Task Force to Examine Amateur Road Racing

[johnb]

Over the past two years, I have been approached by many road racing participants expressing a desire to improve regional road racing events. I have been told ways to “boost our profile”, “grow participation”, “enhance the experience” and “generate additional revenue”. There are many great ideas and I would like to provide an opportunity to review those ideas and possibly act on the ones that would have the greatest positive impact on amateur road racing in Ontario.

I am please to announce the formation of a Task Force to examine the current state of health of amateur road racing in Ontario and to provide some solid recommendations on ways to improve it. The Task Force consists of active participants from our community and persons that have a business interest in our sport. All members are passionate about motorsports.

The Task Force will begin their work in August and report back to the membership at the Annual General Meeting in November. The members of the Task Force will be;

Robb Smith
Cindy Armstrong
David Clubine
Ian Madden
Al Balinsky
Steven Scala
Duane Ho

You may find the members at most road racing events and I encourage all participants to share their ideas with them.

Your comments are always welcome.

[Jon Hirst]

I think that is a great idea and you have involved the right people.

I hope it generates some good ideas and fosters improvements for the Region.

I will forward some thoughts to some people on the team to take forward as suggestions.

Jon

[rmicroys]

Good work John.

I hope they come up with some concrete actions to help regroup and consolidate amateur club racing in Ontario.

[BucketBoy]

Hey I just wanted to say that at the volunteer's dinner/meeting area at the Toronto Indy, I picked up a copy of 'On The Grid Magazine', and was pleasantly surprised to see such an excellent publication DEDICATED to CASC's Ontario Regional & Solo racing.

With good articles, photography, insight, and reviews of the races so far - it was exactly what CASC needs to get into the hands of Ontario's racing enthusiast. Not only is it a great publication for those involved in racing themselves (CASC Members), but especially to the general motorsports-magazine reader in exposing & explaining what it is that CASC does & what goes on within the club (ex: Ice Racing 101 article by Ross Bond, Take It To the Track Solo1/2 Overview).

Question: does 'On the Grid' come out every month as a supplement to Inside Track Magazine, or was this a one-off or 'seasonal' publication?

To be honest, I'm not interested in paying $36~/year for their magazine (nothing personal!), but would really enjoy receiving the CASC Magazine a couple of times a year, or being available at CASC event registration for Members at no charge/low charge (I would pay $3-4/issue).

John, tell them to keep up the good work!

[ITMN]

The "On the Grid" issue is a one off per year issue, but hopefully we will be doing another in the fall. I am sorry to hear that you will not subscribe to our magazine, but we do have regional coverage in every issue.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to entice you to subscribe.

Thanks

[slucas]

Can you fatten this announcement up a bit John? What is it you're looking for and how will it be used? Who are the people on the "task force" and what is there affiliation with CASC-OR?

[Trackside]

Ummm Scott shouldn't you read the whole thread before you ask questions

Robb Smith
Cindy Armstrong
David Clubine
Ian Madden
Al Balinsky
Steven Scala
Duane Ho

And as I understand it they are looking for ideas, so that would mean that it is up to us to get the ideas and give them to the people involved.

Yeesh you old drivers are all alike aren't you. Take the blinders off and look at the rest of the world LOL

Nice to know that we have an Assistant Clerk that pays attention hehehehe

[slucas]

I guess I was looking for an introduction to these folks, not everyone may be familiar with them.

I'm for anything that opens up communication but was wondering what the organizing clubs input is in this task force.

Come to think of it , isn't this exactly what the clubs are for?

[Trackside]

Originally posted by slucas
Come to think of it , isn't this exactly what the clubs are for?

Actually Scott you may have hit at least one of the nails on the head. It seems that there is a constant level of complaint from the competitors about the events and their costs of running and other things like the number of events and the scheduling of them.

If the organizing clubs think there is nothing wrong maybe they are talking to the wrong people. I am not picking on any club or group in particular, but when there has been discussion about these sorts of thing we don't seem to get a balanced response from the various interest groups. (except for you and Doug who seem to stir the pot)

I think what the region is looking for is input as to what the competitors (customers) want from the organizing clubs (supplier). I commend John for getting this together and putting a short mandate on the results. Having a presentation at the AGM should allow for implementation into next years schedule if there are some changes that are deemed to be needed.

I was asked to be a part of the group, but due to other commitments I was unable to give this the time that was needed. If you need information about the individuals on the panel contact Steven at the office and I am sure he can fill you in or offer some contact info for you to introduce yourself.

I encourage everyone to participate in this process if you would like to see something changed. Change doesn't just happen it takes work.

[johnb]

Mr. Bucket:

It is a beauty. We are very proud of OTG. You probably have the '04 edition but it is the second time for the publication. Inside Track Magazine is our Media Partner and does an amazing job putting it together! I believe it will get even bigger and I can't want for the next edition.

[Crusher45]

Originally posted by Trackside
I think what the region is looking for is input as to what the competitors (customers) want from the organizing clubs (supplier).

Then my question is why is there no race organizer from an organizing club on this committee? You should have input from both sides.

Just my thought on this.

[rmicroys]

Originally posted by Crusher45
Then my question is why is there no race organizer from an organizing club on this committee? You should have input from both sides.

Just my thought on this.

I'm not quite sure why a race organizer is required to determine WHAT the product is? Currently race organizers simply produce the product. As a being involved in organizing races, it's not like the organizer defines what races takes place, what series exists, etc. You do raise a valid point because most racers don't know what it takes to put on and event - so it will give perspective. Cindy has been directly involved in running MCO races at Shannonville, and is well aware what the costs are - now, maybe an organizer from one of the Mosport clubs may be usefull...

I'm surprised this hasn't generated any discussion... are people scared to talk openly or something? oh well.

[John Powell]

I think that the lack of responses can be attributed to three facts:
1. Those of us who's cars are running are too busy with racing issues right now;
2. Those of us who's cars are, for various reasons, not yet running, are too busy trying to get them finished before the season is over; and,
3. Most racers, unlike those in other disciplines, have always been recitent to voice concerns unless there is an imminent crisis.
As many MCO members know, right now I fall under 2. above, otherwise I would not, again as most MCO members know, be shy in voicing my opinions.

There are two items, though, which I would find useful when I do have time to respond, and those are:
- What are the Terms of Reference for this Task Force, and,
- What are the Lines of Enquiry which they intend to pursue?
These would give us an idea on the topic areas to discuss in our comments.

[rmicroys]

Acutally, I would suspect that most people just like to 'lurk' around in the background in these forums and generally don't type anything. Most guys probably just pick up the phone instead of all this typing crap.

[slucas]

All this typing crap may help the lurkers better understand how and why things are or aren't done. It should also help the clubs hear what their customers want. It is the clubs that make things happen and it's the club members that should drive what the clubs do. How many racers go to club meetings and make their desires known to the people that matter? Very few? Is this because the racers don't understand how racing in Ontario works? Probably.
The clubs and the racers are so busy doing what they do that maybe they haven't looked up enough to see where they want to go. The clubs should be having club meetings at the track on race weekends when most the pertainent people are there.
Discussions with all parties present to explain things , I think , is better than a "suggestion box" approach. However a suggestion box is much better than what we have had till now.