West Coast Enduros
There are many avid endurance racers in the Pacific Northwest. At this time, there are really only 2 major races up here: a 6 hour at Pacific Raceways near Seattle in March, and a 12 hour at Portland International Raceway in Portland in October. There are a few other shorter races at Mission, BC. Many of us head to Thunderhill for the 25 in December.
An effort was started a few years ago to begin a North West Endurance Racing Series, but it has kind of gone on hold, at least in part due to economic realities for many grass roots racer. There is still hope, and with a bit more vision, I believe that such a series could come to life.
However, now that Lemons and Chumpcar are taking off, I am somewhat concerned that they may be taking some of the less dedicated or less well-heeled endurance racers away from the more competitive and costly events. The 12 hour in Portland this year had just 17 entries. 2 weeks later, the Chumpcar event at Portland had considerably more entries (not sure of the exact count). I bear these "fun races" no grudge at all, and think that they are good for the sport in the long run because they introduce people to racing. But I do think they may be impacting the "real races".
So what to do? Low entries at our races doesn't make it any easier. For hosting organizations to pay for track and support costs means that entry fees go up, and that put additional pressure on potential entries.
Definitely would like to hear ideas people out west may have about a west coast series that would include Northwest tracks. I know that NASA has a series, but it is all in California. That is a long trip from the Seattle area. Thunderhill is a good 12+ hour tow, and it is 2 hours closer than the next nearest, Infineon. If a series were put together that included a couple races up here and a couple down in No. Cal., I think there would likely be interest among the hard core up here, which could bring 5 - 10 cars at least.
Great topic. Hope to hear more.
Mike Conatore
[email protected]
