Once again, I apologize for my absence, as many things, not just WDCR blogging, suffered.
The Round Table
The Round Table was held in early March. I was pleased to see Jerry and Bonnie Wannarka, Carla Heath, Gregg Ginsberg, and Jack Burrows were in attendance from the Region.
The hot topic, of course, was National Racing, and I spent more than 5 hours sequestered in a room with the REs from the other regions that hold Club Races (Racing Regions). We were collectively designated the National Racing Committee (NRC). We were joined by NEDiv’s National Board members and the NEDiv Council throughout the course of the day. What came out of that marathon were a few things.
1. Although there is recognition that are too many races chasing too few drivers, the NRC does not want to prevent any Region that wants to hold a National Race from holding one.
At a high level, some of the reasons behind this philosophy are that while some Racing Regions pointed out that we are still a club and we still have an obligation to serve our members to the best of our abilities, other Racing Regions need a National Race to make financial ends meet else the Region becomes a Solo-only region and subsequently cannot serve its membership! Clearly, there are arguments pro/con this philosophy, but I will not get into them here.
2. There was sufficient evidence from a survey that was administered, feedback from Tom Campbell’s open letter to the National drivers, and other statistical number crunching that drivers prefer double Nationals.
Surprise!!!! Thus, doubles were brought back into the picture, but with the caveat that Regions need time to prepare for doubles, whether they are the Region hosting the double or a Region hosting a single geographically near a track hosting a double. More on this in a minute.
Therefore, the NRC decided to address the wishes of the National drivers while keeping the wishes of the Regions in mind, and made the following recommendations which were re-worded into formal motions at the NEDiv Council meeting:
• For 2010, a double National race be granted to the Glen Region for their National at Watkins Glen. (passed: 10-4)
• For 2011, two double National races be granted within the division, with one to the Glen Region, and one to be decided by lottery. (passed: unanimous)
WDCR voted against the 2010 motion and voted in favor of the 2011 motion. Note that 5 “no” votes would have resulted in the motion failing.
Watkins Glen, the Shining Star
What is up with the Glen Region (Glen) not only getting a double in 2010 but also in 2011?
The NRC's vision of National Racing in the division is to have a series about which people get excited, and therefore feel that a premier event would be a catalyst in generating that excitement. The Glen Double would be the premier event of the division (initially), the June Sprints of the NEDiv as it were. It might take a few years to develop that following, therefore, the division has committed 2 years to the Glen to get this premier event off the ground.
Plus, a driver's survey showed that 85% of drivers answering the survey would go to the Glen for a double, and what should also come as no surprise is that it was cited as the most popular track in the division.
For what it’s worth, the door was left open to allow for another Region to assume the “premier event” if the event doesn’t do well at the Glen or if the Glen doesn’t want it any longer.
My Scatter Brained Thoughts
I went to the Round Table thinking a few of things:
1. The number of National Races held in the division should be reduced until a change is made at the National Board level that would prove that more races would be a sustainable business model.
I agree in principal with the philosophy of not preventing a Region from holding a National race if they want to hold one. I am not in the business of telling other Regions how to run their business just as much as I don’t want anyone telling me how to run WDCR. Clearly, telling a Region they can’t hold a National race in order to reduce the number of races in the division goes against this philosophy. It took some soul searching, but in the end I decided that I just can’t go there.
2. National Races should be all one type of race, either all singles or all doubles.
The NRC recommended that the lottery to determine the order of who gets a double National occur this summer, not just for 2011 but also for the next 5 (or however many) years. Therefore, with doubles being scheduled far in advance, if a Region wants to hold a single National in a year they are not scheduled to have a double, any risk associated with choosing to (or not to) hold a single National rests entirely on their shoulders because they will have had had plenty of time to plan for it. An argument can be made that this will not be the case for the 2011 season, but we have to start somewhere when changing the status quo.
3. The 2010 race schedule is set.
I had heard the rumors that multiple Regions were going to come to the Round Table asking to change the 2010 schedule so that they could host doubles. Apparently, that rumor proved to be quite true. WDCR’s Board agreed that the schedule shouldn’t change; those were my marching orders, as it were.
Why did I vote against the 2010 motion?
1. It's not fair the others who also asked for a double at the Round Table. Why should we give a double to one Region over another?
2. It's not fair to every other region hosting a National race this year since everyone planned on everyone having a single National race. By giving the Glen a double, the NEDiv Council just pulled the rug out from under everyone else.
3. WDCR had no dog in this fight since we aren’t having a National in 2010.
4. I was also upholding the WDCR BoD’s wishes.
Why did I vote for the 2011 motion?
1. I am not in the business of telling other Regions how to run their business.
2. Regions will have the ability to actually plan for doubles now and as I said earlier, we have to start somewhere when changing the status quo.
I apologize that this blog post is massive, and it feels... all over the place because at some level, it is. Summarizing 5+ hours of meetings plus email threads into a little blog piece is challenging me. :-)
Cheers!
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-Evanthe
Don’t drive faster than your angel can fly.