We need to save the sport.

[Lights]

Funny man Daren

Take a look at the link below:

http://www.apbaracing.com/photo_gallery.html

This is what young people want ! come on guys lets be real, what sells is the sights and sounds of a jam packed day with bands and lots of young girls etc. You would be real hard pressed to make a young 19 year old choose between racing a PWC or ASH I mean come on we just dont have the program to attraction the 19-20 year old guys that like fast music and fast cars. Our program is slow and boring!

Hell I would have to say there info on the APBA site looks and is more informative than any of the boat racing stuff on there.

[Lights]

[QUOTE=mercguy]by the way, WTF is a "soap box"????????? [/QUOTE

Beats the hell out of me. Maybe we can put a motor on it? Do they float?

[HRTV]

Re: Get off your soapbox
Posted by R. Berg on August 17, 2001

In Reply to: Get off your soapbox posted by Lesley M on August 17, 2001

:
: I've heard this expression used with reference to someone who is going on and on about something or possibly forcing an opinion on someone. Can anyone confirm this/provide the origin of the phrase?

That's what it means, and it comes from times past when soap was packed in sturdy wooden boxes for the retailer, who discarded the boxes, which were then appropriated as speaking platforms by people who intended to rant in public about some (e.g., political) issue.

[AOFoffice]

It is a little hard to meet someone at a race who is interested in the sport and when they ask where and when the next race is you have to say;
Next month 500 miles away.
Need some local tracks and people who get the pleasure out of racing and having fun with friends, ..knowing this is a hobby: over participants who think they are Dale Earnhardt and must only race at Daytona.
Build from the bottom up and make a stong foundation. Once the foundation is built, then maybe you can make a business out of it. Connie

[raceright]

get involved

APBA is not there to find new members only other racers can do this. Go to your region,and national meetings and see what you can do to improve the racing you do . Also add your class to a new region or race site ,race more find possitive was to help on the local level this does work..

[acr924]

Mark, more races could be put on everywhere, but s not worth the time and effort, if you do not get the entrys......more races are not the answers, more entrys (at current races) are and that is what needs to be addressed.

You're right about that. There's no point in having a bunch of races that no one shows up to. BUT, if we create more races in different places, there's more of a chance to recruit new people.
For us Runne's down in NC, our closest race was Camden. But after that & Elizabeth City, NC were both cancelled, our closest race is 6 hours away in Sharptown, MD. I don't know about you, but if my family was JUST NOW becoming interested in racing, and we found out our closest race would be 6 hours away, I'm pretty sure that would drive us AWAY from the sport.
Maybe if we put on races in NEW places, it would be easier to get new people to race.
Just my two cents.

Allie Runne

[jsilvestri]

Ok guy's I see a great idea for us all in Paul's post. He mentioned going to schools. Now I have got a way for us all to promote are sport. I will start doing this soon. We could talk to the school wood shop teachers about building race boats in class or for extra activity credit. What do you think?

Mark

Mark,

You have a good idea, but it is not going to work. I am a wood shop teacher, well I no longer have a shop, its a computer lab and I teach drafting, engineering and architecture classes. The problem with the local schools is the mandated state standards all teachers, regardless of their subject matter, must teach. It doesn't really allow for a wood shop teacher to build boats. Also, there is the problem with time constraints, budgets, not to mention who would be liable if I did build a boat with my students and they went out on the water with it and got hurt.

There have been some very good ideas brought up in this thread but I think one of the best things we could do to help promote the sport is to race at least two or more times in the same location in the same summer. This would hopefully create some sort of fan base and possibly recruit racers from those sights nearby towns. There are several other things we could do; support our local races, streamline our class structure, design/build and race boats that could be raced on rougher water so we could go to sites that really want us there racing on their lake or river that gets very, very choppy, etc...

Lastly, I think everyone needs to spend time enjoying the sport, whatever aspect of the sport that may be for each and every one of us.

[HYDRO21Z]

Hmmmmm!

