List,
Just a few thoughts I'll throw out and let all of you think about.
The logistics of putting on a meet on the salt require much more than just
showing up to run. Preparations require people. Our local club members are
asked to help at many salt events ... sometimes they do so only to be
stiffed on promised compensation. Things like taking days off from work or
for other expenses like gas for the minimum 250 mile round trip, housing in
Wendover all are out-of-pocket expenses for someone. The cost of Club
equipment like our AM radio station, our timing clocks, wire, drag vehicles,
surveying, all have to be amortized somehow. How many days can racers
afford to be on the salt? Workers are under the same constraints only
without the car and engine costs and the fun of driving. We do what we do
because we love it but we can't do it free all of the time and some people
with unlimited budgets and international experience really don't understand
that workers have lives aside from the racing.
One other thing ... why should land-speed racers pay that kind of money to
have someone who does NOT understand our sport and is not a part of it, look
at our computer read out and say "yes, that's an FIA record?" Our clocks
are certified, our distances are accurate, our people are as good as any
other group at putting on the event and we have experience that USAC and FIA
people lack in land-speed racing. All the racer gets is another
certification which is largely overlooked in the peer group ... just as
Bonneville and dry lakes and Maxton records are overlooked by the FIA. We
are not Bernie Ecclestone or Formula 1, just as he is not USFRA or
SCTA/BNI. There is a variety of innovation in land-speed racing that is
very different from those big bucks professional "sports." I'll admit the
certificate is pretty, takes months and months to receive and costs a bundle
but who is the expert here?
I was on the pit crew of an E Inboard Runabout boat that set an FIA record
but the National Championships were the things we were proud of and were out
to protect each year. Would you rather have a Bonneville record or an FIA
record if you had to choose just one?
Wes
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