2010 Schedule - 1st Half

[billcox]

The 1st Half of the SDKA 2010 Schedule is set:
January 31 - Apex Raceway (joint race with PAK); free practice and overnight camping for SDKA members on Saturday 1/30
February 21 - Qualcomm West
March 21 - Qualcomm SE or NE (TBD)
April 18 - Qualcomm NE - Used Tire Race
June 13 - Qualcomm West

Classes will be the same as 2009; watch the web site for any technical updates:
Kids Karts
Junior 1
HPV1
HPV2
HPV4
Formula YC Heavy
Senior Super Sportsman
TaG Senior
Tag Masters
Stock 125cc Shifter Light (SKUSA S1, S2, S3; 385 lbs.)
Stock 125cc Shifter Heavy (SKUSA S4; 415 lbs.)
Stock 125cc Shifter Magnum (SKUSA S4; 440 lbs.)
Open 125cc Shifter (SKUSA G1)
80cc Shifter (SKUSA K1)

Shifters: Air Filters are allowed; Silencer is open (the 14" with turn-down tip is no longer required).

Watch the web site for updates.

Get ready for the January race at Apex. The free day of practice is a gift to SDKA members from Dave DiMond at Apex. It will be a great way to prepare for the 2010 season.

[chefcharles]

Are we going to try to get a race in May.

[billcox]

There is no May race scheduled.

The Board wants to keep the number of races to 8-10 for the year; driven by costs and participation. We will spread the remaining 3-5 races in July-November; but must wait until the June Stadium Scheduling Meeting. We hope to have a second joint race at Apex in the fall.

In 2009 we suffered financial losses in all but two of the eleven races held at Qualcomm; an average loss of $450 per event. One that showed a profit was the joint race with ProKart (we didn't make their schedule in 2010).

We had an average attendance of 39 drivers and 49 spectator/pit insurance bands. Our breakeven is 49 drivers. Costs to conduct an event at Qualcomm are fixed.

With these realities, the Board has raised the entry fee $5 to $75/driver; kept Kids Karts at $45. The cost for annual membership remains the same: racer $75; non-racer $20; family $100.

We must find ways to increase attendance, or SDKA won't last but a few more years. We cannot continue losing revenue at every event. Eventually, the well runs dry.

What can the members do? Faithfully participate at every race; invite a friend to race with SDKA; invite a friend to drive your kart during the lunch break...generate interest.

[billcox]

In the previous post I omitted that the non-member race fee was also increased $5 to $90. My apologies for any confusion.

[ebr]

is the jan 31 race at apex a points race?

[jah67]

I went to every Cajon Speedway race since 1980. My family raced there till the end and got 30 years 100% participation ( Consecutive). Back in the early 80's Cajon used to display the cars at Parkway Plaza for a week. On Saturday and Sunday they would have drivers show up and sign Autographs. I took my Karts to the El Cajon Summer Nights car show 4 times and the kids ( who are the drivers) loved it. As a club we need to get together and talk about Community Awareness. We need to go out and get the community involved and aware of San Diego Karting. What that would do is get Spectators, ever Spectator is an eventual new karter. I have time to help as I work in construction and laid off,,,,, but that is allot for just one person.... so ANYONE GOT ANY IDEAS???

[billcox]

ebr: It's a points race. We're attempting joint races to share race-day expenses for the benefit of both clubs.

jah67: SDKA holds monthly general meetings on the 2nd Wednesday each month at Coco's Restaurant, 5955 Balboa Ave. (one block east of Genesee; a mile west of I-805). The SDKA Board of Directors meet immediately following the general members. Meetings are open to members and non-members alike and attendance is encouraged. Meetings begin at 6PM. It takes people with a passion to step forward as champions to make ideas like yours happen. The Board alone can't do it. Back in your day, SDKA had 100 drivers on a race day; close to 100 members. Without a permanent track for practice, our numbers go north to LA to race.

[elbertthompson]

Just registered and would like to thank the SDKA for the S4Magnum class.

Special Thanks to Jeff Shadoan for keeping me up to date of the progress for the S4 Magnum class.

