Youth and LSR

[Stainless1]

At Bonneville you have the same type awards
Fastest car pass ... Hot Rod Trophy
Set a new record that lasts the week .... Record Trophy
Run within 3% of a record or faster without setting the record ... Performance Award Trophy

Run as fast as you can ... personal satisfaction, better than any other reward, doesn't matter if you were on the crew or the driver.

[racergeo]

   Yep, but original question was about youth and TV. My suggestion adressed that. Youth seem to like competition and so does TV. I'd pay to see a good " duel on the salt " between  Nearburg and Nish in A/FS.  Are you there Brett Keptner? Or I'm I just so excited about LSR that every thing is fun, interesting and exciting?

[UltraCarbonFiber]

Bonneville gets plenty of digital coverage both on TV and print.  I'm not sure what was going on in this shot but I snapped it at speedweek this year:

Plus I've seen plenty of TV commercials featuring the salt.     Of course that's not exactly the coverage you guys are talking about.  I agree with roadtrip on every single point.

As far as attracting youth I don't see that as a problem.  I am 35 which is young compared to the 50+ age that I know is common on the salt and I attended my first speedweek this year to watch.  Like many of you I have been involved with lot's of different racing before the salt caught my attention.  I think if you want sport growth then targeting guys in other forms of motorsport is the key, not TV.  Honestly though with limited venues where you can run lsr why would growing be a priority?  As I saw someone else post what's in it for them to get a bunch more people out there.  I would guess bringing too many people out there would make some leave.

I plan on running something out at the salt in the next "few" years and my two sons that it was great.  Here is a picture of my boys and one of the awesome people we met out there:

 

I bet it wasn't 15 mins of meeting our new friends that they asked my boys how they would like to sit on a real race bike!  This goes to show that getting hooked on the salt has no age limits. Great people out there!  Oh here is one more pic of youth on the salt, I think this girl is in her early 20's:

 

I'm really bad with names so I can't post it here but I'm sure some of you know her.  It was really cool talking to everyone out there and we'll be back.

[836dstr]

Racergeo,

I kind of like your idea about featuring a alternating group of cars each year @ B/V, but don't know how you would do it. As a Roadster driver I would love to see all those in a certain class run at the same time as a special part of the event. Getting everybody ready at once would be a challenge. In the Roadster catagory you would have Modified, Gas/Fuel & Street. Some would run the long course, some the short. So much for spectator involvement.

Limit it to type? First off a XXO/STR running 160. then a AA/BSTR running 230. How does the spectator relate.

It's certainly interesting from a promotional perspective.

Well, I addressed LSR, but not the youth aspect.

Tom

[dwarner]

The motorcycle at the starting line is the White Goose Bar entry. Consistency is their mantra, they strive to be and continue to hold the slowest record in the book.

The rider, Kim, had to be reminded to "keep pedaling". I had a new rider candidate here at work, Annie is about 1/3 more aero than Kim. Think always "pounds lighter, miles faster(or slower in the Goose's case)"

Our own Tom G is a major supporter of the cause,
DW

[mkilger]

Want I want to know is  how many posts do I need NOT to be a newbe anymore , and I agree we need more youg people in our sights (not Bob Sights) well you know what I  mean. Iam only 37 and I feel like I been going to bonneville a long time. But next year I will be driving so  I am going to miss having the best place to  see bonneville. Maybe Dan can start a under 40 club some day .  mike

[thundersalt]

4 more

[dwarner]

I'm well on my way to the second 40, closer to 80 than 40. I wouldn't want to be in any club that wanted me, or Jack or Groucho.

DW

[Stainless1]

Maybe Dan can start a under 40 club some day .  mike

I think Dan would prefer 3 or 4 12's to a 40... 40's get warm on the salt ya know. 

The newbie is just your participation here, does not reflect your time on the salt.  But it does seem that people that had a lot of salt on their shoes over the years post more.  Of course old guys just like to see their thoughts in print...  for posterity and all...

[jimmy six]

Youth and LSR reminds me of a few other oxymorons. Oh Well. What really needs to happen is youth "working" with LSR. This is starting to happen but it works very slowly. Old guys in command don't want to give up anything. Anyone who does not see this is blind. Dan is finally stepping back from the rule book after many years of hard work, flack, name calling etc: He deserves a rest...

Every year we get a few young folks to step up and inspect cars. They probably have been in LSR from birth and with "dads" help want to give back. So he shows up at the "old guys" car who's never done jack s--t and what does he get but a bunch of grief and bs. Why would anyone step up whose young(that means under 30) I don't blame them for not helping again

I seems when we get one running for an office we choose to elect the old guy. Ferg 3 is our only hope at this time for youth. Youth that's a funny word. I'm 63; by the board standards I'm youth.

I've taught a lot of guys how to use the air pump correctly and the fuel checker. and are they young. no. They are my age. Enough of this rant......................Good Luck

[mkilger]

I think Dan is in more clubs than he's telling us, your right a 18-35  club  would be nice,but Iam already a sailty dog.

[desotoman]

The motorcycle at the starting line is the White Goose Bar entry. Consistency is their mantra, they strive to be and continue to hold the slowest record in the book.

DW

We just set our all time record for speed at El Mirage last meet, and there was no GPS on the bike or rider. We ran her as fast as she would go with Rick aboard and were lucky enough to break the minimum for the class.

As much as everyone loves to hate our bike, it is a great example of how some young person can get involved in LSR, without bankrupting themselves. If you look hard and long enough you could buy one and have it SCTA ready for around $2000. It hardly takes up any room in the garage, and is very easy to work on. You only need a pickup truck to transport it, or if you are really on a budget you could make up a small bike rack for your receiver hitch and put it on the back of your car. It hardly uses any fuel. The biggest problem we are having is finding parts for a 52 year old bike, but then again that is part of the fun of running a vintage machine.

I honestly have more fun running the Express, than I do my Roadster. At El Mirage I could not believe all the people that came up to me and had positive things to say about the bike.

Tom G.

[Unkl Ian]

Most TV and magazine people are lazy,and rarely understand their subject matter.Making an "interesting" show about Bonneville would be much tougher,
for them,than filming the antics at Boyd's or OCC,as an example.

Conflict,real or manufacturered,presented as "Reality TV",is the latest fad.
Lazy executives everywhere love fads.Much easier to follow a fad,than create something new.

To their credit,the producers of Pinks did a pilot show about people trying to set records in various forms of racing.Saw it in September,forgot the name of it.
The one I saw looked pretty good,no idea if Speed will pick it up.

[Unkl Ian]

Now if a European produced TV show on Bonneville was successful,
an American network would be more likely to copy it.

That's where Junkyard Wars came from.
It was copied from the British show,Scrap Heap Challenge.





My favorite shows of all time.

[Malcolm UK]

The BBC Mission series covered the Mach3 Challenegr project on the salt during '99 (production/filming by Sunset and Vine) but I do not know if this 2000 programme ever aired in the USA. 

The Discovery channel - National Geographic produced - Bonneville programme of 2005 events would probably have alerted people to the 'Motorsport can be/is dangerous' information.

[ps. JCB produced a long promo tape of the Dieselmax at Bonneville but I do not know if it will ever be circulated].

Perhaps the youth prefer pouring money into 'rice burners' and the like and the feel of tarmac beneath the wheels.  Perhaps get a hook in to them at Maxton, Texas or an open road race (acceleration test) first and then steer them towards the dirt and then the salt tracks of long distance LSR?