What are the entry fees at the different LSR venues?

[Peter Jack]

I was going to go into a long rant about setting up courses and cleaning them up afterwards, rental, purchase and maintenance of equipment, preparing the courses and looking after all the volunteers that put in a week or two of their holiday times so the racers can race. Then I figured it wasn't worth it. Go back to drag racing and street racing.

Pete

[dw230]

Good reply 

DW

[Koncretekid]

Roadracing for $95?  Where?  I've been vintage motorcycle roadracing for 10 years or so and have never had to pay less than $300 per weekend by the time I paid for practice or track use fee ($125), 4 races @ about $75, and transponder rental (actually that equals more like $500).  Loring is about $250 for three days, from memory, and Bub speed trials "Run what you brung" class is $250.  But between travel, hotels, food, and fuel, you can easily add  $1,500 or more, and I don't think you can go anywhere worth going for a week for less than that.  Not to mention that we've all got $10-50,000 and sometimes a lot more invested in our bikes and cars.  Mike Cook's Shootout, by the way, is a special invitational event, mainly for streamliners which can cost 6 figures.  It's all a matter of priorities and what you can afford.  Drag racing may be cheaper to participate in because it's a cheaper venue and they have spectators to help pay the bills.  

Now how much did you say you had invested in your race machine?

[salt27]

Beng,
  U.S.F.R.A. has a 130 and 150 club, they are the least expensive way that I know of to get timed at Bonneville.

Beware, they sound easy but have humbled many.

Go to the U.S.F.R.A. website for details.

  Don

[TRT1954]

     I see the ECTA recently had an event with 175 entries, that means they are taking in $35,000-$43,000 dollars.
 
     Can anyone give me a breakdown on what that $40K is spent on  each event?
 
      Looking at road racing and drag racing in comparison, it seems like there is something either being run inefficiently with LSR, or someone is lining their pockets?

Wow - those are some inflammatory comments

Have you ever attended an ECTA event ? Have you ever been part of organizing any sort of "speed" event ?
I attended my first 2 ECTA events last year and I was very impressed. I have also been part of an organization that run auto-cross events and it is a lot tougher
and more expensive than it looks to the guy who shows up, pay his money and has some fun.
For autocross, lot rental and insurance are killers. Add in expensive timing equipment, compters, printers, cones, a trailer to haul everything. We needed at least 100 drivers to show up just to break even.

The Ohio Mile events are much bigger. I am sure renting the airport for 3 days is not cheap.
Also add in an ambulance and crew, a firetruck, timing equipment, a timing tower, 2 trailers that I saw, computers, printers and on. That is all that I, a novice can think of.

[jacksoni]

     I see the ECTA recently had an event with 175 entries, that means they are taking in $35,000-$43,000 dollars.
 
     Can anyone give me a breakdown on what that $40K is spent on  each event?
 
      Looking at road racing and drag racing in comparison, it seems like there is something either being run inefficiently with LSR, or someone is lining their pockets?

Wow - those are some inflammatory comments

Have you ever attended an ECTA event ? Have you ever been part of organizing any sort of "speed" event ?
I attended my first 2 ECTA events last year and I was very impressed. I have also been part of an organization that run auto-cross events and it is a lot tougher
and more expensive than it looks to the guy who shows up, pay his money and has some fun.
For autocross, lot rental and insurance are killers. Add in expensive timing equipment, compters, printers, cones, a trailer to haul everything. We needed at least 100 drivers to show up just to break even.

The Ohio Mile events are much bigger. I am sure renting the airport for 3 days is not cheap.
Also add in an ambulance and crew, a firetruck, timing equipment, a timing tower, 2 trailers that I saw, computers, printers and on. That is all that I, a novice can think of.

I was just talking to Joe Timney ( pres. ECTA) he said the insurance was killing them, being twice what it was at Maxton. Videos everywhere on Youtube etc  and news coverage of crashes/deaths doesn't help. It is not cheap and those putting on the events are not "lining their pockets" nor should they take a loss for our enjoyment. If they make a couple of bucks (and I am speaking generally, not about ECTA in particular) then they maybe can continue these events. If costs are not covered, for sure the events will go away.

[TRT1954]

Maybe I'll ask for a cost breakdown from the Rolling Stones next time I pay $200 for a concert ticket 

[Beng]

  Thanks Jacksoni and Salt27 for your level-headed, factual and non-condescending replies to my questions.
 