John and I have discussed this issue alot over the last few years.
We think that to grow participation, ie more racers, we need to find a
place to race as often as possible. Find a site and hold races once a month,
every other weekend, or every weekend. Yea I know it would be so expensive to do that not possible right. Well look at carting, motocross,
bicycle racing, they have an advantage that we cannot have and that is the ability to race anytime they want to.
If we could race every weekend at the same location, test there, build a "pro shop", then you could build a following, and grow the race from the area participants, and not have to bet on getting drivers from other regions to come to support the races finacially.
Having more races spread about the country is not the answer, but having more races in the same spot is.
It would take a financial commitment of epic proportions to accomplish that,
as we compete now with recreational users for the use of lakes, rivers, etc. If we could control a body of water large enough to accomodate racing and nothing else, eventually interest would grow, and the site would be a testing, racing, spectating, sponsor drawing, self supporting machine.

Just another point of view thrown out there for discussion.
Dennis 21Z

[HRTV]

I like the idea Dennis and John have in regards to finding a spot that could be just for boat racing. Think of all the small towns across america that have only one small dirt track that they race on every saturday night.

It might be a small track but to the local folks it is the best thing in the world and they dont have to re-invent the wheel every weekend or travel for 8 hours at a time to enjoy what they love doing.

[Lights]

I have thought the same things as you Dennis. But boy that would take some $$$$$$$. But it would work. Look how the locals like the races in Depue and there is more than one race there a year.

[modracer7b]

<<<<<<John and I have discussed this issue alot over the last few years.
We think that to grow participation, ie more racers, we need to find a
place to race as often as possible. Find a site and hold races once a month,
every other weekend, or every weekend.>>>>>>>>

In the late 60's, when I was young and gung ho, this was my vision of what boat racing needed. My thought was to find a cheap piece of land and build a man-made lake for racing only with bleachers and a permanent measured record course. I still believe this is really the only positive approach to the race site and new driver recruitment part of boat racings problems.

You could probably even charge admission and run a profitable concession stand just like the local stock car tracks scattered around the country. Even the swamp-buggy people get more coverage than we do because of this type of base, and I figure they are even smaller than us.

Bill Rosado

[dcrummett]

This is working

Over the past two years the Oklahoma Boat Racing Association has cultivated 3-4 lakes, on which we've raced each year...all within 200-300 miles of most of us in Oklahoma/Texas. We strive to have have 5-6 races per summer in this area in hopes of building more driver numbers by not having to drive 600 miles to a race.

We've combined classes (so far hydro only) so we have three groups running with step ups available from the class below...this puts lots of boats on the lake and helps keep the sponsor and crowd interested. We usually run about 3-4 hours and we're finished. There's usually money paid for the top 5-6 places, it's a lot of fun and it can be done with the minimum amount of equipment.

Of course there were questions about such a format from the rest of our clubs in NBRA, but we've found it works quite well by just awarding points to the first two heats run ( usually everyone can run 4 heats...maybe more if they step up). Points only count in your class... money comes to he/she who places in the overall race...regardless of class.

To interest more of our NBRA racers, our first such race for 2006 will be run at Mansfield, Ark. May 20-21...with May 20 a regular NBRA 14-class race. The 21st, will be the "Oklahoma Format"... So far it's been good to us.

Dan
O-49

[Lights]

Modracer7b Yes it could be done. It could also have then wave suspensors near the shore. Like the ones they use in Japan.

[AOFoffice]

Carl Staron was trying the concept with Lake Placid. People don't show because it is not cool to race locally. Need to build some clout with the local racing idea.
His in with the national 4-H camps was another alternative using the same idea. No one was coming because it was not cool and the race in NC was more important than the local race in Florida.
Hate to be so blunt.
We need to change our attitudes and think about the future and not what feels good at the moment.
Connie
(Dennis and John, the above are NOT aimed at you. They are aimed at the situations. Hope you know that).

[Richard K.C. Mo.]

Build It , they'll Come

Sam i am sounds pretty good to me, as ive said on occassion , there i s moto track 1.7 mi from my house , the dudes track is maybe 10 mi. (go karts) case no one knows Lasoski, is the last name, i think he's into sprint cars and stuff.
And then we have I- 70 about 20+ mi. , oh yeh i forgot to mention warrensburgh where we do it in the dirt track, I really think you guys don't like water. I get my senior discount at all of the above, but i go to NBRA races about 3-5 times a yr.
Now i'm waiting for answers?
RichardKCMo

Dennis, this is exactly what Mike Mentzer was saying years ago. There is a car race track around the corner from where he lives and they race there every other weekend except for the winter months ... there is never shortage of racers or spectators or new people looking to start racing.

One of the suggestions was to look at strip mine sites that could be developed into boat race lakes.