Al Fernandez
12-17-2009, 12:29 AM
Now that the 2009 season is truly over after our Rookie Day weekend, I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you about AI/CMC Texas. Many of you were at our awards banquet so some of this will be a repeat, but some of you were not there. Besides, good things are worth repeating.
No matter what you use as an indicator, 2009 was a huge success for us as a race class. In spite of external forces which we cannot control, like the generally horrible economy and tire gate, AI/CMC Texas enjoyed the biggest car counts in our history. We set attendance records, then ran right out and broke them. Our Hallett event drew drivers from three regions and a combined count of 31 cars. More drivers scored points in AI/CMC in Texas than any other region. The competition on the track and the quality of the drivers in our region is second to none. At Hallett, Texas drivers swept the podium. At Nationals, every one of our drivers that attended finished on the podium including winning the CMC Championship for the third year in a row. The fun doesnt end when the checkered flag flies though, as proven by our regular BBQs and annual banquet and now highly anticipated year in review video. The paddock has proven to be almost as crazy a place as the track, with drivers sharing tools, parts and expertise to get someone with a mechanical failure back on track and even volunteering cooler lids when a true knee board cant be found. In short, if you're going to race in AI or CMC, you should be doing it in Texas.
I mentioned a few of the hurdles we've had to clear that, to me, make the success we've had in growing this region even more meaningful. There were things that we could not control, and in large part we handled them as best we could. 2010 will not be much different in that regard. There will be external influences which will make it hard to attract or maintain drivers which we simply cannot control. We've just seen the first with NASA Texas' decision to raise fees. We'll need to take these in stride and continue to work them as best we can. Meanwhile, and much more importantly, we need to focus on doing what we've excelled in: keeping our class the most exciting and the most fun class to run with in Texas, on and off the track. We've shown what we can do when we pull in the same direction. We've also demonstrated what damage we can do when we aim our energy at each other and start arguing amongst ourselves. Unfortunately tearing things down is much easier than building them up, so I encourage all of us to continue to focus positively on the things we can control and work together to get over or around the things we cant control.
Nationally, both in AI and in CMC we've been making some changes to the leadership teams around the country. For us here in Texas, we decided to make a few changes as well and then didn't do a good job of communicating it, but the result is that I will be the Texas region AI and CMC lead, with Todd and Glenn in effect reporting to me for regional AI/CMC matters. Unrelated to our decision, NASA Texas has named Mike Patterson to fill in as assistant race director, taking over for Adrian. Todd will be Clifton's and Mike's backup, ensuring there are always two race directors at any given event. During events, Todd will also work with Mike to try to emulate the AI/CMC model with other NASA Texas classes.
I am very much looking forward to the 2010 season. We have a big class of rookies coming in to AI and to CMC, as well as the return of some very fast veterans that haven't been able to run much with us lately. We're working with NASA to step up the use of GPS based data loggers, which will enable us to step up tech and enable us to get much more detailed regarding platform parity. We already have drivers from four regions preparing to go to Hallett. I know that if we continue focusing on great racing and having fun during the entire race weekends and even online that we'll have an even more successful year.
As we close in on the holidays, I hope all of you get a chance to spend some quality time with your loved ones, and a little quality time in the garage preparing for next season. MRS-H is just a month and a half away, and it'll be here before we realize it!
REVIEW YOUR SAFETY GEAR, MEMBERSHIP/LICENSING PAPERWORK AND BE MINDFUL OF NEW YEAR EXPIRATION DATES!!!
No matter what you use as an indicator, 2009 was a huge success for us as a race class. In spite of external forces which we cannot control, like the generally horrible economy and tire gate, AI/CMC Texas enjoyed the biggest car counts in our history. We set attendance records, then ran right out and broke them. Our Hallett event drew drivers from three regions and a combined count of 31 cars. More drivers scored points in AI/CMC in Texas than any other region. The competition on the track and the quality of the drivers in our region is second to none. At Hallett, Texas drivers swept the podium. At Nationals, every one of our drivers that attended finished on the podium including winning the CMC Championship for the third year in a row. The fun doesnt end when the checkered flag flies though, as proven by our regular BBQs and annual banquet and now highly anticipated year in review video. The paddock has proven to be almost as crazy a place as the track, with drivers sharing tools, parts and expertise to get someone with a mechanical failure back on track and even volunteering cooler lids when a true knee board cant be found. In short, if you're going to race in AI or CMC, you should be doing it in Texas.
I mentioned a few of the hurdles we've had to clear that, to me, make the success we've had in growing this region even more meaningful. There were things that we could not control, and in large part we handled them as best we could. 2010 will not be much different in that regard. There will be external influences which will make it hard to attract or maintain drivers which we simply cannot control. We've just seen the first with NASA Texas' decision to raise fees. We'll need to take these in stride and continue to work them as best we can. Meanwhile, and much more importantly, we need to focus on doing what we've excelled in: keeping our class the most exciting and the most fun class to run with in Texas, on and off the track. We've shown what we can do when we pull in the same direction. We've also demonstrated what damage we can do when we aim our energy at each other and start arguing amongst ourselves. Unfortunately tearing things down is much easier than building them up, so I encourage all of us to continue to focus positively on the things we can control and work together to get over or around the things we cant control.
Nationally, both in AI and in CMC we've been making some changes to the leadership teams around the country. For us here in Texas, we decided to make a few changes as well and then didn't do a good job of communicating it, but the result is that I will be the Texas region AI and CMC lead, with Todd and Glenn in effect reporting to me for regional AI/CMC matters. Unrelated to our decision, NASA Texas has named Mike Patterson to fill in as assistant race director, taking over for Adrian. Todd will be Clifton's and Mike's backup, ensuring there are always two race directors at any given event. During events, Todd will also work with Mike to try to emulate the AI/CMC model with other NASA Texas classes.
I am very much looking forward to the 2010 season. We have a big class of rookies coming in to AI and to CMC, as well as the return of some very fast veterans that haven't been able to run much with us lately. We're working with NASA to step up the use of GPS based data loggers, which will enable us to step up tech and enable us to get much more detailed regarding platform parity. We already have drivers from four regions preparing to go to Hallett. I know that if we continue focusing on great racing and having fun during the entire race weekends and even online that we'll have an even more successful year.
As we close in on the holidays, I hope all of you get a chance to spend some quality time with your loved ones, and a little quality time in the garage preparing for next season. MRS-H is just a month and a half away, and it'll be here before we realize it!
REVIEW YOUR SAFETY GEAR, MEMBERSHIP/LICENSING PAPERWORK AND BE MINDFUL OF NEW YEAR EXPIRATION DATES!!!