+1 for SDKA 2010 Membership

Attachments:

[dezertracer]

Jah67 is right. Without getting the word out SDKA will slowly fade away. Several years back when SDKA was still racing at Cajon Speedway I had gone out and watch a few races. I got interested enough to get very serious and was going to buy a kart. At the time I was racing the Score International Off-Road Series and was looking to race something close to home and affordable that I could race when not racing off-road. I thought Karting could be that form of racing. I got very close to buying a Rotax Kart from Acceleration Karting in Las Vegas when I was there for an off-road race.

But before I spent my money I wanted to know where SDKA was going to be once Cajon closed. When SDKA could only come up with Qualcomm Stadium parking lot racing, I had to step back as I did not think spending $4K on a Kart was a wise investment, as I felt this type of racing could not keep SDKA alive for long. (I am glad I was wrong!)But just because SDKA has survived does not meen they have grown. As it was pointed out SDKA has gone from 100 entries to 40 per weekend. And like Bill Cox stated SDKA cant keep losing money. SDKA's only way to stop this is to raise fee's. On paper this looks like it could help, but what if 5 racers feel the increase is more then they can afford or want to spend in this economy? Now you have lost $375 plus annual membership fees. How many North County racers have migrated to an LA series as they have actual Karting tracks? How many have just got out of Karting because of the lack of tracks in San Diego? How do you fix this? I dont know.

Just this year my nephew has been showing interest in racing. He loves Miramar Speedway and the first thought was SDKA. But with the small amount of entries, and with only the stadium being the San Diego location to race, we have looked else where for him to start racing. At this point it looks like he will be in a Trophy Kart (Off-Road Kart) By going this route he will be able to race against 20+ other racers at a few series & venues in San Diego and Lake Elsinore. Also this Kart can be used and raced in the desert too. So he will be able to learn and drive in many different locations. His seat time could be 5X as what it cold be in a Kart.

I would hate to see Karting and SDKA fade away as I would still love to get involved someday. What I think needs to happen is just what JAH67 mentioned. SDKA has to reach out and let people know your here. Why is it Miramar Speedway and K1 Speed can make a profit and continue to buy new equipment? Marketing! They are getting the word out. Maybe SDKA needs to work with Miramar Speedway & K1. Maybe have a SDKA party / Kart expo in the Miramar Speedway parking lot. Let Miramar customers know about SDKA. And in turn SDKA helps promote Miramar Speedway as this is where your next racers might come from. Give Miramar free advertising at your races. Can you imagine if 5% of Miramar's customers took a look at a SDKA race?

How is a parent suppose to know if there child will like Karting? Most will not drop $2K to see if there kid likes racing. But $40 at Miramar is affordable.

Maybe SDKA needs to find a Karting shop and work with them to put an affordable Kart rental program together for Newbie's to be able to come out and drive a real racing kart.

Also Parkway Plaza still has off-road and racing exhibits once or twice a year. Why is SDKA not there displaying a Kart and talking to interested prospects. During the summer both El Cajon and La Mesa have weekly car shows. Why is it SDKA is not displaying or promoting the series at these types of events? This would be a great place to promote and also try to get potential customers for kart rentals.

Also what would it take to make some of these Karts race on dirt? If it is a simple conversion then maybe have one event at Borona's dirt track. The ARCA series still has one race a year where they take there stock cars and they race on a dirt fair ground track.

I know all this takes a lot of work, but with some effort and with being creative SDKA can grow, but it will not happen by just sitting back and hoping it will happen. Try to find a title sponsor to support your series. Even if you give this title sponsor away for next to nothing the first year. If the company sponsoring your series see's a value they will come back. Also you use any money brought to the series to advertise and market SDKA. Because right now 1 out of 1000 people might know that there is a karting series in San Diego.

Being a racer, team owner and I help with marketing the MDR off-road series in Plaster City, I know about marketing and how tough, but realistic it is and how without bringing in companies to support your series it will not flourish.

I wish SDKA nothing but the best of luck and I hope all members will see what a great series they have, and how easy it could just all go away. Without SDKA San Diego racers will not have a local place to race and their equipment will be worth pennies on the dollar.

