So since Mark jumped right in in the SOW event thread I figured we probably should give it its own discussion so others know its going on.

Quickly recapping some of the points raised at the track and by Mark in the other thread:

• Fewer events to hopefully get critical mass attendance (best 6 finishes out of 8?)
• Branded door numbers (I would happily buy a set)
• Changing to FTD of 2 and 3 so we can actually do an awards ceremony while everyone is still there (will encourage face time with new drivers
• TT format if possible

We have a pretty good core group but we need new drivers entering the series as some of the veterans move on to other things.


EDIT:

We are doing branded number plates. Reply to the thread with your number and ill update you here:

Ryan: 70
Marc G: 277
Elders: 20
Lara: 8
Takchi: 7
Amir: 9
Fabian: 36
tkwon4755: 523
bullwings: 328
ddes: 999
kvnchu: 888 or 24 if that's taken
Fernando: 41
Ringer: 14
Chris Gau: 290
Ted Park: 86
AJ: 113

EDIT2: Schedule is official

Sat, January 24, 2015 Buttonwillow 13CW
Sun, February 22, 2015 ACS
Sat, March 28, 2015 Chuckwalla
Sun, April 12, 2015 Buttonwillow 13CW
Sat, May 23, 2015 Big Willow
Sat, July 11, 2015 Streets of Willow
Sun, August 9, 2015 ACS
Sun, September 20, 2015 Buttonwillow non 13
Sat, October 17, 2015 Buttonwillow 13CW
Sun, November 22, 2015 Chuckwalla
Sat, December 5, 2015 Streets of Willow

EDIT2:

OK guys heres the final info for the door numbers. Sine the sponsor dance was looking to take forever we are moving forward without sponsors on the doors (good news you can use the door numbers for multiple years this way)

For those participating at Autoclub, your payment cutoff will be Wednesday, pay before that and the numbers will be waiting for you at the track. If you miss the cutoff or want them shipped add $5 for shipping

Send paypal to payment@jaycomservices.com
Stuff to include with payment:
Your name
Desired number
Format (narrow or wide)
Shipping address (only if not picking up)

(not providing all 3 of these pieces of info will likely result in not getting what you wanted)

Here is the final mock:


They are $30 a pair for narrow, $40 a pair for wide.

 

No rule changes for 2015 right? I like the ideas above - only real suggestion I have is schedule the days so they don't fall on the same dates as EVERY other challenge. It is annoying and no one gets clean track time.

Cost of entry is somewhat a barrier too. Most of the S2000 guys are paying less than $100 to just do the VTEC club. Maybe that needs to be addressed too? It wouldn't make sense if you only need to spend <400 to compete in a "season" there whereas 6 events with SV easily runs close to $1000. I know we give free timing but so do the other guys. If Aaron is going to pack the shit out of his days with the same number of cars (sometimes more) then I don't understand why he is charging a premium - could just be me.

I do think we have superior ruleset and competition. That much can't really be argued against. But the people tracking these cars are a younger crowd and I'm only recently starting to see that. Most of the older guys have moved onto W2W etc.

 

It doesn't seem like there need to be any rule changes according to everyone else Ive talked to. Competition is pretty level and nobody seems to need policing (except Ringer but short of making him drive with one hand taped behind his back I'm not sure whats to be done there )

Honestly I've run with other clubs and the experience with SV is far superior. The day runs clean, on schedule and there are no hidden costs etc. If there is an incident they get the day back on schedule quickly. Ive found that alone seems to be worth the price of admission.

I also agree that as the cost of used S2000's comes down so does the age of the competitors and younger competitors are more cost-concious of their entry fees but if the market will bear what SV is charging right now there's little business case to be made to offer deep discounts. I think perhaps pre-paying might be the only option there. Keep in mind that when you run with the cheaper clubs, they often can hit those price points by sacrificing other services (cutting down out on fire and rescue, fewer workers, charging for towing disabled cars etc).

Agreed on the concurrence with other challenge events. Sometimes there's nothing to be done. Everyone wants BW13 in April, so sometimes you have to play with others.

 

I think the Branded Door number is an excellent idea.... Having a uniformed numbering system will give the series higher visibility on track (and its cool!). It should have 'speedventures' and 's2k challenge' text above and under the numbers. This need not be fancy, just a colored print out that we can tape on will do!

The pricing while relatively steep is worth the price of admission in my opinion because things are run just better compared to others. I am with Ameer on the scheduling of multiple challenges. I hope that does not happen too much this upcoming season

 

I definitely want to participate in S2k Challenge next year. It has been like a 3 year hiatus of not quite driving very much. Either way, I'm already stuffed into Mod just because of the non-stag wheels/tires, coilovers, and CR body...

 

I'll take fault for the write ups. I didn't get to chuckwalla with work and the short time to the streets event.

I agree with Marc and Ryan about making it more of an experience. Announcements, award ceremonies and better marketing. I believe we can post to the FB page as well to drive more people to the events.

Schedule wise I agree on limiting the number of challenges on our event days. This years schedule was set to keep us off the corvette challenge days. Apparently the bmw FF and miata guys all had the same idea.

Good ideas so far. Anyone new want to chime in and give your perspective of the series and or what keeps you from signing up? I'd like to hear from anyone new as to what they want to see. The tenured guys kind of have a feel for what we want but chime in also.

 

I think all the series sponsors need to get space on the door numbers. That will both increase the marketability of the event to potential sponsors and hopefully entice new participants by showcasing that there is actually stuff to win.

Here is a vinyl door number from an event I did a few months ago. All the event sponsors had real estate on it.


So in our case Megan racing would be the title sponsor, and it would be the Megan Racing S2K challenge, hosted by speedventures <insert logo explosion here>.


I would honestly be game to buy a magnetic panel I could use all season (id probably use it at other events as well due to laziness, and hey free advertizing!). Jay, the guy that runs the SV autoX events, also does door numbers in magnets and vinyl.

http://www.jaycomvinyl.com/

 

I'm all down for all of that. While I'd like a cheaper price point, I agree that Aaron runs a pretty tight ship. I like the pacing of the events, and for the most part I'm able to make it so I can get in at least 3-4 clean laps, which is really the window for street tires anyway.

Probably the biggest thing for me is not having our competition days schedule on the same day as all the other competitions. Maybe scheduled with one of the other ones, but that's it.

My favorite track is also the worst for competition scheduling. Chuckwalla CW in March is terrible. You have HFF, Miata/super miata + w2w race, bimmer challenge, pony car, corvette boys, and SV challenge all rolled into the same weekend/day.

Anyway, here's to hoping i make it out to more than 1 even next year...

 

Yep I am down to do/pay this magnetic thing... I think we should try to get the core guys to do this

 

^^^ I'm down to buy a set of numbers and do that. I'd actually much prefer it to the blue tape that I run.