Looks like World Formula said good by to LAKC. Don't know what to think. We wish to guys well. We will vote on it tomorrow but I think we should just remove it from our line up.

Chris,

Thats not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps the WF guys have all chosen to race with Tri-C/Epik.

1. That will make their class better and more competitive with them all in one place.

2. It will help one group out by increasing their entry totals.

3. It will help the other group out by eliminating a race group, thereby bettering the experience for the other groups.


Congrats to LAKC for a great raceday. Even with the rain delay, you managed to get the day finished by 5pm. Only a few classes had their laps cut as well.

See you in March.


A

P.S. Remember that GATORZ is coming to CalSpeed next month. If you Rotax racers are needing your racing fix in 5 weeks, come on out and race!

Yes you are correct to a point. I guess it sucks that they asked for us to make room for them a few years back and we did. They wanted us to step up our tech so we did. They wanted a master’s weight class added and we did. Then a club that just started offering the class last year I think comes to the same track as us, offering the same class and well looks like they moved on. I guess that’s what happens when three clubs share the same turf. Yea Yea I know look at us with all the numbers we can afford to loose a few. Not really. Tell you what worries me Andy. We had 139 entries this race and 163 same dates last year, 176 the year before; at this rate we will see a steady decline for the rest of the season. We need about 110 to break even. We had 32 non-member entries last weekend. They where almost all Pro-Kart guys. If they don't come back and we drop to 100 average you will see us have to cut back the Go-racing ad, staff and so on. All of this most likely because we are "helping one group out". I think its something to worry about. You remember the all mighty Tri-C days at Moran. Well we remember the days when those red and white barriers you see at Calspeed were the only collateral we had to get a few races at CalSpeed. Our days of big numbers are numbered that should worry us all. We will have to see how many others had to choose one club or the other.

Chris, as I said in my message to you, we are grateful that you integrated World Formula in to the Club in mid-2007. I do remember there was already a 4-Cycle class running at the time, with 2 entrants each month. By the beginning of the next season, LAKC was THE place to race World Formula.

We had a good core group built up coming into 2009, and there is no single reason that went away. Two of them have retired from karting. Two others have moved to 2-Cycle classes. One was hit by a car and could not continue to race. And at least one other (probably more) was a victim of the Great Recession.

So that left two of us who were ready to race in January. As Andy said, I didn't see anybody being very happy with Tim and I coming out to use up 40 minutes of LAKC's day with us just racing each-other.

I get the feeling that there is some idea we're choosing sides in some type of battle here, and that is not the case. In the end, we're just trying to race and have fun. We are more than willing to support LAKC, but we race World Formula, and if there are no other World Formulas to race, what can we do?

We appreciate the quality show your Club puts on, and as I said in my message to you, I will come back and race another class. But to show up with 2 World Formulas I don't think will make anybody happy.

Hey Chris in all the class is just getting smaller. After many found out i wasn't running there they all pulled out. Even within my team many of them went to 2-cycle. Any way Chris give me a call.

Thanks, Gabbie

A few observations...

1. Entries - Perhaps they were lower this year because there was not the IKF Region 7 opener a few weeks later at CalSpeed, as in years' past.

2. LAKC WF - I remember urging LAKC to offer this class for the 2008 season and assured them that it would be a hit ... and it was. It was also the largest senior class at IKF Region 7 for the first few races that year. However, as the numbers grew, so did the disparity in the field and many felt that tech was not thorough enough (both at LAKC and IKF) and this lead to several of our customers moving away from WF.

3. PRD Intro - When the PRD came on the scene about a year ago it essentially eclipsed the WF. PRD was the new "big number" senior class at IKF. Plus, with its' low cost, it was a more attractive engine to most than the WF (2-cycle, water cooled, and "racy" sound). The PRD quickly became the economical alternative to TaG, Rotax, and Shifter guys looking to stay in karting, but reduce their budget.

4. EP1K/Tri-C WF - Both of these clubs offered WF last year. EP1K averaged 7 entries, while Tri-C had 4. I don't know what LAKC's average was, but I know WF and 4-cycle in general is not a high-volume class on the West coast.

I'm with Andy on this one, the healthiest thing for all clubs and series is to carve out a niche of classes. There will always be overlap among the popular or limited classes (i.e. Kid Kart, Junior 1), but each group should focus on a core of classes and excel at those. I'm sure everyone remembers the days when a club offered 15 classes with 180 entries - long days, limited track time, and famine for all the others...

At So-Cal Sprinters, in Aug 2008, They had:
Jr Wf 11 karts
Sr Wf 7 karts
Sr Wf Heavy 5 karts
Total 23 karts

Aug 2009, They had:
Jr Wf 3 karts
Sr Wf 2 karts
Sr Wf heavy 0 karts
Total 5 karts

Draw your own conclusions.

See it is affecting all clubs these days theway to go is not four stroke. I hate to see it because it is a great class and is a whole lot of fun.

The latest word is if you own a shifter come race at LAKC. Lets see this class grow like no other. See you shifter guys at the next race. We have a real big deal in the making. Stay tuned.