Questions & Answers for those running for the 2021-2022 Elections. Don't Hijack this topic. Please!

[hotrod]

The other thread has several conversations going on so lets try and keep this thread solely for Question that you want Answered by those that are running for the 2022 Board of Directors positions.

Here are the ten questions asked:

Riche30

1.  As a possible new board member, what are your thoughts on how to attract new teams to CCES?
2.  Do any of you have business leading backgrounds?  Who here has experience dealing with banks, accountants, corporate insurance brokers, attorneys, etc?
3.  What are your thoughts on West Coast expansion?  Should CCES continue to try to reach that market?  If so, why?

4.  You're signing on for a 3  year term.  What do you hope to accomplish in the 3 years to further the BUSINESS of CCES, not the rulebook?

5.  It's my belief that the Board has been weighed down by its own desire to keep its hands in the rule book.  Do you think its time for the Board to have oversight controls only?

Veris

6. How do you feel about fuel for points? ie are you interested in seeing serious options (including status quo) and recommendations from the TAC? 

7. Are you motivated to find a solution for the abuse of multiple sets of soft/fast tires in a race?

8. Are you for the consistent [and transparent] application of criteria to determine swap weights?

JDChristenson

9. What are the views of those running on what the long term goals of the club are or should be?  

10. How could the club leadership improve communication and involvement of the membership?

Edited November 1, 2021 by hotrod

[hotrod]

Here are 10 Questions that were asked in the other tread........My Answers.

 

1.  As a possible new board member, what are your thoughts on how to attract new teams to CCES?

My experience is that people want a fair playing field. Rules that are enforced as written no matter who the team is. No favorites. A stable rule book also helps. No one wants to see a major VPI change or a rule that changes their build while they are half way through it.

Some more thought should go into how a fast car is adjusted. Raising the VPI value hurts all the cars in that model not just the fast one. Getting dinged because of someone else is not fair to all. Having the goal posts changed keeps teams away.

ChampCar was an affordable way to go racing that’s changed course a bit. CCES needs to be aware that with change also come expense.

 

 

 

2.  Do any of you have business leading backgrounds?  Who here has experience dealing with banks, accountants, corporate insurance brokers, attorneys, etc?

I have dealt with them all. For one-off event to large and small businesses. My Indy Car days required that the multi-million dollar budget was adhered to.

3.  What are your thoughts on West Coast expansion?  Should CCES continue to try to reach that market?  If so, why?

Currently the West Coast is a financial burden on ChampCar. I would hate to alienate current CCES West Coast Teams but if there isn’t a growth in attendance then it would be time to walk away. We need to put together a plan and a timeline to try and revive the car count that includes a commitment to put in a good effort. But must be conscience of when enough becomes enough.

 

4.  You're signing on for a 3 year term.  What do you hope to accomplish in the 3 years to further the BUSINESS of CCES, not the rulebook?

Increased car counts. Higher income. Review of expenditures. Higher sponsorship income. Bigger footprint on YouTube.

The “Evolution” of a business is forever changing. CCES has had to deal with covid and now I believe a high Inflation rate. Need to be creative, thought provoking, and flexible in whatever business hurtle lies ahead.

 

5.  It's my belief that the Board has been weighed down by its own desire to keep its hands in the rule book.  Do you think it’s time for the Board to have oversight controls only?

The rule book is important. When I became interested in CCES or any series for that matter the first placed I looked was at the rule book. I didn’t care about what their bottom line was. Yes you have to have a good business plan to stay in the Red but a good rule book is also essential. I do think that the BOD needs to communicate more and more seriously with the TAC. Also need to get more members involved in the petition and voting process. Currently it’s a very small group that participates in both.

 

6. How do you feel about fuel for points? ie are you interested in seeing serious options (including status quo) and recommendations from the TAC? 

The VPI list apparently takes fuel capacity into consideration when the value is decided. So would a rewrite of the entire VPI list need a remake? Many faster cars have a small tank which gives the slower cars a chance as the fast cars need to pit under the two hour window.

I wouldn’t find it fair that a fast small tank car could get fuel for points.

