National DSM Time Attack event - would you show up?

[ryanallan]

if by chance you were able to host a track day at Lugna Seca, i would for sure make the 3000km trip down from calgary .

 

[MASMORE]

If You Built It They Will Come! I For Example I Would Head Out Their To Show Off My Skills, After Drag,canyon,drifting I Think I Could Be Able To Handle Some Real Competition With My Felo Dsm'rs, Defiantly Would Be A Great Way Of Bring This Crowd Together, You Can Count On Me As A Friend, Brother An Supporter; Dsm All The Way Till The Tip Of The Earth

 

[mavisky]

Please turn off your Caps Lock and go back through that post again. I'm not even sure what you're saying in some spots.

 

[Tuning Spirit]

All I know is I am trying to setup a DSM Time Attack event for Spring/Summer 2009 in Eastern Canada, while I correspond with my friend in Western Canada to do his share. We've got about 20~ on the East side and 15~ on the West side, plus some other random Mitsu's. Any Canucks intersted in a Canadian Dsm Time Attack event hit me up and we'll try to accomodate you. As for you Ludachris, good luck with the US side of things.

 

[BIGMIXX]

I say you run the whole thing "cannonball run" style...... first one there wins!! Sounds like fun for everyone..... would go as long as not light years away. good thinking!

 

[DSMunknown]

I say you run the whole thing "cannonball run" style...... first one there wins!! Sounds like fun for everyone..... would go as long as not light years away. good thinking!

That would, in essence, promote street racing. Something we do not do on this site.

 

[Erron S]

Is this still in the works Chris?

Erron S.

 

[lethal_vr4]

I still think a middle of the country gathering at MAM would be perfect (and I am still willing to organize if people are intereted).

 

[Ludachris]

Unfortunately, no. I was naive and thought I'd be able to get at least a hundred or two DSMers to show up for an event like this. But it doesn't seem likely. Maybe it could be a "Mitsu Challenge" event to bring in the 3SI group and the Evos.

But the reality is I just don't have the extra cash to put up for deposits and all of the other planning that would be involved right now. And I definitely am not able to risk that kind of money in the event the turnout doesn't cover the costs. And with the track record of the DSM community, that's a pretty big risk to take.

Once my situation improves some I'll look into it again. It's something I'd really like to do at some point.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

Unfortunately, no. I was naive and thought I'd be able to get at least a hundred or two DSMers to show up for an event like this. But it doesn't seem likely. Maybe it could be a "Mitsu Challenge" event to bring in the 3SI group and the Evos.

But the reality is I just don't have the extra cash to put up for deposits and all of the other planning that would be involved right now. And I definitely am not able to risk that kind of money in the event the turnout doesn't cover the costs. And with the track record of the DSM community, that's a pretty big risk to take.

Once my situation improves some I'll look into it again. It's something I'd really like to do at some point.

I'd say it would have to be a Mitsu thing. Getting 30 DSM's to attend is hard, getting 100-200 is just imposable. I have lots of experience in running events like this and would consider helping put something together.

Getting some big name sponsors to help fund the event would help a lot!

Another option is to just have a national event on one of the track’s open lapping days. There’d be no cost to DSMtuners or any club.

 

[underradar92]

I'd say it would have to be a Mitsu thing. Getting 30 DSM's to attend is hard, getting 100-200 is just imposable. I have lots of experience in running events like this and would consider helping put something together.

Getting some big name sponsors to help fund the event would help a lot!

Another option is to just have a national event on one of the track’s open lapping days. There’d be no cost to DSMtuners or any club.

Just out of curiousity, about how many DSM's show up at the Buscher shootout?

 

[Ludachris]

I'd say it would have to be a Mitsu thing. Getting 30 DSM's to attend is hard, getting 100-200 is just imposable. I have lots of experience in running events like this and would consider helping put something together.

Getting some big name sponsors to help fund the event would help a lot!

Another option is to just have a national event on one of the track's open lapping days. There'd be no cost to DSMtuners or any club.

The biggest hurdle is making it an event that people will want to attend. My vision would be to have it promoted in magazines and on a few big websites, and to get all the big shops involved in a "shop challenge", similar to the Time Attack events. And invite a few mags out to cover the event. This way more people would want to come out and watch, which would make sponsorship a lot more viable.

Promotion costs money. The event could be covered by sponsorship money, maybe. But there will be costs involved. Once I have the cash, believe me, I will make it happen, even if I have to make it a Mitsu event instead of a DSM event. It's been a dream of mine to make something like this a reality in the DSM world.

 

[tsiboosted]

This would be GREAT if it ever came together. And I think involving the EVO crowd would just make the event bigger in my opinion. They (Evo's) are hot right now and would mean more entries for an event like this. Racing in the series I do, I get to see allot of things on the business side of it that allot of people would never figure in to running an event. Ambulance rental, medical people fees, corner worker fees etc. etc.

If there were some way to get big time shops there to help cover some of the expenses it may be easier on the wallet. Track rental at a "big" name track such as Road Atlanta, Road America or any "known" track will get pricey $$$

Just as an example, here are some of the things the event host would be respnsible for at the track I race at currently. And keep in mind, this is jsut strictly for information purposes ok...

Track Rental - $2,500.00 per day (weekend)
Emergency Personal - $300.00 per hour for ambulance & paramedics (minimum rental $900.00)
Spectators require insurance and you must call for rates
Wrecker & Operator - $40.00 per hour stand by
Communication Rental - $5.00 per unit per day
Transponder Rentals - $2,000.00 per day

So with just these basic requirements you are talking in the range of $6,600.00 per day to run an event minus spectator insurance costs. Now like I said, these figures are just a ballpark range on where I race at now. Other tracks will cost more. This was just to put a sense out there of what it will take to do it. I didnt figure in cost of paying corner workers, people to run tech (these could be volunteers). Everything I listed is bare minimum and so are the costs. They could be more at other facilities.

You would have to charge somewhere in the range of $100 - $200 per car to me to make it worth while for people to attened and attempt to come some where near breaking even on the event. With charging $100 per car and using the amounts I listed above, you would need 66 cars to attened just to break even on the event. Obviously if you charge more, fewer cars are needed. I hope this is beneficial to some to see what all costs can be near in hosting an event like this.

 

[tsunari]

I would take a look at how Redline Time Attack is being run and where their shortfalls are to try and learn from their mistakes. I would definitely be up for this and believe Tom Dorris (ECMTuning) would be as well.

 

[Evil_speedracer]

Heck, I'm excited about the prospect of road racing! I had to throw a maybe up there though, having 4 kids and trying to struggle against a failing economy FTL. If I had the means, and a close track...I would be out there every spare minute.

 

[UnsafeAtAnySpd]

Ludachris, did you ever consider just trying to start this with a "Rocky Mountain" region event? I would think that would be easiest for you to just do something in concurrence with NASA around here. I count 7 people (not a lot, but it's a start) in this thread from the area that are interested. I like the idea of a national event as well. I just think based on the current number of DSMs involving turning the wheel in their racing that it might take a gradual build up as mentioned by a few people in this thread.

I think even just pictures of 10 or more DSMs on the track at a time might be enough to spark interest in road racing for some people. Just a thought.