GRM - October 2006

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Originally Posted by michaelmosty

My payoff is a weekend of great racing with guys and gals that all share the same interest. Racing during the day and b/s-ing at night w/ my bro. and friends is pay off enough for me.
Magazine exposure, sponsor $$, contingencies, etc. are all just an extra side of gravy that is welcomed but not needed. I guess I'm setting my sights too low. :?

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Agreed...100%....I have just set my sights a little higher.

The funnest part of the weekend is sitting around BS'n about each turn of the wheel while dicing it up on the track. I seem to remember you I laughing our asses off walking around in Rattlesnake at 1am looking for Marshall's exhaust turn down and having no luck with a beer in one hand and a flashlight in another!! Classic!

Glenn, maybe LG was right....? And I mistakenly showed up with a Ph.D effort???? :? Oh well... :lol:

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Originally Posted by AI#97

Agreed...100%....I have just set my sights a little higher.

The funnest part of the weekend is sitting around BS'n about each turn of the wheel while dicing it up on the track. I seem to remember you I laughing our asses off walking around in Rattlesnake at 1am looking for Marshall's exhaust turn down and having no luck with a beer in one hand and a flashlight in another!! Classic!

Glenn, maybe LG was right....? And I mistakenly showed up with a Ph.D effort???? :? Oh well... :lol:

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Definitely high expectations for a grassroots movement at the near bottom of racings food chain.
The only way to make a small fortune in nearly any form of racing is to start with a big one and watch it dwindle.
It will take closer competition, and a well connected motivated and payed employee to ever get the results you guys are hoping for. We must start with the management and work down from there. Bitchin at each other wont do it.
Truth is most people dont care about us. I rarely read about the other regions. I just wanted to see my name in print. People may start to care when AI and CMC have .1 second margins of victory consistently and the field is large enough to prove something. We can only hope we are popular some day, until then let's go run Skip Barber series or something that will pay off when you win. I would look good in F1 8)

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Originally Posted by NASA13

Definitely high expectations for a grassroots movement at the near bottom of racings food chain.
The only way to make a small fortune in nearly any form of racing is to start with a big one and watch it dwindle.
It will take closer competition, and a well connected motivated and payed employee to ever get the results you guys are hoping for. We must start with the management and work down from there. Bitchin at each other wont do it.
Truth is most people dont care about us. I rarely read about the other regions. I just wanted to see my name in print. People may start to care when AI and CMC have .1 second margins of victory consistently and the field is large enough to prove something. We can only hope we are popular some day, until then let's go run Skip Barber series or something that will pay off when you win. I would look good in F1 8)

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Corey, you are right, we have to create the car count which will require more effort....baby steps to greatness! If the newbies figure out we are treated like stepchildren....they won't show!

My thoughts on "promoting" grass roots series like AI/CMC is that it has to be on the local level, so write ups in GRM are not going to give us the effect that many are looking for.

It has to be in the form of some local press coverage (even if it's just a list of top ten finishers in each race with a few words of the weekends highlights), some local advertising, etc. But none of that is going to happen, as Cory points out, unless NASA management and/or employees make it happen.

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Originally Posted by oz98cobra

My thoughts on "promoting" grass roots series like AI/CMC is that it has to be on the local level, so write ups in GRM are not going to give us the effect that many are looking for.

It has to be in the form of some local press coverage (even if it's just a list of top ten finishers in each race with a few words of the weekends highlights), some local advertising, etc. But none of that is going to happen, as Cory points out, unless NASA management and/or employees make it happen.

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Well, WE can't act on THEIR behalf. It could be as easy and CHEAP as sending out an event recap to the 100's of people who have participated in a NASATX event purely by email using the records from the sign up sheets! Easy to target them because they already did this once!!!

I am for doing both local and national blitz's because you can never do enough marketing when you are trying to grow something into something great.