I do think that at the end of the two hour stint and you need to change drivers that should be a 5 minute stop. That’s a big advantage for the big tank cars to be able to pit less than 5 minutes.

I think that all recommendations from the TAC need to be considered. Currently that is not the case & needs to change.

 

 

7. Are you motivated to find a solution for the abuse of multiple sets of soft/fast tires in a race?

Yes. I’m all ears. Tire rules are not easy. A tire that works for me may not work for you. Each tire requires a different chassis set up. When the Cooper tire was fast at NCM the forums blew up. Now the superiority of that tire seems to have died down.

Can’t limit tires because many teams run on used tires.

 

8. Are you for the consistent [and transparent] application of criteria to determine swap weights?

Yes. Honestly this is a topic that I would have to study and get some advice. Which would be a good thing in my opinion because I’d be walking into this with an open mind and no bias.

 

9. What are the views of those running on what the long term goals of the club are or should be?

Increase membership & participation. Sustain profitability. Explore new venues. Expand the YouTube Broadcasts with equipment & gadgets. More transparency from CCES. Stop the “Free Parts” added to every rule book.   

  

10. How could the club leadership improve communication and involvement of the membership?

This really shouldn’t be that hard yet year after year it’s a topic that comes up.

When a decision or a rule change comes up it should be followed up with a verbal or written explanation as to why. Minutes from every meeting should be available. How the Bod votes should be available as soon as a vote takes place.

As far as club involvement only somewhere around 6% of the members are involved. Not everyone is on Facebook of follows the Forum. Maybe more YouTube videos. More emails so you know that every member is notified on issues. Direct them to the forums for input.

A monthly Newsletter?

Mailings?   

 

[MR2 Biohazard]

1- I have been concerned about this a while. I started the mentor program, it is in the beginning stages, but the idea and prospects seem to be coming along. I asked many members on input and help on developing it. I think it can really help members come on board and have a very inviting aspect to Champcar that others do not have. I also think long term it pay dividends and have us a more friendly environment and comradery among teams. That is hope anyway. Another item that can be investigated and looked into is what barriers to do we have causing teams to not come to the series? Rules? Then we need to decide we want to try to break those down or are we fine with those?

2- I started a non profit in the past and had to deal with a lot of these aspects and with city officials to get approvals. Not always fun, but always interesting and working on a shoe string budget kept us on our toes. I am also an analyst at my job and have to deal with these type of items on a regular basis.

3- West Coast. I think the west could use some different ideas. I would like to see it have 4-5 races, make a separate championship and make a rule that has a team going go at least 4 of the 5 races.  I do worry that each race looses money, but maybe we can tighten up costs and go super lean out there. We should let members know this and keep them informed so they know, we need entries or we are in trouble. They can encourage new teams and make sure we get them to stay.

4- I want to try to help with three main things. Transparency to members. I would like to take over meeting minutes and notes and publish those to members with feedback as needed or warranted. I think members should be informed of what is going on. As a BOD member I serve the members and want to make sure I am getting their input. Not just on the forum or FB. I would like to have the current questions and concerns and bring those to races. I would go to the each team and ask them their opinions on things and report back to the BOD and organization the finding. I think having a very narrow view of just the forum participates can lead us in a direction that might be in everyone's best interests. I want to make sure we stay on track with our core business goals, affordable racing for all. I worry the direction might go away from that and want to make sure we keep that in mind. I also want a stable environment for people to feel comfortable that the rules will not pulled out from under them. I do think we have to have a VPI review process that is spelled out the why and when. The process I purposed seemed to be well liked by most, can use some more tweaks, but is something we use. We should get member involvement if that teams vehicle is being considered and seems fair.

5-I think the board can step back some on the rulebook application and setting. I can see why it happened, but I think there needs to be a balance. Dana has eyes and ears on the ground at a good portion of the races and gets reports back from Chelsy on it. He can see and know things the board will not and his input is valuable. We need to trust him and his decisions when it comes to things and can get his input as well. I worry the board could get stuck in so much of the technical part they might loose the big picture and goals of the organization. A step back is not always a bad thing.

