Steve, you have said it very well. F500 will never be a feeder class. The top karting guys with any $$$ jump to something that gets them PR.
Thanks ... Jay Novak -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve K. Thompson Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 8:29 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [F500] racing car counts I'm probably going to get flamed like there's no tomorrow for this but, FWIW, I think the karting magazines may not be the best place for the majority of the advertising effort, although any effort is better than none. I think most serious karters, especially those looking to make money in racing which is pretty much most of them, would view F500 as a sidestep at best. F500 really does not offer a lot of value on the racing ladder. Which is not to say it is not the best bang for the buck competition-wise (if the fields were anywhere near the size they should be). Reasons why F500 is not on the 'ladder'. 1. Suspension. Generally those looking to progress from karting into larger formulae are heavy on car control, racecraft and aggression and light on car setup knowledge. Rubber pucks and 4 link suspensions have very little application on the higher rungs on the racing ladder. And I think the old Minardi cars used pivot torque for damping but they were about the only ones. 2. Solid Axle. Not too much more to say about this one except for the fact that you don't see a whole lot of them in formula racing. 3. Transmission. Many 'serious' racers think shifting makes a car faster and is necessary to bond with the car. We know it's more of a barrier to going fast but that's not the general opinion. Either way it is an essential skill for racing in the higher formulas, if not at the highest levels. Gearing is a very important aspect of car setup that F500 also has little application to. Not too many other race cars on the planet worry about clutch weights or what helix is in the secondary. 4. Engine. 2 stroke. Not that that's bad or should be a downside but it doesn't have much application at other levels. It's for these reasons I don't think we should present ourselves as a ladder formula. There isn't much for a karter to learn that will apply later on. I do think we should present ourselves as what we are, the best mixture of speed, simplicity, reliability and cost. We'll get a lot more response from more recreation oriented magazines like Grass Roots motorsports. We can offer the purity of response of a formula car and the speed of a FF for the price of an IT car. A decent FF engine costs 6-10k and a decent FC engine is about 12-14k complete. We cost 2k. And a lot of the national FC crowd are sending their heads out between races to be freshened. These are the major advantages of F500 and the reason most of us are probably racing it. If we wanted to be part of the ladder we would probably need to address changing some of the major aspects of the formula. Springs, shocks and A/R bars would be a good start but that's probably another discussion. How about this for a slogan? "F500: A complete car that eats FFs for less than the price of their engines"? CarbonX on. Steve > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:f500- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe Palmer > Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 9:52 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [F500] racing car counts > > > Marshall and list, > > I think the Karting rags idea is a very good one and agree that it might > be > the best audience, or at least one of the best, for us to reach out to. > I've added it to my "project list" for next steps once we've nailed down > our > "message", slogan, etc. . . . which is coming along slowly since I've only > received about three from the list. C'mon guys & gals, let's see your > creativity . . . send me some slogans. I'll have a list out in about a > week > for a vote. > > I also think Mr. Schultz's comments about "Not Waiting" for the F5 > community > on some of this stuff is spot-on! Kinda goes along with my "Just Do It" > motto . . . write some articles and send 'em out to ALL the rags we've > mentioned in this thread (I have, but no "takers" yet)! Reach out to the > Karters in your area, talk to the other SCCAers who are struggling with > budget, do whatever it takes to further your own cause and that of our > class! > > Obviously, we all don't have the experience, depth, contacts, know-how, > and > drive of Schultz Racing. But we all have more than the Karters or other > interested parties who know next to nothing about our cars/class. If > every > one of us made it a goal to promote our class in at least one way over the > next year, I think we'd easily solve our problem and jump way up Stan's > list. > > Shiny Side Up, > Joe Palmer > TX Novakar #56 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 7:49 AM > Subject: Re: [F500] racing car counts > > > > > > GRM might reach a lot of potential racers, but I'd bet that the vast > > majority of their readership is tin-top drivers who are doing Solo II. > They will > > NOT understand the difference between SM and F500 at a relatively > similar > > apparent cost. (Note that I said 'apparent' - this is about > perception, > not > > reality.) This might get a few guys to come out and kick tires, but I > wouldn't > > bet the future of F500 on the GRM readers who have been reading > articles > > focused on semi-race-prepped Miatas, spitfires, RX7s, and BMWs. > > > > What about the karting mags? If you're interested in reaching young > karters > > looking for their next step, then you need to advertise in the > publications > > that they read. These seem to be fairly accessible, as well. > > > > Also, what about 'Road & Track' or 'AutoWeek'? Their readership is > made > up > > of frustrated street car polishers and wannabes......seems like fertile > > ground to me. > > > > IMNSHO, growth of an entry-level class needs to come from people who are > > currently sitting on the couch or competing in 'lower formulae', i.e. > karts, not > > those who are already SCCA competitors doing something different. > > > > Thoughts? > > > > MM > > > > In a message dated 7/24/2006 5:24:06 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > > <<<Heck, put this ad not just in GRM, but in the snowmobile rags too. > > There's > > a source of new blood! > > > > Gene near Seattle > > > > > > On 7/23/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Since our cars are snowmobiles on wheels, how about an ad with a > picture > > > of a guy fully suited on a snowmobile during the summer. Caption the > > > picture "What did you do this summer?". Below that, run a picture of > a > > > F500 on the track captioned F500.ORG. >>> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > F500 mailing list - [email protected] > > To unsubscribe or change options please visit: > > http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 > > *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** > > _______________________________________________ > F500 mailing list - [email protected] > To unsubscribe or change options please visit: > http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 > *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! *** _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