[jah67]

Thanks Desert,

I took my kids to 4 of the El cajon Carshows in El Cajon. i am going to check in and see about being more active. I am also talking with the Off Road deal at the Lakeside rodeo. Only problem is that 2 day show is during the 2nd race. Now I am forced with promoting or letting kids race.
I have an extra kart that I would be more than willing to rent out to let people try it out. SDKA also has a deal that they will let people run some laps during the lunch break. I am going to raffle tickets during this years El Cajon Carshow and see if it can help generate interest and also bring people to Karting. I am thinking on raffling tickest for $1.00 and the winner gets to do some laps during lunch. this has already been approved through SDKA. This will show how many people are interested and etc.
Bill I will goto Next wed. Meeting. to try to get more Ideas. the last thing i wanna see is SDKA go down. Together we can pull this off.... Thanks to everyone aas I wish everyone and happy new year and good luck racing in 2010

[mcbracer]

As a former racer at SDKA (actually, that's me at the top of the page by the SDKA logo!), and with the possibility of my son entering the sport this year, I would like to add to the thread of how to go about enticing new members.

Yes, SDKA has to generate public awareness and their are many ways to achieve this. But, if all that greets the public eye is a scruffy, oil stained, nose coned damaged, side pod scraped piece of junk, they will not be impressed! Motorcycle racers had a bad image, years ago, when the public saw them as black leathered, oily stained, long haired louts. That image was stripped away when the black leathers and banged up helmets were replaced by nice, brightly colored, race gear and well presented racing machines. The long hair remained!But look at MotoGP now! The same could be said for F1, of course. It's all about image.

So you need to get a hold of a couple of brand, spanking new karts (one adult class and one kids class) and put them on public display at as many locations and events as possible. I would think you could do a deal with a local kart dealer to loan you a couple of chassis. K1 Speed seems a pretty obvious place to start. They are CRG dealers, stock karting equipment and spares at their Carlsbad facility and produce their own line of race wear. K1 would not only benefit from on site advertising, for their indoor facility, but also from any new competitor going to them for their equipment needs, this further facilitated by the offer of a discount on their first purchase.

Now this is all well and good until the potential new racer/member turns up to check out a race meeting before putting out the dollars. He may have seen a nice, squeaky clean race kart and some nice brightly colored race suits at the display, but then he turns up and sees the complete opposite. Bye, bye then! Current members should be encouraged to keep their gear looking as respectable as possible. As an incentive, perhaps some kind of prize (hello again K1 Speed!) could be awarded, at each event, to the best presented kart and driver of the day? Image, remember. As a racer I always prided myself on our presentation and it did attract a couple of small sponsors to us because of it .... oh, and I did win a trophy at the end of my last season, for best presented kart!

IMAGE! That's a start.

Regards,
MCB

[Bill Walsh]

MCB

I agree with alot of what you say, but I think you have it wrong about the image of SDKA. To prove my point, I would like to tell you my story.

Last season was my first with SDKA. I came to the stadium and watched the second race of the 2009 season. The "image" I perceived was not oil stained and scruffy. If anything it was the complete opposite. I found everyone to be friendly & very patient with all the questions I asked. I met a club member that had a used kart for sale and I was off to the races. Nine races later and the 2009 season was over. My kart looked like an oil stained, nosed damaged, side pod scraped, piece of crap. But that kart finished every lap in every race.

We all know racing is expensive. So I have to race on a budget. New tires or new side pods? I'm taking the tires every time. Don't get me wrong, I would love to come to the track with a shiny new piece every time. I think the point is, just get to the track.
David Chong (SDKA 2009 Sportsman of the Year) got it right last year. Bring people to the track, put them in a kart and watch them have fun. That's the image I think SKDA has, people having fun.

So, since I got another kart for this season, I'm going to take that
old oil stained, nose cone damaged, side pod scraped, piece of junk to the track. Put friends and family in it, and watch them have fun. That is how I got hooked. Oh, and by the way, that oil stained, nosed damaged, side pod scraped, piece of crap won a class championship and took me to become 2009 Rookie of the Year. What's that saying, don't judge a book by the cover.

SDKA rocks!!! See you at the track.

[mcbracer]

Bill,

I'm glad you had a successful rookie season and totally agree with you that SDKA members are a friendly and helpful group. And yes, of course you can take a chassis which has seen better days and still win on it, oily and banged up or not. But .......

