Youth and LSR

[dwarner]

Once again I was copied on an email involving FR. I stewed over this for a while and then sent a response, against my better judgement. The subject involved youth, LSR and television. I issued a challenge to bring the subject here, I doubt that will happen. So I decided to post my response to them and see if I am on track or tunnel visioned.

"Paul,

I just had an idea and a challenge for you.

My challenge is to take this subject to www.landracing.com and take the pulse of the people who actually compete in LSR. The person to whom you continue to repond to is not the expert he has annointed himself to be.

As you know, if you have attended an LSR event, that the racing is very boring and does not in anyway lend itself to televison. The venue and class structure is too vast for the general public to comprehend. If you think that the sport needs to reinvent itself for tv I suggest that someone else form a body with a set of rules and events to accomplish this.

Those that actually put something on the race track do it for the personal challenge not in an attempt to fluff their feathers on tv. The environment is harsh, the waits are long, the pay back is non-existant. This form of racing is not for everyone, the sport needs and exists today with long term participants. The ones who come once or twice and then complain that they have not received special treatment will never have the passion to take the challenge and become a better person because if it.

I look forward to seeing the results of your investigation.

Dan Warner"

I am truely interested in comments. maybe I am off base on this, maybe not.
DW

[RichFox]

Dan; You may have seen that I also felt the need to respond. I would disagree about LSR being boring. But the general public might think so. Properly edited as the Speed Channel coverage of the Bub Meet, it can be very interesting. Most people wouldn't like the drags much, but may like ESPN coverage that skips down time. My question would be, Is growth at current rates a good thing? Many think Speedweek has outgrown it's optium size. What is in it for me? Or you?

[bvillercr]

Any coverage of LSR is better than the spelling bee on ESPN.

[Dynoroom]

My thoughts are similar but some limited TV highlights like they did with the "Worlds Fastest Motorcycle" was very good. It's kinda like golf, more fun to do than to watch but TV can make it interesting. Now do we need TV? No, do we need to recruit young people to lsr? No, they are here now and are waiting in the wings to step in. Does the sport need to grow? No, it's very healthy and tough enough to manage at the level of participation we have now. People on the outside keep trying to tell us what is "wrong" with lsr but the truth is lsr has grown, it has young people coming into it and really can't stand much more grouth without becoming somthing that takes away the amature event it is, and that is what makes lsr unique.
You did good Dan.

[Rick Byrnes]

I'm in agreement with you Dan, that presently, the way meets on the salt are conducted would be quite boring to the TV viewing audience.  A properly edited documentary can be much less boring, and I am all for more of these happening.

Our format and rules, should not be changed to accommodate TV coverage.  Over the years, the basic format and rules have evolved and been proven.
I am in favor of Evolution rather than Revolution.

On the other hand, the media coverage we have had over the last several years has been beneficial, in that more of the car loving population have come to respect what we do, as well as the non car loving public seeing that it in fact exists.  For us foreigners (non Southern Californians), that can have some impact.

As for attracting more participants, better media coverage will do that but as has been said a number of times, Speed Week has grown to an almost unmanagable size.  Two combined courses helped this year, but we still were in line for 5+ hours a number of times.  Waiting in line though has always been part of the deal.

I don't know the answers to making the meets better, other than helping as I did this year before the meet.  More volunteers need to come from outside SoCal.  There are always some foreign volunteers, but we need to do it as the "core" guys do.

Since most of us that compete are well above 50 years old and many, like me are in the last third of their lives, we need new blood, particularly in the car ranks.  Motorbikes seem to generate lots of young people because of the reduced cost, but we do need to attract more young car guys other than second generation for the continuation of Land Speed Racing at a quality level.

So, now you have another opinion.....
 PAUL,    DONT LISTEN TO F. R. !

Rick Byrnes

[Loose Goose-Terry#1]

Quote from Don: "Those that actually put something on the race track do it for the personal challenge not in an attempt to fluff their feathers on tv. The environment is harsh, the waits are long, the pay back is non-existent."

