No one has mentioned the GREEN.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Tom Suddard said:

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

To be frank: Telling everybody that one family of engineers and fabricators with 40+ years of drag racing experience builds 9-second cars is super cool, and helps promote the event.

FTFY.

I'd be interested to know the percentage of new Challengers over the years that has joined because of the quickest drag times.

I paid attention to the challenge because of the nova, not because of autox. That isn't my only focus anymore but it got me here. 

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

Tom Suddard said:

The influencers are a great idea, but unfortunately that goes back to the money problem. The event just can't support that kind of marketing expense in its current form. I get that it's a bit of a chicken or an egg situation, but being small means we don't have a big war chest to crack open for big risks.

 

Challenge the influencers to put up or shut up. They might come for free. Heck, try to get those guys that did Roadkill to come and do the drags to set a reference time. 
No, wait, that might be a bad idea for them since the Nelsons might hurt their sponsor's feelings.

I bet using the Nelson's against cleetus would go a long way. 

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Maybe this is the year to finish my super-secret build.

After all, I ain't gittin' any younger...

COUGAR said:

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Maybe this is the year to finish my super-secret build.

 

 

After all, I ain't gittin' any younger...

I'll say!

Dude, you're 121 years old... finish the build for crying out loud!! 

In reply to SV reX :

It ain't easy.   My powertrain choices keep changing over the... err, decades 


 Electric, Steam, Gasoline, now I'm thinking about electric again.

In reply to COOT :

Moon water. Why do you think Elon wants into space so bad?

Mndsm said:

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

Tom Suddard said:

The influencers are a great idea, but unfortunately that goes back to the money problem. The event just can't support that kind of marketing expense in its current form. I get that it's a bit of a chicken or an egg situation, but being small means we don't have a big war chest to crack open for big risks.

 

Challenge the influencers to put up or shut up. They might come for free. Heck, try to get those guys that did Roadkill to come and do the drags to set a reference time. 
No, wait, that might be a bad idea for them since the Nelsons might hurt their sponsor's feelings.

I bet using the Nelson's against cleetus would go a long way. 

A:  That's the sort of thinking I like.

B:  That's one of the problems with autocross, it's tough to point at a raw number and say "I can make the Kessel Run in 6 parsecs" and have it mean anything.   

In reply to KyAllroad :

That was part of what saddened me about the Don garlits thing from 2019. I know there was some sort of something that kept them running side by side. But big daddy comes down and runs a 10.1. Andy Nelson unloads the sunbird, and runs a 9.8 off the trailer, for less than that hellcat had in wheels and tires. In and of itself that was a helluva thing to watch. It would have been even better if he blew dons doors off for two grand. That's the type of E36 M3 that goes viral. 

And that's where cleetus comes in. Lsgeorge is running low 10s in a blazer that's easily triple the nelson budget. Cleetus has a whole ass manufacturing company he can use to make parts, or do it on the cheap. He also has the depth of connection that us mere mortals can't possibly compete with. And yet, he could be beaten, very easily. And something like THAT, that gets attention. 

The unfortunate reality is that if grm wants to continue the event as is, we all have to accept that the crowd isn't who we are used to identifying with. Guys like cleetus come with cleetus fans. And I know a lot of us just aren't into that concept. But, fans spend money, and money makes the world go round. If it turns into a once a year low buck grid life, that keeps it going. 

In reply to Mndsm :

The flip side is if it grows, it keeps going and the "regional" events that persons on the west coast and upper mid west have been clamoring for, could potentially be considered. It also means that tire manufacturers will consider the market and sizes and options to make decent rubber in. Popular brings dollars, dollars bring presence and a seat at the table. The key is to get the population to want to take part in what you're doing, instead of them thinking that outside manipulation is "fixing" it or "improving" it. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

You find a tire sponsor and I will buy the first set of tires from them for the next event.  This way you can make more money to keep the event at a very low cost compared to a regular track day event.  If anyone wants to run 200tw or less let them run exhibition until they use up their slicks or sell/ trade them.

In reply to KyAllroad :

I really expected more buzz after Big Daddy Don Garlits came to the Challenge and took a pass in a Hellcat Redeye and was beaten by Andrew Nelson in a $2000 car, but I never saw any. 

In reply to SV reX :

Idk of you were there or not, but it was really kinda lame if you didn't know what was going on. Don ran a couple runs, laid a 10.1. Andy (actually I think Calvin was driving) fired it up and put 3/10ths on him. In person, and knowing what we all knew, that's a thing. On the internet, that's one guy putting down 3/10ths on a hellcat with some extra sprinkles. The lack of side by side really killed it. 