Cleaning up your kart does not cost anything! I managed to present my kart at each race without oil, dirt, rust or whatever else that may have settled on it. If a nose cone was damaged at the last race I at least did all I could to get it back in shape ... same with the side pods .. not just leaving it looking like crap! Besides, cleaning your equipment should be part of your racing ritual. If nothing else it could just help you spot a potential problem which may just put you out of the next race.

I'm sure you must agree, displaying a gleaming, brand new kart must be a better advertisement for SDKA than taking along a dirty, beat up one? Do you think a potential newbie, turning up at a race, would be more impressed by a bunch of colorful, well presented karts or a bunch of grungy, oily, beat up one's? For some it may matter not, but then to others, it may .... and those are the one's to be targeted.

I'm not saying everyone should be out there on a nice, brand new kart, or spending untold dollars on replacing bodywork every time you make contact. But at least go someway toward presenting a better image of the sport by taking better care of the equipment. When I was racing, my team mate and I always had people stopping by, looking over our karts and asking questions .... and they would always comment on how good they looked. I don't know if we helped someone decide they would join in the fun or not, but it couldn't have hurt and they at least went away with a positive image of the sport. And because of that we got ourselves a couple of sponsors!

Good luck in 2010!!

[don howard]

Michael,

Back when you were racing, and were lucky enough to have a sponsor, things were a LOT different. Think about it - we were racing at a couple of dedicated kart tracks - Amago and Cajon, we regularly hosted money-making IKF events, the economy was in vastly different circumstances……..and, we often had 80-100 drivers who had the wherewithal to show up and race.

While things have changed over the years - what has NOT changed about SDKA is what Bill mentioned in his comments……..Fun, Camaraderie, Safety and Competition are all hallmarks of a SDKA event. These fundamentals are what SDKA is about. Further, we do recognize kart presentation and appearance by a special award at the end of every season. What we don’t want to do, though, is discourage any driver from participating for any reason whatsoever.

This thread started due to discussions about how to attract additional drivers to SDKA. We also need to continue to recognize the core of loyal SDKA members. There are many current drivers who are stretching their budgets and discretionary spending trying to keep the club going.

These are my opinions only. I’m not a board member and am not speaking for the club, just an “experienced” karter who also would like to see the days return when we were at the 80+ driver levels……….

Don

[jah67]

i missed tonights meeting, because I just got off work and it is 7:15. I was wondering if anyone has a problem with me promoting SDKA at this Lakeside rodeo event. If anyone has a problem, please speak up now.... I was wondering if SDKA has any Banners I could barrow for this event? I will have all 4 of my karts there( also my 2 kids will be there with there uniforms on signing autographs on there business cards) and I am going to give away ( a lunch time drive for the March race). I am hoping this will help promote SDKA,,,,,,, thousands of off road people all in one place. Someone will get a chance to drive a kart at the stadium..... What else could someone ask for? Does SDKA have any extra handouts, stuff to pass out to potential newbies? I am thinking this might be a wonderful oppurtunity to Promote.

[dezertracer]

Jah67, I guess they dont get it! Your last post on Jan 13th asked if you could display your karts on behalf of SDKA. Your even going to give a way a free Lunch Time Drive at the March SDKA event.

Well here it is Jan 22nd and not one reply from any SDKA members or in that fact anyone period! This alone shows me the lack of effort SDKA is willing to put forth to help make their series grow, or should I say keep from shrinking. Has anyone from SDKA contacted you and been able to give you any banner or brochures to hand out? I'm guessing no?

I will be at the Off-Road Expo at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds on Saturday February 20th. I will look for your Kart display and introduce myself. Maybe some Karters will show up on Feb 20-21 and see what the off-road racing community does to promote its sport, and they will either learn something or maybe make the switch to off-road racing! I'm sure there will be some Trophy Karts on display too.

Even though I am not kart racing I thank you for taking your time to promote a series and form of racing that you dont want to see go away. Too bad the rest of the local karting community did not feel this way.

[David Chong]

I know we do have a banner. I have also seen a promo flyer or something like that... I may be thinking of the website.