6- The concept of fuel for points is an interesting one for sure. I can see small tank cars being very limited. I can also see the VPI values based on fuel consumption and going 2 hours. I would think if we wanted to look at it we would really need to dive deep into it and look at a lot of data to see how it would affect all the teams and race results. Would it really be a good solution or would it just cause a shift from car A winning to car B winning. Would it make racing better? I am not sure and maybe data could lead us in the right direction. I have learned that I do put forth ideas, which I think are brilliant, as some really are-hehe, but some are simply not as I did not foresee the ramifications of that idea long term. I think fuel for points is one of those things that we could think would do X and then do something very different. I think we need to see how the new fuel rule works out and then take a look to see who and how things get played out. Sorry I do not have a yes or no, but that one is an I do not know until we have a lot more data and see how things play out.

7-Tires- heck yes. I put forth a lot of petitions, to give options. I think we should have some rules for tires, not sure what is a best practice, but something. The last race I was at, PIRC, I saw Sahlens use A052 tires, come in both days, and change them with their air guns in less than 5 min and go back out. They won and I think a big reason they did was because they ran those tires and changed them at the end of the day. I think they were the only team to change tires during the race. Is that really in the spirit of being an affordable series? I like Sahlens, they race great, I had an 1.5 hour battle with them and we went back and forth. It was so fun and I look forward to it. If we limited tires in some way I do not think it would hurt them all that much and they would adapt. I do not want the perception or expectation that you have to run multiple sets of sticky tires to do well. There has to be a good solution.

8-I am for transparent application of all rules and reasons behind them. I get why the values are manipulated. A solution could be a list at the end of the VPI table of car chassis X with engine Y gets a VPI value of Z. Here is an idea that could solve it. We can take all the swapped combos we have and put them in there. Then when new ones come up a team can request that be added to the list. This way it can be controlled long term. Also, maybe there is a VPI review, but it is of the swapped combo so the base combo does not get hurt from it. That could solve the swap weights issue and give the flexibility to adjust a swapped car and not the base car, maybe that be up or down.

9-The club is a business, non profit is still a business. Just because it is shown that you do not make profit does not change that fact. We need to make sure we stay in business and need to focus on that. As a business we need revenue and need to control our expenses. To have revenue we need team entries, member fees and sponsor money. We need to try to keep every single member we can and continue to replace lost members and teams. This is basic attrition and growth problems and concerns with all businesses. The issues comes in when something is changed and causes a member to leave, does that cause others members to come in and replace that member. I think we can try to work on having that not happen. The bad part is for every 10 members that leave maybe 1 tells us why. I think most members or teams that leave we never hear about or know why. Maybe keep tabs on teams that have not raced in while. Check in with them somehow. Make sure that they know that they matter and we care. I think that can go a long way and we could find out things about whey they are not racing with us anymore and keep track of those reasons. Maybe life gets in the way, I get that, kids, work, money, ect. I do think we should keep track. I would have no problem putting together a database and keep track of items such as this. This is what I do in my daily job and can organize and keep track of it.

10- Communication, I said that above, but mainly transparency and asking their opinions. Transparency via meeting minutes and notes, transparency as to have written out processes that members can follow, such as the VPI review process, transparency on timelines and keep so members know when things happen. Communicate with members in person at the races, on the phone, via detailed surveys to get their thoughts.

 

WOW, that came out longer than I though. Now back to work and I will see where this thread went later today or tonight as I have to do my real job today.

[enginerd]

Nathan Gardiner answers to compiled questions:

 

1.  As a possible new board member, what are your thoughts on how to attract new teams to CCES?

 

It’s far cheaper to retain current members than attract new ones, so that should be priority #1. Beyond that, the easiest market to attract is people who already have race cars, and the best transfer market is Lemons. Create a Lemons exemption or a Lemons Class (L) allowing any team with an active Lemons logbook to race (cars must have fewer than X penalty laps in Lemons or something, I don’t know the Lemons rules well). Address the 22 gallon fuel cell issue by requiring any stint greater than say 60 minutes to be followed by a fuel stop (very easy to police in the timing and scoring booth). The point would be: race with us, minimal barrier to entry, come have fun.

