How do we reward our racers at the end of the day ?

[HRTV]

This group of photos was taken in Homestead Florida on 01/20/2007 during a Tony Kart Winter Tour event.

My God we are so far behind the times it just makes me sick. Oh well I'm sure no one wants to hear me ....

[MN1]

Where are the trophy girls???
Mark N

[kws]

Dan
Chicaga Paul has built a winners circle for region seven and is looking for sponsors to put their names on it. the plan i believe is to set it up near inspection?

[pops67g]

Trophies are OK but....

I am reasonably sure I won't find much agreement here but these dust catchers don't mean anything to me compared to the friendships and cameraderie that I've gotten from boat racing all these years. The memories and stories I can relate are priceless to me. Having been part of a three generation racing family has been even more fulfilling. My "trophies" don't shine but they mean much more than any hardware to me.

[David_L6]

I am reasonably sure I won't find much agreement here but these dust catchers don't mean anything to me compared to the friendships and cameraderie that I've gotten from boat racing all these years. The memories and stories I can relate are priceless to me. Having been part of a three generation racing family has been even more fulfilling. My "trophies" don't shine but they mean much more than any hardware to me.

I agree with you.

[scorer]

The Kids like it.

At USTS races, we have the boxes to stand on, a banner to place behind them and Olympic style medals (custom made) for every race. Getting the drivers to come to the podium to receive those medals is impossible. No one wants to take the time, especially on Sunday when they are trying to get loaded up. The only drivers who really want the medals are the kids and they hunt us down for their hardware which is great. So we are not behind times, it isn't that we don't try.

[26V]

On the other hand

"trophies" may not mean much to most racers, give me points! LOL. But I think that a trophy ceremony for at least the J class would make our sport more promotable. And provide a show for the spectators. And maybe a photo op for the winners of each class would help promote our sport. but alass this would require a short enough race day that the spectators would still be at the race site for the ceremony.

[Ken G]

good stuff

this is all really positive stuff,keep hackin at the ideas. in the end of the day we all want the same thing ,thats to make our sport to grow and we are all collectively seeking an answer for balanced growth and a place to fit in to modern civilization. If we keep seeking and working together towards the greater good eventually we will find a way to see past our differences and embrace them instead, then we will grow,, untill then divided we fall, and lil by little were still trying to find away to get back to those days ,oh what we thought were the sweet days of ole ,,20 hydro-18 boats ,CSH-23 boats back when there were DSH's in region five , I took 8 yrs off from 94-2002 and when i came back its was like a bomb had went off and it was not the same place, but all the while all of us have been trying to figure out why we only have 6 local races in region five(if every one shows) when we used to have 12 or more. Maybe we should quit trying to get it to go back to what it used to be and figure out how to make the most of what we have know and up and coming, Ok heres some Optimism, look at whats happing at the Ocoee race the New" Sidewinder" an American made pure racing out board is being produced to power our way into the future, how exciting is that ( big ups to you Ron Selewach and Co. ) this should be getting us Stock Grass roots fired up, this is the future of our sport and it it is a world wide sport and its imperitive that we support this change and movement towards a day when we are supporting the innevitable (change) and helping our locale boat builders and engine manufactures ,how can we help them get new guys involved ,,,how do we do that ,easy we take care of the brothers and sisters we have now and stop bickery in the family about how we are different classes,lets make the new way FUN and people will come,Go LOCAL RACE, GO SERIES RACE, GO TITLE RACING, GO DO WHAT YOU CAN DO AND LOVE DOING IT ,,,,,,,Hey Rome was not built in aday and Im not saying this is can easily be resolved ,but if we work TOGETHER lil by little the maaajik spreads......

[gryskoG55]

The idea behind the trophy ceremony is to make a good program - for the spectators, not the drivers - Everybody want to see the winner - spectators want to know who wins, and see them holding up the trophy/medal.
Set up the "winners circle" give the drivers their medals, take a good photo, with some sponsor names visible - that makes a good show ! Bring that photo to your next event sponsor - looks pretty good.

Look at Daytona Victory Lane - There are TV cameras everywhere, confetti, etc - a big party - Victory Lane is for the show - not to give the drivers something to set on their shelf, or to make drivers feel good about themselves.

just my thoughts.

[jeff55v]

Podium finish.

Is the podium thing a real big deal when there are only 4 boats racing in many classes? And how many classes per day race? So are we gonna have 10 different podium ceremonies at the end of each day? Perhaps this podium thing would work at a race that only has 2 or 3 different classes of racing and many participants in each of those classes.
Just my thoughts.
But I like the professional looking driving suits. Maybe the SORC should mandate that everyone "look professional".
Sponsored teams HAVE to look good to make their sponsors look good. How many of us have anyone to impress?

[Bill Huson]

About those trophy girls . . .

one time my reward was a kiss from the local beauty pageant winner, Miss Soy Bean or some such. Problem: My loverly bride had a stopwatch going for the kiss and I knew any lip contact in excess of 5 tenths of a second and it would be a loonnngg ride home

[Steve Johnson]

Region 11

From my great trip to shadow cliffs 2004
I can say that quick 25min awards cerimony on sunday was top notch.
I think we were still packed up a 6:00 and having a sushi dinner by 6:30
No sweat. and nice to have the WORD on who finished where.

A thing to remember... WE ARE NOT LIKE ALL THE OTHER MOTORSPORTS OUT THERE I'm sure in the karting world there is plenty of $ to go to fancy uniforms, trophys, prize moneys ect...
there is a healthy market for Karting supplys and I'm sure the supplyers and manufactures are able to contribute...

Remember the upside of the MERC CHALLANGE? we had a version of that.

[Andrew 4CE]

This is serious racing... race haulers worth a million dollars. Not back yard yahoo's like most of us looking for a fun weekend with family and friends. Even a decent privateer has $100,000 team. The drivers might be 8-14 years old... but many are under contracts and well on their way to the big time. Teams winning this level of karting put Unlimited Hydroplane racing to shame.

We could get to this stage if Unlimiteds were like NASCAR level and they needed a feeder level of sport.

[David_L6]

Go "all out" for the kids!

At USTS races, we have the boxes to stand on, a banner to place behind them and Olympic style medals (custom made) for every race. Getting the drivers to come to the podium to receive those medals is impossible. No one wants to take the time, especially on Sunday when they are trying to get loaded up. The only drivers who really want the medals are the kids and they hunt us down for their hardware which is great. So we are not behind times, it isn't that we don't try.

Now here's where the trophies, medals, and awards ceremony needs to never be overlooked. Make a "big deal" out of it for them because it is a big deal to them. The USTS is probably the best in all of boat racing at getting this done.

[pops67g]

I Guess I Forgot

It's easy for us crusty old geezers to forget the joys of being a kid. I can only imagine how exciting it must be for a 9 year old to participate in something as cool as racing. I was running D alky hydro at 15 years old and the most exciting thing for me, in my rookie season, was taking a 5th place and getting a check for $4. It was a keepsake that I never cashed. Boy have times changed! Anyway, making it fun for the kids can only work in the favor of the sport.