Don, I agree with just about everything you said except the last phrase in your statement above. I think the personal enrichment from the competition is extremely rewarding. The opportunity to try and make history at a "world class meet" is rewarding. To be part of an organization that is as respected as BNI/SCTA is rewarding. The friendships made over the years is rewarding... I could go on and on but I would just sound like I was trying to convince people of the REWARDS of LSR.

BUT, if anyone takes up this sport thinking there are FINANCIAL REWARDS and they are going to get rich, they probably should go do NASCAR or some other sport.

The REWARDS of LSR are personal achievements.

Terry A. Hume
Tightwad, MO
ctracing@earthlink.net

[Jonny Hotnuts]

People love racing….going to it and watching it on TV, millions of dollars are spent in advertising and merch. Because of the viewers sponsors fork the money to the events and racers.

Land racing without head to head racing is a tough pull…..no one to root for when it’s one car at a time and only verses a clock. The ignorant viewer knows nothing about the previous record holder or what it has taken to break a record. The only way to cover Bonneville and get viewers is to have a clips and segment before each run that gave history of the previous record, showed the people, personalities and car for the spectator to know what they are trying to beat….and subsequently someone to root for other than just a number in a book.

From what I hear last Speedweek had record attendance. I don’t know that if there were more TV coverage that more people would show up to the events but personally I don’t care as long as I am there.

[dwarner]

Terry,

My comment as it relates to pay back was intended to refer to a monetary reward.

Further on in my post I did reference the personal goals and the satisfaction of reaching those goals.

I do agree that a "packaged" program of one hour that covers a 10 day event could have some benefit to the sport. The tv proposed by others tended to point to a program that runs live such as the NASCAR three hour pre-race show on now.

DW

[Stainless1]

Dan, I suspect that if they had 4 cameras filming 12 hours for the week of racing they could get enough to put together a nice 1 hour program.  The problem, of course, is nothing is happening that sells soap... meaning the diversity exhibited does not lend itself to a sponsor putting out the bucks to show his product would put in the seat of a LSR vehicle.

We participated in a little trailer at speedweek a couple of years ago for a production group trying to sell the concept to one of the networks.  Didn't sell soap I guess...

As I said before, we need to encourage and involve the younger generation.  Sure a lot of them think a bike is the ticket, it is the least expensive way to landspeed race. 

Terry, put you glasses on unless they squeeze the tail off the a's in Tightwad...
 

[1212FBGS]

Land speed racing is fast... but our growth is slow...and steady. Growth in the spport we love comes from only one place.... the "salt bug". Now wether the participants were bitten because of the excitment of speed,  the laid back atmosphere, the friendly people, the chance of being involved in history, or personal achevement, the fact is its easy to be bitten into involvement. If you pole the people who have left out sport for various reasons i think the majority would return if they had the chance. so in our case i thing the slow growth has, and will maintain adaquite involvement. The only thing that really threatens our sport is axcess to the venue.
Now as for the TV thing...I have done 5 tv shows and literly have a legal file drawer full of interviews I have done in the past. 2 years ago right before Christmas i approched TLC and Discovery with a motorcycle related TV series... There questions to qualify interest were basicaly "who would be interested?" (in our sport any gearhead that likes anything fast). "Would it be exciting?"(our boreing sport could be edited to something exciting). "Would there be drama?" (burrrt.. thats where we fail big time...). As nutz touched on, we dont have side by side racing, who pushed who into the wall drama. Hell we rarely have more than one person entered into the same class. I guess if we got those anerican chopper buttheads to come out and throw wrenches at each other we might have some content for one episode (dont the Coddingtons have drama in there shows?) The Manning/Ack show in 06 was the closest we came to real competitive drama in a very long time.. thats why they aired a episode of it. We dont have enough content for a small series. On my TV show pitch, they wanted 6 show produced by me in the "can", and 200 grand and they would air 4 of the 6 shows. If my show had favorable reviews they would talk about a series.... As for a show on us, we would have to hire a professional production company to get a few shows in the can, then submitt the shows... good luck... anyone interested?
Kent

[isiahstites]

As I said before, we need to encourage and involve the younger generation.  Sure a lot of them think a bike is the ticket, it is the least expensive way to landspeed race. 

