Ive had quite a few comments about the practice times for this season, and have heard quite a few opinions. This was a post I wrote on RCfiles, and I thought it would be relevant to post here so that our racers and sponsors understand where were coming from when we make decisions, and what the background is for the decisions weve made for this year: You guys crack me up!!! Last year, there was an unhappy group of individuals who said they wanted the practice field leveled. I heard this both at the track and on the internet. This year, it is a group of unhappy individuals who say they want the practice extended, and forget anyone else who cant make it LOL. I used to get upset about this stuff, but I gotta just laugh now............no matter what we do, there are always people that dont like it. And thats fine, because both sides of the argument have valid points. Both scenarios have their pros and cons. The current scenario requires you to come to the track with a game plan, and to have some homework done prior to getting to the track. The extended practice scenario requires a different game plan obviously..........you can do your testing and work at the track rather than at home. Scenario #1 benefits some,, and scenario #2 benefits some........neither is wrong. Think Formula 1........they have limited, timed practice sessions. I tried to take a little page from the FIA lol. But I will say this for the thousandth time: before you guys get hot and heavy and worked up about a topic and blast our organization on the internet, I encourage you to think a little beyond just the race, and what might affect you and your peers. An example of what I mean, is this: if you set aside all the little details like main lengths, practice times, race fees, skill level classes, etc, the over-arching issue that RC Pro Series has had in the past few years is that the attendance was declining. I think everyone that had any level of participation could see that. By that same token, everyone knows, the bigger the race, the more exciting........everyone wants to have participated at that big race!. Its that kind of excitement and momentum that keeps veterans and newbies coming back for more!! Every single one of you always says, we need to encourage new racers! So, given the fact that there are fixed number of veteran RC racers that race on a consistent basis, that leaves any sort of growth that these races need to come from new racers. RC racing has a an average shelf life for people. My experience is that window is 3-10 years. Some people it is less, and some it is much more. So as people fall off, new faces have to come in for this whole thing to work and for you guys to actually have a state-wide series to run. And for growth, obviously the incoming people have to outnumber the outgoing people. Now, circle back to the limited practice sessions: when I talk to these new people at club races, on the forums, on facebook, via email, phone, text, etc and I ask them why they arent coming to the RC Pro races, a consistent answer that I got was, I cant take off on Friday, so there is no way I can come and be competitive without a day of practice. So, I made it a clear point to attack this and to come up with a plan that minimized peoples excuses not to come race with us for the weekend. Quite frankly, for those of you that were at round #1, it work spectacularly. We got a ton of participants that wouldnt have normally burned a vacation day and come and raced for the weekend. All this said, I implore everyone again to think about what is good for the group over the next 1-3 years. We need growth, and that is going to come from new racers. But dont think for a second that we have forgotten about the core, veteran racers! They are of equal importance! But, what veteran racers want/need doesnt always necessarily jive with what new racers want/need. Jeremy, Mike, Myself, and everyone else involved are doing our best to strike an appropriate balance of wants/needs of everyone. I think everyone that participates wants to see the group grow and prosper. Not only does it make Texas RC look great, but we end up with more hobby shops, we build business for existing shops, more tracks come online, the existing tracks do better, more sponsors, more racers, each and every one of our skill levels grow, we get to know each other and make friends with like-minded people that we would have never known otherwise. So all I ask is that you guys give it a try. Just because its different, doesnt mean that it is wrong and that it wont work out to be super exciting and it isnt cool in some other way (think about the new engines in F1 cars!). If at the end of the year any of you decide that the series is not headed in the direction thats conducive to your wants/needs, then so be it and well be sorry to see you go, but well understand. But please make a fully informed decision before you come to that conclusion, and there is no way to make a fully informed decision other than to come out and participate and give several races a try. So, here you have my train of thought when it comes to leading this series. If we come down to the end of the year and were worse off than we were, then by all means.......I failed, I will admit it, and someone else can give it a try. In the meantime, please know that I do have experience doing this, and I have a 90% confidence factor that this series is going to experience significantly increased average attendance by the end of this year, which is more fun for everyone involved, and more productive to the RC industry in this area. Oh, and if we actually start to have consistent C-Mains and below, by all means we can do some on-the-fly adjustments if need be. C-mains in the past 9 months have seemed to be comprised of maybe 3-5 people, and about half of them DNF.........no-one wants to see/run 15-20 minutes of that LOL. If we have a C or D main with 8-10 people in it, then absolutely well look at extending it and making it fun for everyone involved! Were not that inflexible, and were not ROAR strict LOL. Dont ever get the impression that EVERY single one of us that is involved, whether it be at the track or RC Pro, is in this first and foremost for the fun and for everyone else to have fun..........the business comes second! And if someone cant follow the logic that I just spelled out here, then quite frankly, I dont know that they will ever understand what RC Pro Series and Series racing in general is about. Last thing Ill say is that please dont think that what Ive just said here is pointed at any particular person. One thing Ive learned is that what happens on the internet seems to stay on the internet. The minute we get to the track, suddenly were all friends, and were all here to have a great time! Courtney P.S. For the guy that said some time ago, you just do this stuff and post this stuff to get props and thanks and kudos so you can build your ego, that is the dumbest thing Ive ever heard LOL. Anyone who spends some time with me can attest to that!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 20:37:19 +0000
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