Some Shootout info and data for those interested.

[XR7 Dave]

We want to put some info out there for people to see how the shootout has progressed over the 3 years we have held it and what the shootout involves for those who are interested in the planning aspect of it and what it includes.

I know this could get out of hand, but the shootout really is for the club and we really want the club to voice an opinion about where the shootout should go from 2005.

First lets talk about location.

In 2003 the Shootout was primarily a local event. Most people travelled less than 350 miles to attend with a few "lunatics" driving from the other ends of the earth (Kurt Sunday and Kelly Simons come to mind).

I've posted a demographic that shows where the 26 competitors came from that year. You can see from the map that most of the people travelled west to attend and this is key in understanding why we chose Norwalk for 2004. We wanted to make the shootout more accessable to the folks from the east and Canada.

[XR7 Dave]

So along came 2004 and the Shootout moved to Norwalk, OH. This put the shootout within 350 miles (a distance that was perceived to be reasonable based on the previous event's attendence) of the Canadians and the east coast. We anticipated about double the participation.

Actual participation in 2004 was 34 competitors. We had thought that with exclusive use of Norwalk Raceway Park, the inclusion of a dyno competition as well as literally $1000's of dollars worth of prizes, that this event would be huge.

34 cars was good but it certainly wasn't huge. We walked away from this event just barely breaking even on costs which was fine, but it certainly made us a little more nervous about planning Shootout 2005.

[XR7 Dave]

So that brings us to the 2005 SC Shootout.

We took a big gamble putting the event in OKC. We kept hearing how people out west wanted a chance to participate, and we really wanted to bring those people into the event. We knew that we were asking people to travel a lot further this year than previous years. Would people do it? Would they make it happen? Honestly we expected more than one person to make the trek from Cali, and we hoped a couple AZ folks would venture out. We know that hurricane season played a real toll on the TX & LA guys so no hard feelings from anyone due south of us.

But the answer was ambiguous. Yes it happened, and yes it was successful! We had 34 competitors once again, but a larger portion of them were new participants. One of our goals had been reached. People from some rather remote areas had the chance to participate in an SC Shootout. When you look at the map, purple are first year participants, blue signify second timers and aqua indicates the person has participated in all 3 Shootouts.

This gives us an idea of who the enthusiasts are and where they came from.

But the results of 2005 show that people drove a lot further than before (it takes a 650 mile radius to cover the majority of the participants, and few even came from OK at all. While it was an epic adventure for all who attended, it is not something we intend to repeat next year.

Look the map over, and post your comments if you have any.

[XR7 Dave]

Which brings us to 2006.

The map below is a copy of the map posted on the other thread but this one differentiates between the voters and how many Shootouts they have attended.

Red - new participant
Blue - has attended one event already
Aqua - has attended two events so far
Yellow - has attended all events to date

So you can see a couple of things.

1) Those who attended this year were very quick to vote for next year's event.
2) Most of the new interested parties are from the N/NE.

The thing is, with only 44 total votes, it is difficult to make a decision. So the only thing I have to say right now about location, is send in your vote. I have opened the voting to everyone regardless of mileage you are comfortable in travelling to compete. If you'd compete - then vote! Let us know even if you are only willing to drive 50 miles. Your vote could easily make the difference.

[XR7 Dave]

Let me break it down for you.

Basic costs:

Trophies $350
T-shirts $400
Food - $1200
Track - $1500-3000
Dyno - $800

Total - $4200-6000 est.

You can do the math in a variety of ways to see how many people it would take to make a viable event in some different locations.

Traditionally the shootout includes an informal get-together one evening, dyno and BS session the next day, and racing for one full day with a banquet and awards stuffed in there somewhere.

Because of the magnitude of the event and the fact that a lot of people travel pretty far to attend, it is essential that the event occur on the weekend. Track rentals are much easier to obtain on weekdays, but history has shown that Sunday is the best day to be on the track. To accomodate the greatest number of people, this seems to work the best.

[XR7 Dave]

So, back to location, here is what we are thinking about for next year.

