What made the ARRC so prestigious?

Would tv coverage be worth an extra $150?

What are the current entry fees?

TV coverage by who and in what spot? A small local TV station - then no. Speed channel at 3 a.m. - still probably no. Speed channel at a decent time and coverage of many of the cars out there (not just the first two cars) - they yes.

Nicely done TV coverage would also draw even more people then what currently. If a person is one of the top drivers, it sure would attract them to come.

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Dave Gran
NER #13 ITA
'87 Honda Prelude
 
Hey Ruck, what do you plan to race at the ARRC this year? It must be tough to have to pick from 5 race cars
wink.gif
.
I vote ITC, but I'm prejudiced like that.[/B]
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It's only 4 cars.... :P
I'm 99% sure that if I'm there, I'll be in the ITA car. I suppose I could bring one of the ITC cars and double up Fowler style! No, not really.

JD - Phil was actually the one I got to bring it up at a meeting with the rest of the OVR directors. But it was seriously like "PULL! - kaboom!"
 
I say that the $150.00 is worth the exposure but I think it would attract a lot less people from other areas and more locals instead. It's a great idea and it just may be what the event needs to get it that National status it is looking for. I think if we do get TV coverage without the help of SCCA we should all get stickers for our windsheilds that say "why go national"

I agree with AB that it still is a southeast championship that some of us crazy people go and attend. Last year was really bad as far as favoratism to locals is concerned. I hope that changes for next year. anyway I would be curios to see the % of people from different regions is. If anything else it is cool to meet new people and have some good competitors.

On a side note I bet we all get our own racegroups soon down at the ARRC just like the valvoline runnoffs. Even for the NARRC championship it looks like we should all get our own race groups! the turnouts have been unbeleivable up here!

Stephen
 
Stephen - why do you think it would attract a lot less people from other areas and more locals instead?

I would be much, much more tempted to make the long 17 hour journey if it had decent TV coverage. My sponsors would absolutely love it! It would also help attract additional sponsors.

As it currently stands, might try it once just to try it. Otherwise the trip is simply too long for me. And I whine about going to Summit Pt which is a 7 hr trip!

As a side note - I would also love for any of the IT events to be televised. The NARRC would be awesome!!!

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Dave Gran
NER #13 ITA
'87 Honda Prelude
 
$150 is about 2 tanks of gas for the tow vehicle (well, up here at least), so if money is tight, it could be the make/break for going to the ARRC.

How much is the ARRC, anyway? Our entry fees up here are over $300, so if the ARRC is only $175 or $200, it'd only be like $50 for us and wouldn't seem so bad. But, it doesn't matter, I made the commitment earlier this year to be there and, by gum, I'm going to be there!

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
If it's a matter of money, how much are we talking about?

Let's say we want to buy a half hour of time on Speed TV. What does it cost for a broadcast at 3:30am on a Tuesday and (other end of the spectrum) 3:30pm on Sunday?

Gregg
 
Originally posted by planet6racing:
...But, it doesn't matter, I made the commitment earlier this year to be there and, by gum, I'm going to be there!
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It's worth every penny of fuel, Bill. You will be grinning from ear-to-ear.

Gregg
 
Stephen,
Not arguing, just asking.
How was there favoritism at the ARRC this year? I'm a local and its never seemed that way to me. Its always been whoever gets there for test days gets the best spots. And its always seemed to me that having cars from all across the country is what makes the ARRC. One year I pitted next to a group from New Orleans and had all the gumbo I could eat. You get to meet the people on this forum as well. There's been car from New York, Texas and California. The ARRc wouldn't be the same without 'em.

And you will be grinnin' from ear to ear.


Tom

[This message has been edited by Tom Donnelly (edited July 19, 2004).]
 
Originally posted by Tom Donnelly:
...its always seemed to me that having cars from all across the country is what makes the ARRC. One year I pitted next to a group from New Orleans and had all the gumbo I could eat. You get to meet the people on this forum as well. There's been car from New York, Texas and California. The ARRC wouldn't be the same without 'em.

