most karters (@ least in the southeast) are oval racers & when they move up, they're going to legend cars & baby grands - winning cars are buyable @ $8-$12k - you can run them anywhere in the usa every week for a $25-$35 dollar entry fee - even win some money - no driving school - no license - absolutely bulletproof - why would anyone but a dyedinthewool road racer choose F500 over a legend or baby grand? .................davidwilson
> I disagree, there's plenty of families that have spend good money > chasing a kart series, who could spend just as much doing F500. > There's no TV coverage for any of the kart series that I know of, > at least there is for the F500 at the run offs. OK dare I say it, > there's probably the best TV coverage and PR for the buck would > be......Spec Miata. > Again, if we could establish a conduit from karting directly into > F500, then you would lots of karter's coming in. Besides, in order > to jump start the class, you need young meat... > > Chris R. > > Jay Novak wrote: > 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:f500- > [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: >> To: >> 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: >>> >>> >>> There's >>> a source of new blood! >>> >>> Gene near Seattle >>> >>> >>> On 7/23/06, [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! ** > * > > > --------------------------------- > Talk is cheap. 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