 

2.  Do any of you have business leading backgrounds?  Who here has experience dealing with banks, accountants, corporate insurance brokers, attorneys, etc?

 

No

 

3.  What are your thoughts on West Coast expansion?  Should CCES continue to try to reach that market?  If so, why?

 

My Lemons class in question 1 would be a great in-road to the west coast.

 

4.  You're signing on for a 3 year term.  What do you hope to accomplish in the 3 years to further the BUSINESS of CCES, not the rulebook?

 

Vague business goal: increase event turnout in all regions.

 

5.  It's my belief that the Board has been weighed down by its own desire to keep its hands in the rule book.  Do you think it’s time for the Board to have oversight controls only?

 

No. Many rulebook changes have a direct impact on attracting or driving away members. The Board is the only elected body.

 

6. How do you feel about fuel for points? ie are you interested in seeing serious options (including status quo) and recommendations from the TAC? 

 

No, too difficult to balance. I think if you add this, low VPI unicorns will come popping out of the woodwork because a “good price” for fuel for a 400 point car would be a STEAL for a 100 point car.

 

7. Are you motivated to find a solution for the abuse of multiple sets of soft/fast tires in a race?

 

Desire to find a solution is popular among membership, and therefore should be considered by elected board members. I publicly supported a version of a 1 tire-per-stop idea in the last round of petitions.

 

8. Are you for the consistent [and transparent] application of criteria to determine swap weights?

 

To be honest I support (and have supported since the inception of the swap formula) a separate “swap VPI table” which would have lines for chassis + engine just like the current VPI table, except that the listed engines wouldn’t be stock offerings. I proposed this to Mike back at the start and he said it would be too much work. I disagreed that it would be more work then, and I STRONGLY believe that the endless fudging of weights and resulting bickering about the calculator has long since exceeded the work required for a Swap VPI table and subsequent maintenance.

The VPIs are subjective, the post-swap VPIs should also be subjective.

Advantages of a subjective swap table: 

- Engine torque and weight can be considered. The current formula only considers HP.

- Engines which are better than their rated power indicates will be more fairly valued (certain underrated V8s / turbos / etc.)

- Changes can be made to a specific swap combination without blowing up other engine swaps on the same platform

 

But to answer the actual question, yes the application of criteria should be consistent and transparent while we are constrained to the current formula. The bull cookies of the stealth e30 weight change and months of cover up by management was insulting and wrong to say the least.

 

9. What are the views of those running on what the long term goals of the club are or should be?

 

Maintain ChampCar as the premier budget endurance racing series. Large fields are a critical part of fun racing and ‘staying in the black’, so ChampCar needs to increase field size without sacrificing the diversity, quality of racing, and affordability.

  

10. How could the club leadership improve communication and involvement of the membership?

 

Designated board spokesperson to be the official voice of the board on the forum. Explaining how and why certain decisions were made. We get a lot of posts from board members, which is great, but often these posts contain board decisions mixed with personal opinions and it can be a bit murky. Also a monthly email blast “what is the Board doing for you?”

Edited November 1, 2021 by enginerd

[JDChristianson]

A question out to all the folks wanting to be apart of taking Champcar forward.

 

What are your thoughts on improving enforcement of: 

7.2. ON-TRACK DRIVER CONDUCT 7.2.1. It is the responsibility of all drivers to avoid physical contact between cars on the race track. All competitors have a right to “racing room” on the marked racing surface. “Racing room” shall be generally defined as sufficient space on the marked racing surface to allow a competitor to maintain control of his/her car. CAR TO CAR CONTACT WILL RESULT IN A BLACK FLAG BEING ISSUED AND A TIME PENALTY TO BE SERVED. 7.2.2. The responsibility for passing another car and accomplishing that pass safely, rests with the overtaking driver. The driver that is about to be overtaken has the responsibility to be aware that he or she is about to be passed, give hand signals and shall not impede the overtaking car. 7.2.2.1. The driver being overtaken should, at all times, remain on their racing line unless the car is impaired and is unable to maintain an adequate racing speed. 7.2.2.2. The driver being overtaken shall not block. Any driver who fails to make use of their rear view mirror, or who appears to be blocking another car seeking a pass, will be black flagged and/or penalized. 7.2.2.3. It is the responsibility of the overtaking car to prepare for, plan and execute a FULL and COMPLETE safe pass. The definition of a full and complete pass is when the overtaking car has extended a lead of approximately one car length ahead of the vehicle being passed.