I say lets go racing with Grand Am! GS is the cheap class, lets go there, they get on TV! To heck with GRM, only members of NASA get that rag anyway. Who has an FIA comp license? We need that first. Next, Ford Motorsports sells a fairly competitive car, the FR500C, it is only $125,000 and they even sell spare wheels for $1,295 each since only 4 come with the car. I don't know, we should be able to get off cheap on the spares since I am a Ford Dealer and a Motorsports Distributer, maybe what, $50,000 for spares and parts? Shoot, we all have good trailers, we don't need one of those. Okay, if you want to make any money we are going to need to be front runners for the season and we can't miss a race. Grand Am Cup runs 11 races, entry fees are $1,350 per race, plus $6,950 if we want to run the 24 hour race.

Then, we will be seen on the Speed Channel, won't or sponsors be proud, that is if they are up to see it a 2am.

I think I am going to stick to going out 6 weekends a year and having a blast doing something that very few people will ever get to do. AND arguing about who makes the best diesel :roll:

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Originally Posted by dirwin

I say lets go racing with Grand Am! GS is the cheap class, lets go there, they get on TV! To heck with GRM, only members of NASA get that rag anyway. Who has an FIA comp license? We need that first. Next, Ford Motorsports sells a fairly competitive car, the FR500C, it is only $125,000 and they even sell spare wheels for $1,295 each since only 4 come with the car. I don't know, we should be able to get off cheap on the spares since I am a Ford Dealer and a Motorsports Distributer, maybe what, $50,000 for spares and parts? Shoot, we all have good trailers, we don't need one of those. Okay, if you want to make any money we are going to need to be front runners for the season and we can't miss a race. Grand Am Cup runs 11 races, entry fees are $1,350 per race, plus $6,950 if we want to run the 24 hour race.

Then, we will be seen on the Speed Channel, won't or sponsors be proud, that is if they are up to see it a 2am.


I think I am going to stick to going out 6 weekends a year and having a blast doing something that very few people will ever get to do. AND arguing about who makes the best diesel :roll:

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Sarcasm noted... :roll:

I just got back in town and read the responses that followed my post. I figured it would cause a stir and likely make John mad at me.

What seems to have happened is that most that posted are in agreement that this is grass roots, just for fun, not for profit or livelihood, that there are problems with NASA, we miss the folks who have left since the Hallet "Incident", it's still not clear what the full story was/is at Hallet and all that lead up to and followed it, we don't get coverage, we miss the writeups among other things. I agree.

I think that comments, discussions, arguments, and long threads within the group are helpful and useful. This thread has brought out what a lot of people hold as their expectations. Some are truly in it for the fun and others are looking for a little more. There is room for both as long as the expectations for return are in line with the bottom of the racing chain organization that we are participating in.

Do I want consisitent rule that promote safety, equality, fairness and competition? You bet!!! But I truly believe that those discussions shouldn't be lobbed from a distance as veiled jabs. The start of this thread was not the first such instance.

I would love to see Wayne, John, Adam, Daron, Mitch and Lewis return to our ranks, (I'm not counting Todd as out at this time) but there seems to have been too much damage for some to return. I hope to see them at other venues, and I hope they all find what they are looking for.

But I will say it again: If you want to go, then go. If you want to stay, then stay. But stop with the veiled jabs and be more constructive.

BTW: I'm not "afraid" of anything except this group tearing itself apart and I certainly don't want to see that happen. That's why I said what I did.

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Originally Posted by oz98cobra

My thoughts on "promoting" grass roots series like AI/CMC is that it has to be on the local level, so write ups in GRM are not going to give us the effect that many are looking for.

It has to be in the form of some local press coverage (even if it's just a list of top ten finishers in each race with a few words of the weekends highlights), some local advertising, etc. But none of that is going to happen, as Cory points out, unless NASA management and/or employees make it happen.

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Not to be a total wise ass, but it would hard to consider anyone who works for NASA an employee. It would be more of voluntary position with a gasoline credit. 8)

I can't speak for the rest of the "Employees" but I can tell you that I don't helpout for the cash. I just want a place to race and have a great time with my friends who share similar interests. If that means I have to volunter my weekends and work to make it happen, I am in. :D

In the words of a great speaker, philanthropist, mentor to thousands and leader of millions:

"Can't we all just get along"