Having a weekend over a one day event is always nice for me personally because I don't live closer than four hours to any track. I've been here over ten years now and I've made the trip to VIR many times for a sole VIR North Monday (both with NESBA and Cornerspeed). I think having a two day or three day event would be nice, but the truth is there are a lot of riders who show up for VIR North Monday that aren't there for South if we have that over the weekend.
Has anybody ever noticed the number of people showing up in the paddock at North at 6:30 on Monday morning, or even rolling in Sunday night? I'm not trying to diminish what you guys are saying, and we'll add some South stuff if it makes sense, but a one day at North is still going to draw a lot of people. We have a ton of riders who are local to the area. I could be wrong but having been in charge of handing out the wristbands for years I have a pretty good feel for this.
Mike, regarding Barber, when I first started CRing we had about six weekends a year at Barber. As the novelty wore off of the track we scaled back on events as attendance scaled back. We draw strong numbers in the spring and fall (and whoever said the weather is iffy then isn't familiar with central alabama weather), because it's still a destination racetrack for a lot of people. We have riders from all over the country at those events, but when the summer rolls around and there are other opportunities for people to ride in warm weather closer to home, they don't want to make that trip. Other organizations maybe have a stronger following in the Alabama area than we do, and can squeak by in the lean months by relying on those people. The truth is that the Barber trackday market is saturated IMO. You can go and ride motorcycles there twice a month, or more, if you want to. Barber is big bucks to rent, and we have to have a nearly full event just to cover the costs. That's no joke, for years we've held the line on pricing to attract people in the summer and it hasn't panned out.
That's just more evidence that, for now at least, the majority of people riding trackdays are doing it when their wants, and schedule coincide with an organization that is riding the track they are interested in, and price is secondary, because most people who are still riding trackdays are in good financial shape. The economy has forced most of the riders out of this sport. I'm taking a shot in the dark, but I'd say there are about 75% fewer riders participating in trackdays now than there were six or seven years ago. If you don't see yourself as I've just described that still doesn't make it any less true, because we are still talking about a lot of people.
I think people just don't understand how the economy has affected the track day scene. There is a pie of riders that is either stagnant, or possibly still shrinking. We'd like to have the majority of that pie loyal to NESBA and ride only with us, but truthfully the majority just want to ride when it's convenient for them.
If the economy starts booming again you'll see the trackday scene start picking back up. If you start hearing news reports that the motorcycle market is booming again you'll know that things are going to improve from the top to the bottom. Look at Moto GP, WSBK, AMA, the club scene, the trackday scene. Heck, Suzuki didn't even import motorcycles into the US for an entire year. This situation wasn't just a blip, it was a serious hit and there are still ripples. Unfortunately we are still bobbing up and down because of it.
I love the fact that there are 6 Road Atlanta dates and believe me, April can not get here fast enough to suit me. I can't make the March Barber events and November is just too damn long to wait. I DO NOT want to ride with any other track day org!!!!! Anyone else feel the same?