 

Thanks for your time!

[frankrehnelt]

It’s so hard to enforce to the letter. There are so many variables. The corner worker are track provided and I don’t think we have the time or personnel to train them to our desires. Do we just black flag any contact? Both cars? We work it out on pit road? Staff is already over worked on race day. All tracks don’t video monitoring for the “proof” we’d need. The teams and driver need to police each other and have mutual respect. Don’t be a jerk. The rule for our team is if you get caught let the car by before he does something stupid but…….if it’s :30 to the end, we are in the top five and it’s for position?…… “race hard but fair”. 

[frankrehnelt]

#6. Not completely apposed but it’s a very hard puzzle to complete. We have a hard enough time with perforated displacement blocks. 
#7. That would be great but how? No changing tires hurts teams that want to use up old tires. One impact can still be done under five minute with fuel. Hand tools only? Ray pointed out to me this weekend the teams will figure out a way to make tools that will get the job done. We need to be careful. What we do to rein in the big tire spenders should not hurt the lower budget teams. Unintended consequences. Also, we get sponsorship from Tire Rack. Would a limit hurt that relationship? I can try and find out.
#8. Yes. Open book. When all this started I recommended just assigning points to a particular swap and get rid of the formula. That was a big NO I was told…. this fancy math thing will work great. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by frankrehnelt

[frankrehnelt]

#9. Increase car/member count. Do that and everything else is easier to work out. 
#10. I’ve always been an open book. I don’t like back room deals and if I see any of that as a board member I’d be the first to spill the beans. Involvement as in volunteering? Most want to pay the entry fee, race and go home to there lives. It takes a lot to put on an event like this. Set up registration. Transport the equipment. Put up the tents. Feed the corner worker. Get Dana coffee. Do we make mandatory every team needs to have at least one race they help on pit road? Involvement like voting, policing cars at impound and driving etiquette? When things are good people don’t yell. I don’t see much yelling at the races. 

I answered Rich’s questions on his thread. 

[MR2 Biohazard]

11 hours ago, JDChristianson said:

A question out to all the folks wanting to be apart of taking Champcar forward.

 

What are your thoughts on improving enforcement of: 

7.2. ON-TRACK DRIVER CONDUCT 7.2.1. It is the responsibility of all drivers to avoid physical contact between cars on the race track. All competitors have a right to “racing room” on the marked racing surface. “Racing room” shall be generally defined as sufficient space on the marked racing surface to allow a competitor to maintain control of his/her car. CAR TO CAR CONTACT WILL RESULT IN A BLACK FLAG BEING ISSUED AND A TIME PENALTY TO BE SERVED. 7.2.2. The responsibility for passing another car and accomplishing that pass safely, rests with the overtaking driver. The driver that is about to be overtaken has the responsibility to be aware that he or she is about to be passed, give hand signals and shall not impede the overtaking car. 7.2.2.1. The driver being overtaken should, at all times, remain on their racing line unless the car is impaired and is unable to maintain an adequate racing speed. 7.2.2.2. The driver being overtaken shall not block. Any driver who fails to make use of their rear view mirror, or who appears to be blocking another car seeking a pass, will be black flagged and/or penalized. 7.2.2.3. It is the responsibility of the overtaking car to prepare for, plan and execute a FULL and COMPLETE safe pass. The definition of a full and complete pass is when the overtaking car has extended a lead of approximately one car length ahead of the vehicle being passed.

 

Thanks for your time!

