

    Great observations and points.

    #52115
    stacey cook
    Participant

    Scott,

    I am not sure that we have ever met but your post is spot on! You have obviously been around Motorsports awhile.. Until we all get on the same page, do what is best for the growth of the sport and not our personal agenda’s we are going to continue to be the blind leading the blind. We as a group really need to take what he is saying here seriously if we want karting to grow here in Colorado..

    #52116
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Greg,

    So are you saying that if a major company were to say, we want to sponsor the series or class, but they in turn expected a professionally run series and the ability to use photos of the race and awards ceremony in advertising. You still wouldn’t wear a driving suit for the 5 min. you would be on the podium?

    What about if there was T.V. coverage?

    For those of you that went to the Nation’s Cup, remember, Driving suits were required for the podium. It is if not about professionalism, it is and should be about pride in oneself and in ones sport.

    I believe that if a Club does’t want to require/request proper attire on the podium, that is thier perogative. I however, believe that the CSC must go to the next level or the sport will not grow. The more that the CSC grows, the more the Nation watches, the more possibilites the CSC has to do things for the racers.

    As the wise man on the other side of the hill said….”Until we all get on the same page, do what is best for the growth of the sport and not our personal agenda’s we are going to continue to be the blind leading the blind.”

    #52117
    Doug Welch
    Participant

    I think Scott brings up some very good points but I want us to consider some other things.

    It should be well known that I advocate fewer races in the CSC. My reasoning is simple. Too many CSC races is killing club racing and club racing is very important for our community. It gives new racers a place to learn their race craft before jumping headlong into the higher level of competition of the CSC. And we are in desperate need of new racers!

    Secondly, too many races increases the demand for drops which in effect turn the championship into to an attendance award. Fewer races with NO drops makes the championship worth fighting over. I think a 5 race series makes the most sense, 1 race at GJ, IMI, Bandi, Steamboat and Greeley. The each track should do a 6 race club series, independant of the CSC and they can run what ever classes they want. If such a plan were followed, I have no doubt that club racing would flurish and that karting in our state would flurish. But if we do as I fear many are advocating, an 8 race CSC with 2 drops and a 12 race IMI club championship, we will see our numbers drop and we will have racers complaining, “Where is everyone at the club races?” We’ve seen it two years in a row, is anyone listening?

    Fewer classes is always good. I would rather run in the middle of a big class (30+) than in the front of a 3 kart class. Four shifter classes with basically the same rules only the weight is different (10# hardly makes a difference) seems just plan silly. Why should the CSC have a novice class? Shouldn’t novices run in club races? The CSC should have only 3 125 shifter class, Pro (ICC and built moto), Heavy old (built moto and ICC at 410#), and Spec Honda (stock). At least in TaG, the weight difference between senior and masters makes sense.

    Rules. No doubt this year was much better. With Rusty and Dennis, many of the aspects many of us have been complaining about have been greatly improved. Tires and fuel were checked at all the races I attended and thats a good thing. But who should we give credit for that, the CSC or SKUSA?

    If you remember, we paid two fees at the start of the season. $50 to the CSC and $75 to SKUSA. I know what I got for my $50, for that I got Rusty, Dennis and Angie. The three who had the most impact on the series of any in the state in terms of the consistancy from track to track. It is they who are directly responsible for the operation of the races and I think they did a fine job.

    Now what did I get for my $75? I got a patch, a decal and a book. Now lets look into that book a little closer to what was actually in it. The rules for running a race including an appeals procedure, yep they are in there. Rules for ICC shifters. yep there in there but actually they are nothing more than a repeat of the CIK-FIA rules. You can download them here.
    http://www.cikfia.com Thats the bulk of our shifters.

    They have rules for modified moto shifters but hardly anyone runs them and besides, you can sum them up easily, they’re open except for a head volumn! That leaves only stock moto and K2 and K3. Yes they wrote rules for them but K2 can be found on Stars web site, and many of us argue that the stock moto rules aren’t really that good. There are better sets of rules out there for them.

    That leaves us with Tag rules which come from TaG USA. http://www.tagracing.net So SKUSA didn’t do anything for us here. K-80 rules came from IKF and WKA, so SKUSA added nothing here. That brings us to the last class, kid karts. Those rules were written right here in Colorado, so SKUSA gave us nothing there. So outside of K3 and built moto, what rules did SKUSA actually provide?

    I would rather take the money I gave to SKUSA and give it to the CSC. It stays in the state, in our community. If I got 3 people at every race, Rusty, Dennis and Angie for $50, then I can get 4.5 more people running the races if they get an additional $75 from me. A consistant crew at each race, from Chief steward to grid marshal would only make the racing better still. Besides, I’ve heard that the new SKUSA management doesn’t want junior classes anyway.

    #52118
    Greg Johnson
    Participant

    Drew, Thats alot of “what ifs”.

    #52119
    hotwheels1517
    Participant

    As far as the rules go there has to be a written rule book in BLACK AND WHITE!!! I hate rulebooks written in grey, and thats what we got in 2004. For me I will gladly pay the $75 for a patch as long as it comes with a rulebook!! Stop the download crap of the rules can be found here and there. If we go to that, lets just have one class run what ya brung no rules no weight and you will see my son with an ICC with nitrous on a cadet kart. Good luck catching him!!!

    Brian Moore
    Father of Brandon #77 125 ICC on Nitrous?

    #52120
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Brian you better give it a little more juice. You’ll be eatin my kid kart dust with this. As for all the generator pilots, If You Can’t Run With The Big Dogs Go Run The Lights On The Porch. 😥 See Ya at the finishline.
    Thank
    Scott Smith

    Very Proud Father Of Landon Smith
    Super Pro Altered Kid Kart #34

    #52121
    hotwheels1517
    Participant

    We can beat that!!! That kart will have to much push, and engine geometry is wrong. But at least you went with ford engines.

    Brian Moore
    Father of Brandon #77 125 ICC with nitrous

    #52122
    Doug Welch
    Participant

    Brian

    You’re absolutly right, we got a book in black and white. But at what cost? Last year, we had 144 racers who took points in the CSC. I assume that in order to get points, you needed to join the CSC and SKUSA. Now I know that some of those racers did double duty so lets knock off 10%. That means we most likely had around 130 racers who paid.

    130 X $50 = $6,500 to the CSC. Thats $6,500 that went directly to the CSC for running the races. That is money that gave us the very thing that impacted the quality of the racing. It was money very well spent.

    130 x $75 = $9,750 to SKUSA. That is almost $10,000 we sent out of state to buy a rule book. Since I’ve showed the sources of the rule book, might we have been better off to pay some one in state to download the information, format it and publish it? I bet we could have gotten it done for $3,000 and had a better quality of a rule book.

    That would leave us with almost $7,000 to buy additional staff for our events! If we could double our staff, wouldn’t that make the races better still.

    We can have our black and white rule book and we can double our staff with out spending one more dime than we did laast year. We just have to spend our money wisely.

    #52123
    Rodney Ebersole
    Participant

    “As for all the generator pilots, If You Can’t Run With The Big Dogs Go Run The Lights On The Porch.”

    Statements like that do more harm to karting than a podium full of gressy shirts and jeans.
    Scott Smith, you might want to check on your porch light, as it is a little dim and being very proud isn’t going to make it brighter.

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