   It is a shame that it has come down to the future of motorsports hinging on insurance and the fear of being sued. I wonder if a legal release form could be drawn up freeing organizers from any liability and making it mandatory for each competitor to insure themselves via their healthcare plans.
 
   A bit ago in the news there were a few idiots who had gone mountain climbing out west and became stranded, the public and their health insurance agencies footed the bill for their helicopter rescue and recovery.
 
    If I run in motorsports, or even go 100mph down the highway, being an adult I know there is a risk of serious injury or death and it is my responsibility, not yours or the DOT or any organizer's. I believe in universal healthcare but liability insurance is simply protection against irresponsible people saying it is someone else' fault they broke their neck racing, it is bullshit and it is too bad there is no way around it.
 
     25 years ago my brother and I used to be able to run his Trans-Am in autocross for $20. Thirty some years ago I used to be able to go race on one local 1/4 mile strip for $5 to get in and another $5 to race, and 55 years ago my father organized motorcycle racing events that cost almost nothing except the time volunteers put into them and club dues. 
     
       I was interested in racing simple production classes where the machinery would be cheap, some people run littel cheap motorcycles and have fun. I am a mechanic so I get free labor and machinery prep. I have an old motorcycle and I have a used gmc van, but I certainly can not afford to spend as much on fees, travel and lodging as I paid for the bike and van so I am out of luck as a very lower middle-class married homeowner.

[Stainless1]

Beng, Since your interest is in production equipment, starting in  the USFRA 130 club would be ideal for you.  The meet is in September, the rooms are reasonable, camping is free.  It is a great venue, and there will be all types of landspeeed vehicles on the salt at the same time.  
Travel and lodging costs.... same as any other vacation... the salt flats are sort of in a fixed location, unlike a dragstrip that seems to have one in most large population areas.  
Many folks think they have gone faster than record speeds on the drag strip and street... so they think... the salt is a 3 or 5 mile drag race... speeds are not a 132 ft trap at the end, it is a mile average.  The salt has humbled many folks, I always suggest doing it before bragging about slaughtering records.
  
I heard a rumor that the ECTA is looking for new blood to take over and run the Ohio mile, maybe you can cash in on the chance and find out how much work it is to "line your pockets"  

We had an old saying in my previous life... talk is cheap... takes money to buy whisky  

[4-barrel Mike]

Whiskey and wimen, whiskey and wimen.
If it wasn't for whiskey, and wimen,
I'd be a rich man today.
...John Lee Hooker

 

Mike

[manta22]

"...cigareets and whiskey and wild, wild wimmen....

they'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane."

-- Ramblin Jack Elliott

[Ron Gibson]

Spent most of my money on wild wimmen, booze, and fast vehicles. The rest of it I "WASTED".

Ron

[Gary Perkinson]

      Looking at road racing and drag racing in comparison, it seems like there is something either being run inefficiently with LSR, or someone is lining their pockets?

How many LSR venues exist in the U.S. compared to the number of drag racing and road-racing facilities??? It's not even remotely close. If you have access to a facility somewhere that offers roughly two miles of straight, safe track and two miles of return roads, by all means start an LSR event and charge $45. Until then, the fees for the ECTA and LTA events seem perfectly reasonable to me. I mean, where else are you going to run an LSR car? Englishtown? Watkins Glen? This ISN'T drag racing! It's a completely different animal. And I highly doubt that anyone connected with ECTA or LTA is lining their pockets, but frankly, I couldn't care less if they were--they're providing a great service to people who want to run these kinds of cars. They can make as much as they want, as far as I'm concerned...

[TAKERRY]

The cost of the venue is a deal for what you get. The real expense is time off, getting there, hotels and heartache when things go poorly. 3 trips to Ohio and a lot of heartache. Bonneville was worth a million dollars to me when I drove there made the 130 club and drove home with no incidents. Some of these new venues have popped up 1/2 mile in Ill and Georgia they are $250/day a. lot of high end sports cars but very little tech no added safety equipt needed.

[Peter Jack]

If they aren't interested in doing a thorough tech that indicates to me the type of operation it is and I wouldn't be the least bit interested in running with them. Their emergency operations are likely to be just as thorough as their tech!

Pete