I think we can do better and keep track of people that have incidents. I know it is hard though as each situation is different, but I think we should track it somehow. I would think just the idea of tracking it may make some people less aggressive and be a deterrent on its own.  As a person who has worked pit in, pit out and walked the pit lane I think there can be a tracking system. When Jimmy, usually Jimmy, gets a person at the black flag station he has a talk with them. He can get the drivers name and call it in to the tower and it can be recorded. Dana has a spreadsheet, puts the name down and incident type, we can enter it into an excel later.  We can decided if we want to record and keep track of all infraction types and put it into an excel at the end or after the race. Easy and done. Then if someone has too many they have a little talking to. It would not be a hard system to implement and keep track of who does what and when.

[hotrod]

13 hours ago, JDChristianson said:

A question out to all the folks wanting to be apart of taking Champcar forward.

 

What are your thoughts on improving enforcement of: 

7.2. ON-TRACK DRIVER CONDUCT 7.2.1. It is the responsibility of all drivers to avoid physical contact between cars on the race track. All competitors have a right to “racing room” on the marked racing surface. “Racing room” shall be generally defined as sufficient space on the marked racing surface to allow a competitor to maintain control of his/her car. CAR TO CAR CONTACT WILL RESULT IN A BLACK FLAG BEING ISSUED AND A TIME PENALTY TO BE SERVED. 7.2.2. The responsibility for passing another car and accomplishing that pass safely, rests with the overtaking driver. The driver that is about to be overtaken has the responsibility to be aware that he or she is about to be passed, give hand signals and shall not impede the overtaking car. 7.2.2.1. The driver being overtaken should, at all times, remain on their racing line unless the car is impaired and is unable to maintain an adequate racing speed. 7.2.2.2. The driver being overtaken shall not block. Any driver who fails to make use of their rear view mirror, or who appears to be blocking another car seeking a pass, will be black flagged and/or penalized. 7.2.2.3. It is the responsibility of the overtaking car to prepare for, plan and execute a FULL and COMPLETE safe pass. The definition of a full and complete pass is when the overtaking car has extended a lead of approximately one car length ahead of the vehicle being passed.

 

Thanks for your time!

I think that the tracks at some point want to improve their video systems so that should make policing contact a bit better. With new track being build I would think that the older tracks would have to make improvements to keep their paying customers. Video confirms that a penalty needs to be called but someone has to see it first and the only way to do that is have more corner workers. Some tracks are pretty good now with catching everything maybe it would suit us better if we paid a bit more to hire some additional help at the tracks that suffer from not enough corner workers. 

 

[MR2 Biohazard]

1 hour ago, hotrod said:

 Some tracks are pretty good now with catching everything maybe it would suit us better if we paid a bit more to hire some additional help at the tracks that suffer from not enough corner workers. 

 

I am not a fan of having to hire additional employees to help manage possible issues a such. We already have a lot of employee expense that show up at the track. Compared to others, such as WRL, I am betting we have 2-4x the staff at events. That would be added expenses that we should not have to occur. There has to be a better way than that that we can come up if we brainstorm solutions and maybe ask for member feedback and ideas on what can be done.

 

For the problem I think we should first identify and define what the problem is. Then see if we can find the root cause of that problem. After, we can find solutions. I do not feel we have the first two defined enough yet to come up with solutions that work long term. Seems like the whack a mole scenario here.

[hotrod]

6 minutes ago, MR2 Biohazard said:

I am not a fan of having to hire additional employees to help manage possible issues a such. We already have a lot of employee expense that show up at the track. Compared to others, such as WRL, I am betting we have 2-4x the staff at events. That would be added expenses that we should not have to occur. There has to be a better way than that that we can come up if we brainstorm solutions and maybe ask for member feedback and ideas on what can be done.

 

For the problem I think we should first identify and define what the problem is. Then see if we can find the root cause of that problem. After, we can find solutions. I do not feel we have the first two defined enough yet to come up with solutions that work long term. Seems like the whack a mole scenario here.

I don't know what the additional expense would be. Would an extra set of eyes at one or two corner station be worth the extra cost if they in fact see & report contact? There will always be contact and teams want for those involved to be made aware of it & be penalized if nessasary.