In reply to Mndsm :

I was there. 
 

He still beat him. 

And actually, winning (or side by side video) wasn't my point. 
 

It's a Motorsports magazine, with a staff of really great writers at an event designed to generate editorial content. Where was the story?
 

We are making the case that drag racing improves the exposure of the Challenge. One of the greatest drag racers of all time shows up driving a modern miracle, and gets beat by a $2000 car. 
 

There should have been a story. And a LOT of buzz.

SV reX said:

There should have been a story. And a LOT of buzz.

Provided Dodge didn't have some sort of "no negative press" clause as paart of the visit.

SV reX said:

And actually, winning (or side by side video) wasn't my point. 
 

It's a Motorsports magazine, with a staff of really great writers at an event designed to generate editorial content. Where was the story?
 

We are making the case that drag racing improves the exposure of the Challenge. One of the greatest drag racers of all time shows up driving a modern miracle, and gets beat by a $2000 car. 
 

There should have been a story. And a LOT of buzz.

This is very very true

Also for going to talk about the availability of takeoffs. I was over 700 miles away from the challenge this year, and found RT660s stickers for sale in Gainesville for about 70% of online pricing, provided the host hotel information and also shared the link with a competitor at the challenge resulting in that person purchasing the tires and having them delivered to the hotel.

And no they were not driving my vehicle. They were also not aware that the event took place in their hometown and thought the hotel parking lot experience was completely awesome. 

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

SV reX said:

There should have been a story. And a LOT of buzz.

Provided Dodge didn't have some sort of "no negative press" clause as paart of the visit.

Then don't send the car. Or don't identify it in the story. 
 

There was a big story there, and a lot of potential for exposure. It didn't happen. 
 

There may be reasons I don't understand, and that's fine. I don't have to know everything. But it kills the case for "drag racing increases exposure for the event". 
 

When I explain the Challenge to the average person they don't know what autocross is but they understand 1/4 mile drag racing.  I often use the Nelsons as an example of what the pointy end of the stick looks like.  I also explain that this years winner ran a 13 second 1/4 mile because they did great in the autocross.

Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

Also for going to talk about the availability of takeoffs. I was over 700 miles away from the challenge this year, and found RT660s stickers for sale in Gainesville for about 70% of online pricing, provided the host hotel information and also shared the link with a competitor at the challenge resulting in that person purchasing the tires and having them delivered to the hotel.

And no they were not driving my vehicle. They were also not aware that the event took place in their hometown and thought the hotel parking lot experience was completely awesome. 

 

Thanks for that BTW, the tires will certainly get used for autocrossy stuff this year.   

In reply to Stampie :

I use the Nelsons as an example too. And yes, autocrossing is hard to explain.

In 2004, the Nelsons had never been there (that was their first year). 75 cars showed up. 
 

If we are taking about attendance, there is no doubt something has changed. But they figured out how to market the event before drag racing was the feature aspect. 
 

Andrew Nelson single handedly took the portion of the event that was essentially overlooked and made it matter. That's huge. 
 

But attendance is down. 
 

I am stoked to see GRM trying to build up the attendance. I don't see any evidence that treadwear will produce that.  And it won't make it easier to describe to newbies. 

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

There are 15x6" Europa options

Not exactly a Challenge budget friendly solution for machinenbau's problem though.

I've never be able to afford to race, and I'm not a legislation kinda guy. 
The appeal of the challenge is CHEAP racing. Despite some stuff being excluded from the budget, if ya still gotta spend it to at least be in top half, I don't see as it meets the intent of the challenge 

Rules and legislation on how to keep it cheap, up attendance, and make it profitable  for a magazine, are way beyond me!

Make the Challenge wheel-to-wheel circuit racing and you'll have another 40-50 entires immediately  

cruisermatt said:

Make the Challenge wheel-to-wheel circuit racing and you'll have another 40-50 entires immediately  

Did frenchyd get a new name?

My neighbor gave me a bottle of wine for Christmas so blame this thought on her.  How about a monetary exclusion for tires?  For example your first $400 in tires is budget exempt.  That'll let the slick guys have their tires but used of course.  By not limiting it to just four tires it'll let those that bring 6 tires to spread it over both drags and autocross.  It'll also avoid the yeah it's a $2000 car with $1400 in tires conversation.  I do agree that the rules should be for future not this year to help those that already have money tied up in purple crack.