And you will be grinnin' from ear to ear.
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Who were those guys last year from Nova Scotia?

Gregg (grinnin' from ear-to-ear) Baker
 
Originally posted by RSTPerformance:
I say that the $150.00 is worth the exposure but I think it would attract a lot less people from other areas and more locals instead.
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I disagree here...TV coverage will attract drivers for a number of reasons, but I don't think you can assign geography as the only demographic factor.



Last year was really bad as far as favoratism to locals is concerned. I hope that changes for next year. Stephen
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I know the paddock space at RA is in tight supply, and that our group of 5 cars and trailers had to paddock in a space of about 175 sq feet, which compared to, say, the 2 car Corvette team's 18 wheeler complete with the full awning and big screen video display, (in a space far larger than 175 sq feet) DID appear lopsided. But I would be hesitant to use "localism" and "favoritism" in describing the situation. Rather, I feel that it might have been a case of the officials not fully realizing the scope of our group, and the usual "haves and have nots" situation that exists in club racing.

I am sure that they attempted to accomodate everyones needs, and I bet they try even harder next year.

As for TV coverage, $150 per entry is peanuts. I really have no sponsors per se', but I have no issue with an extra fee. Keep in mind though, that TV coverage costs money...BIG money, and for $150, it would seemingly be tough to get anything but a small production company and 'unusual' viewing times. Don't expect to be the lead in show on SPEED for the World Challenge Touring car race! (Although, how cool would that be!)

Also, the final show is likely to be half an hour or an hour at the most, so each race will be boiled down to a highlight reel, in all probability. Which means the usual suspects will be getting screen time, unless the crash is good enough .....!



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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]
 
<font face=\"Verdana, Arial\" size=\"2\">...our group of 5 cars and trailers had to paddock in a space of about 175 sq feet...not fully realizing the scope of our group...</font>
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Jake, your analysis is spot-on. Fletcher came up to me afterwards and apologized for stuffing us into such a small space. He told me that they did not fully realize the number of people and amount of equipment we were bringing. He also thanked us for conserving space as much possible by sharing tools and equipment.

He promised to work with us for better accomodations in subsequent ventures south...

GregA
 
That pretty much hits the mark. Fletcher has a pretty thankless task of trying to organize the paddock. And he's trying to race, usually 2 cars at the same time. And then people give him hell for being grumpy!
And he's responsible for finding the sponsorship base for Pro-IT and for the ARRC.

Tom
 
So, should we be talking to Fletcher about getting an area designated for the IT.com crowd that is coming down? It'd be nice if we could all be in one area (although I realize that is unlikely to happen).


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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
I know that if you tell him in advance, he does try to arrange groups together, etc.

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Ony Anglade
ITA Miata
Sugar Hill, GA
 
Bill,
Ony is right. Fletcher can't always set things up but he will work with you. Especially if you volunteer to help at least a little bit. Like displaying a car at local business one evening or directing traffic or whatever. I've got his e-mail somewhere and I believe he posts here occasionally. One of his "cars" is an ITT truck.
Of course you could end up on the "back forty" sometimes too. Everyone wants on the skidpad area 'cause its nice and flat.

Tom
 
The ARRC is held at Road Atlanta and the event date for this year is November 5-7.

The website address is: www.arrc-online.com. It still has the 2003 info on it and I will have to get around to doing some updating soon.

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Bob Pinkowski
Atlanta Region SCCA
OPM Autosports
ITS Honda Prelude (for sale)
 
Well, I really don't care where I end up, so long as I make it down there safely (as does everyone else) and we all have a good time. I'll just remember to bring my bike and wagon, just in case!

Display my car at a local business? Hey, now there's an idea! I'd be up for that, so long as I didn't have to truck it through Atlanta traffic!

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
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