[JDChristianson]

Next Question

 

Every organization is (or should be) looking to improve.   

 

What do you see as areas that Champcar can improve?   How would you advocate for improvement in this area?

[MR2 Biohazard]

37 minutes ago, hotrod said:

I don't know what the additional expense would be. Would an extra set of eyes at one or two corner station be worth the extra cost if they in fact see & report contact? There will always be contact and teams want for those involved to be made aware of it & be penalized if nessasary.

As a member based organization that is non profit that money comes from members. I think we should be careful about adding extra costs if we can and make sure we stay affordable. With insurance and tracks continuing to charge me we need to be lean to control costs so the entry fees stay as low as possible.

 

I do not disagree that an extra set of eyes would be a good thing. What I wonder is if there is another way to get the same end goal that can have a zero cost. I think there can be, we just to examine the real problem and see about possible solutions. I think we need to define the problem and issues before we hire someone to fix something. The extra eys cost might not really do anything in the end except add extra cost.

[hotrod]

15 minutes ago, JDChristianson said:

Next Question

 

Every organization is (or should be) looking to improve.   

 

What do you see as areas that Champcar can improve?   How would you advocate for improvement in this area?

I think the "On Track" portion is pretty good with CCES. Many races there some close finishes. AMP was good this past weekend. Do we need to make a change to have more cars fighting for a win. The only way for that to happen is a Class Rule Change which I don't think enough people are in favor of. 

The ChampCar Live coverage is better I believe than any other series. It's an opportunity for CCES to sell commercial time and it gives teams a shot at getting some airtime for their sponsors. Is there some technology out there to improve the show? Does it have a chance to acquire revenue from YouTube? Maybe more stationary cameras to be able to follow the action. 

A little more emphasize on coverage at a national level. Provide print for racer.com, Grassroots Motorsports, Motorsports Pod Casts etc. to help promote ChampCar. Many of these don't cost extra money just need someone to provide the information & distribute it. 

[MR2 Biohazard]

26 minutes ago, JDChristianson said:

Next Question

 

Every organization is (or should be) looking to improve.   

 

What do you see as areas that Champcar can improve?   How would you advocate for improvement in this area?

The members want to have great races, be able to count on knowing what is going on with rules and be able to race affordably.  I think there should be processes to inform the members about rules changes much earlier with more detailed reasons behind them. Having a VPI review process that is known and involves teams with that platform will be a big step in the right direction for communication. I think that could solve a lot of the issues right there and the big item. I think the rest we can work on once that is fixed and nibble away at issues to solve the problems.

[MR2 Biohazard]

6 minutes ago, hotrod said:

I think the "On Track" portion is pretty good with CCES. Many races there some close finishes. AMP was good this past weekend. Do we need to make a change to have more cars fighting for a win. The only way for that to happen is a Class Rule Change which I don't think enough people are in favor of. 

The ChampCar Live coverage is better I believe than any other series. It's an opportunity for CCES to sell commercial time and it gives teams a shot at getting some airtime for their sponsors. Is there some technology out there to improve the show? Does it have a chance to acquire revenue from YouTube? Maybe more stationary cameras to be able to follow the action. 

A little more emphasize on coverage at a national level. Provide print for racer.com, Grassroots Motorsports, Motorsports Pod Casts etc. to help promote ChampCar. Many of these don't cost extra money just need someone to provide the information & distribute it. 

I am thinking those do cost money as the reported ones in those magazines are from advertisers. I know in the past when I read them those same ones, Lemons, CC, had full page adds and those adds are very costly.  As a business I would ask, spend X on advertising and does it translate to Y in revenue from entries or memberships. If not, then why do it? To get new members or teams you need to get them from other organizations or have people create new teams. Either is good and we should promote both to get new members and teams. The question is how? I think the mentor program is a great start, but there can be other ideas and avenues to foster that development. I have seen where shops build a car to race and sell, I think the boxster was a good example. Maybe we could help promote them and that type of relationship so if someone want to be a team owner and have him and his buddies (or ladies) create a team then great. That is just thinking off the top of my head, but it could work. Things like that might help us long term.