You guys have encouraged lots of the younger generation by the way you have accepted them. I am one of the younger generation of racers who got into LSR the least inexpensive way, a motorcycle, however that has slowly turned into wanting to build faster bikes and I have even started researching building a streamliner. If I do build a liner it will not be tomorrow or even next year it will be a something I do when I feel like I have learned enough to even attempt to do something of that magnitude. That learning has and is currently coming from the experienced generation of land speed racers. I have met so many people that our willing to help and share the history of LSR with me that it has left me with nothing but just wanting more. So just keep doing what you are doing and the younger crowd will eventually learn.

I have told more than a few people on the outside of LSR who think I am crazy for what I am doing that half of the reason I race is because of the racing, the other half is because I enjoy being around the people of LSR. Something I haven't felt since I got out of the Marine Corps......a brotherhood.

Scott

[Jonny Hotnuts]

If my show had favorable reviews they would talk about a series.... As for a show on us, we would have to hire a professional production company to get a few shows in the can, then submitt the shows... good luck... anyone interested?
Kent
 
 

If the show ever happens I want to be on it.....and should be....I am handsome guy in landracing.

[roadtrip]

I probably have no business getting involved in this ......... compared to those who have made LSR a lifestyle and devoted decades and dollars, I don't have an experienced opinion to offer ......... but indulge me for a few minutes if you will.
I'm sixty years old and grew up in Indianapolis. Cars were an integral part of youth and adolesence.
Drag racing was really cool because of all the obvious reasons but also beacuase it was real heads-up racing and competitor oriented. To make a long story short, expanded media coverage and television coverage turned it into a fan, media, spectator oriented sport and it lost it's personality.
I spent a lot of time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a kid too. It was always fun to see the latest from the innovative, free-thinking car builders of the time. No more - all gone. NASCAR is much the same story. These series have turned into carnivals with side-shows, driven by nothing but money and sponsorships, all in the name of putting on a show for the "fans". Formulated, indistinguishable jelly beans advertising Pampers, Kleenex and Kotex.
LSR has not sacrificed it's integrity or it's personality. It's by racers, for racers, with racers and seems to maintain a purity of pupose not found in other venues ....... and (again, from my unqualified point of view) doesn't need to be modernized, aligned with other forms of motorsport, or otherwise tinkered with. Let it evolve at it's own rate, feed and support itself and enjoy it for all it's worth.
Where else can you take any number of entries, line them up and not have any one of them look like another?  Where else can you leave cash and credit cards on the seat of your open race car and walk away (or overnight) and never think twice about it?
LSR is too pure to modernize and expose to too many people NOT INTERESTED in the RACING!

Thanks for your time .......... delete me at will,

Don Strong
Currently residing in Kentucky across the river from Cincinnati Ohio
     

[Peter Jack]

Don:

YOU HIT IT RIGHT ON!

Pete

[Mac]

As a rookie team this year we came out, learned some of the ropes, waited in lines and achieved a many (though not all) of our goals. We got to meet a large number of wonderful people and had the opportunity to learn about their cars (and educate them about ours). Our two children (ages 8 and 7) got to see their Dad and Mom work their butts off, put in long hours and achieve. They also learned that things don't always go right and that you have to get up and go on. My daughter wrote..." Today my Mom didn't get to race. I was sad because it would be her first time down the track. My Mom didn't get to race because it was too windy. That day I learned that things don't always go the right way. It was very dusty!"

These youth are getting a lot out of LSR. There is more to "get" than money (though they get that too by collecting cans!!).

Miriam