Nationals thought...

[Sean Augustine]

What would be the upside/downside of having a combined PRO/Mod/Stock nationals in DePue in the near future?

I'm not trying to just stir the pot - I would like to see what the logistic reality of this is?

[David_L6]

Run 1 heat of each of the stocks first, then all the mod classes, then the PROs, and then the second heat of all the stocks. That takes care of getting turn judges! :cool:

:D :D :D

[sam]

It would provide me an incentive to set up an alky rig and show up.

[HRTV]

Hey Sean I love the idea, this would be a huge event !

[Sean Augustine]

1. Is there enough room to have this event?

2. Would the USTS want to be the conducting club for the combined event?

3. Would there be enough time to have blow-out days, etc.?

4. What would be the first open year to have this?

My thoughts:

OSY400 and CSH would see entry numbers not seen in years.

There seems to be a lot of teams (particularly on the west coast) that run in both the stock and PRO categories.

This is closer to a centrally located site than many of the others.

A lot of teams would not have to choose which nationals they go to.

Could Diane Murray or David Weaver chime in on this?

Thanks,
Sean

[jeff55v]

Depue is only an hour's drive from me, so I'd be there! It would be cool to be a part of such a big event!

It would be awesome to be able to mingle with the PRO guys.
(usually I have to stand on the OTHER side of the orange tape.)

How long would the event last? One week?

I doubt any nearby towns have enough hotel rooms for everyone who needed them. Depue is kinda next to B.F.E. So there might be some complaints from guys who have to drive a somewhat long distance just to get to a hotel for each night.

[David_L6]

St. Louis.

[Eric Engler]

Just pay some of retired racers to work the event.:p

[Dave M]

I don't think with current pit regulations the city of Depue has on the pit area it that it could support that many trailers. Even with the restrictions lifted, it might be hard for everyone to be near the water and not have to cart a 1/2 mile to a launch area.

Any other thoughts on this ?

My suggestion, Zanesville OH. There seems to be enough pit area to have a World everyone comes type race there. Course, not bad if Mr. Stotts lays it out. Can be tricky if not right as it leaves a dog leg.

[Tim Small]

One big problem would be that the Depue Mens club spends all year making the PRO NATIONALS a huge event for the surrounding area. They get in excess of 50,000 people for the 3 day event once ayear. Other categories race during the year at Depue with no spectators. The nearby towns love the PRO BOATS AND THE SPEED. Last year the PRO NATIONALS had over 220 entries and takes 3 days to run. Include MOD AND STOCK and you would be there for 8 to 10 days. As far as the TITLE SERIESputting on the event, dont hold your breath. Depue has signed to be the host of the Pro Ntionals thru 2008. I am somewhat worried that everyone is starting to use Lake Depue for other events. I know the site does not belong to the pro category, but the heritage of pro racing goes back to the 1930s at Depue. It is the only town in AMERICA whose town symbol on the welcome sign is a PRO 250 RUNABOUT. Many people in the pro division are worried about the lake getting overused.

[Haüenstein]

Yeah, that would be huge.

I see how this could worry the PRO side, since they put on a tight show and have a good thing going. There haven't been many spectators for the Stock events I've been to at Depue... which means both that the interest isn't the same as for the PRO races and that maybe this means the area doesn't get burned out on boat racing as I've heard happening when multiple events are put on at the same site during the same year.

On the plus side, PRO would probably pick up some new members from a combined supernationals.

I could see this working if the PRO race is run the way it is every year, and the Stock/Mod/J nationals lead up to it from the previous weekend. USTS could run their event and another club (BSOA/MRC/IOA/Michigan clubs?) could run the first half. This -- and hopefully a low water level -- could make up for some of the pitting issues. Also a little bit of the hotel issues.

I personally have enjoyed the site rotation of the Stock Nat'ls and the fact that multiple local clubs share the year-to-year duties of putting on the event (which is different from the way the USTS is set up, to the extent that I know it). It would be huge, though, even if it's just a one-off production. 2007 is the first possible year, I think, from the Stock side.

[Jeff Lytle]

What about Dayton ??

[Sean Augustine]

I think this is a good idea for the future - my first thought was DePue because of the long term commitment that the USTS has with the city. I think there are other options for venues but I doubt the PRO nationals will be anywhere but DePue for the forseeable future.

So, what are the other options? Could we have a race which lasted 3-4 days which combined all categories?

Dave Mason mentioned Zanesville - huge pit area - nice course - nice cabins. When they had the NA championships in 350cch, around 1996, they had between 25 - 30 entries in that class alone! And, this was a combined event.

My personal slant is this: I grew up in a PRO family but I race stock. I used to go to a lot of USTS races when OSY400 was on the schedule (sometimes Pop would even throw me in a PRO boat when there was enough stuff left over).

Now, it's hard to attend the races where I run CSH and still have time to go to a USTS event as a spectator. So, consequently, I miss out on seeing a great bunch of people who happen to run in a different category.

Anyhow, region four always has some PRO stuff on our schedule - all of you PRO guys are cordially invited (my dad will even buy you a beer).

Think about this idea. If not the nationals, then some other event lasting more than a weekend.

Thanks again,
Sean

[fitsracing]

Originally posted by Sean Augustine
What would be the upside/downside of having a combined PRO/Mod/Stock nationals in DePue in the near future?

I'm not trying to just stir the pot - I would like to see what the logistic reality of this is?

Sean

Several years ago while I was on the Mod Commission I asked one of the Pro Commisioners to inquire to the commission about a combined Pro-Mod Nationals, This was after the year the Mod and Stock guys split.

My thinking was central location and noise consideration and if the course could accomadate the pros with thier speed there would be no problem with the mods.

At the time there was no favorable feed back from the pro commission.

I think it could be a good idea still.

Doesn't AOF hold a race in Depue now?

[niesenracing]

50,000 people come on live like 10 min's away they just say that that is more than live within 20 miles if there and even if u figured it out thats 16,000 people a day that place aint that big ray likes to exaggerate alittle also i dont believe you could even get all of those trailers back in the pits even if you go on the other side of the ramp like they used to
Steve