[hotrod]

4 minutes ago, MR2 Biohazard said:

I am thinking those do cost money as the reported ones in those magazines are from advertisers. I know in the past when I read them those same ones, Lemons, CC, had full page adds and those adds are very costly.  As a business I would ask, spend X on advertising and does it translate to Y in revenue from entries or memberships. If not, then why do it? To get new members or teams you need to get them from other organizations or have people create new teams. Either is good and we should promote both to get new members and teams. The question is how? I think the mentor program is a great start, but there can be other ideas and avenues to foster that development. I have seen where shops build a car to race and sell, I think the boxster was a good example. Maybe we could help promote them and that type of relationship so if someone want to be a team owner and have him and his buddies (or ladies) create a team then great. That is just thinking off the top of my head, but it could work. Things like that might help us long term.

I wouldn't buy adds but there are plenty of media outlets looking for fill & wouldn't have a charge. I've always found that it takes money to make money being frivolous in some areas ends up costing you. 

[frankrehnelt]

17 hours ago, JDChristianson said:

Next Question

 

Every organization is (or should be) looking to improve.   

 

What do you see as areas that Champcar can improve?   How would you advocate for improvement in this area?

My only first hand observation is race day. The biggest problem there is the race staff is short handed and over worked. We need more volunteers to work pit road (I’m guilty). It makes it very hard for pit in and pit out to run the race when half the time they have to run timers back and forth or run half way down pit road to tell someone to close their visor or turn off main power. I’ve helped out at a friends event management company that puts on running races. Getting volunteers to show up at five am to work a water stop all day in the rain is not easy. There are ways to bring in local organizations to help with these things. I’d need to learn what kind of carrots we could offer groups to do this for us and it not cost us money. Or we could use sticks to motivate members to help more like teams must volunteer for at least one race to keep them in “good standing” in the club (this usually doesn’t work). 

Edited November 3, 2021 by frankrehnelt

[MR2 Biohazard]

3 hours ago, frankrehnelt said:

My only first hand observation is race day. The biggest problem there is the race staff is short handed and over worked. We need more volunteers to work pit road (I’m guilty). It makes it very hard for pit in and pit out to run the race when half the time they have to run timers back and forth or run half way down pit road to tell someone to close their visor or turn off main power. I’ve helped out at a friends event management company that puts on running races. Getting volunteers to show up at five am to work a water stop all day in the rain is not easy. There are ways to bring in local organizations to help with these things. I’d need to learn what kind of carrots we could offer groups to do this for us and it not cost us money. Or we could use sticks to motivate members to help more like teams must volunteer for at least one race to keep them in “good standing” in the club (this usually doesn’t work). 

What if we did a bit autocross style to work pit lane. We can see if we can get a member from the teams there to work for like 2 hours or so each. If we have 40-60 teams, 8 hours race, maybe day 1 half the teams send a person out for 2 hours per and the next day the same thing. This would give us plenty of volunteers.  If a team only had 2 guys that weekend maybe give them a pass. It could work.   Swap some jackets and they can go out and yell, visors down, put gloves on when fueling, why are you not wearing shoes, do not stand in the middle of pit lane, put a jack stand under the car if you are pulling an engine in pit lane, ect. Just an idea if we did not have enough volunteers.

[frankrehnelt]

7 minutes ago, MR2 Biohazard said:

What if we did a bit autocross style to work pit lane. We can see if we can get a member from the teams there to work for like 2 hours or so each. If we have 40-60 teams, 8 hours race, maybe day 1 half the teams send a person out for 2 hours per and the next day the same thing. This would give us plenty of volunteers.  If a team only had 2 guys that weekend maybe give them a pass. It could work.   Swap some jackets and they can go out and yell, visors down, put gloves on when fueling, why are you not wearing shoes, do not stand in the middle of pit lane, put a jack stand under the car if you are pulling an engine in pit lane, ect. Just an idea if we did not have enough volunteers.

My thoughts are similar. Simple signup sheet day of or before. Not sure what can/should be done as far as motivation. Easier to get the people already there. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by frankrehnelt