As posted in a previous post, a location central to the greatest number of competitors looks to be in the Indiana/Ohio region and surrounding area. The north ends pretty abruptly with the Toronto and Minnesota guys, whereas support is spotty but healthy all the way to the south of Texas and Florida. This plays into selection of a location in that we would prefer to default slightly to the south rather than simply the middle of voting.

The east coast has not shown the kind of support we had hoped for in the voting. We have opened up the voting to include those who will not/can not travel as far to see if there is the desire there to at least participate if an event were held near the east coast.

We already know that the midwest has strong support but the numbers are just not strong enough to pull an entire event that direction. Perhaps with the new poll we will see some support growing in the west? I know the first shootout was very local with a lot of people popping out from nowhere in the ILL/KS/MO area. Are these people still out there? I'd like to know.

[Kurt K]

Originally Posted by XR7 Dave

Yellow - has attended all events to date

Hmm, only 5 of us that truely need to seek professional help

Oh well, I'll be there again unless something drastic happens.

[Ira R.]

What the hey. If 650 or so miles was the initial magic number, I hear Bristol is nice that time of year.

Ira

[Mike8675309]

One item that I wonder if limits participation is web communication only. Do we have a way to mail out anything about it to members that may not always be on the web?

That said, picking a location central to the core group is certainly wise.

[T@Sound-Xtreme]

Dave,

I see 2 things wrong, are those red dots supposed to represent the ppl that have paid the fee to vote for 2006 location? Becuase I dont see myself there.


#2 There needs to be a thread started with links to all the shootout 2006 info

and it needs to be stickyed to every damn page on the forum, in big text, so that it stands out at ppl. Now to those of us that know where to look it might seem annoying, but think about all the ppl that dont come here often, and only post when they need help. They would see that, and potentally get on board with the shootout 2006, now that they know about it.


Does that make sense to you guys?


Tyler

[trife86]

I would only drive about 150miles out myself, There is no other locals that i know of if there was i wouldnt mind doing a 500mile "caravan drive " with like 3+ other sc's

[XR7 Dave]

I know that there are several people from the NY area who are planning to attend. Ira Robinson is one, Dave Ward is another, Mike Irving is another, Jim Oneill is coming, add Brian Oatway, and then Ken Seegers always attends. No excuses mang!

[XR7 Dave]

Originally Posted by T@Sound-Xtreme

Dave,

I see 2 things wrong, are those red dots supposed to represent the ppl that have paid the fee to vote for 2006 location? Becuase I dont see myself there.


#2 There needs to be a thread started with links to all the shootout 2006 info

and it needs to be stickyed to every damn page on the forum, in big text, so that it stands out at ppl. Now to those of us that know where to look it might seem annoying, but think about all the ppl that dont come here often, and only post when they need help. They would see that, and potentally get on board with the shootout 2006, now that they know about it.


Does that make sense to you guys?


Tyler

Tyler, your vote is noted by the aqua dot. I made a mistake on the color and have now changed it to red on my map.

I didn't want to be obnoxious about the Shootout. Sometimes I think people get tired of hearing me post about it. Thanks though for starting a thread on your own! It shows spirit and that's what its all about. The more members who get personally involved the better.

Also, history has shown that sticky posts are the first ones to get ignored so I haven't pushed for that.

[seawalkersee]

White car is up...You name the place and post it...I will start getting vacation for next year. MAYBE I WILL EVEN HAVE A TOW RIG AND BRING THE RED CAR...It is an SC event ya know...

On a different note, Have you tried to contact Sir Will on TCCoA or is that bad ju ju here? He was unhappy cause he planned some event last year (maybe 2) that hardly anyone showed up to. Also, he is trying to pimp the new turbo on his car. Can you say SPONSOR...Seriously, what do ya think?

Chris

[Kurt K]

Originally Posted by seawalkersee

MAYBE I WILL EVEN HAVE A TOW RIG AND BRING THE RED CAR...It is an SC event ya know...

Chris

Next time, try to bring a tow vehicle that doesn't need to be wrenched on all weekend.