08-24-2006, 06:40 PM
As someone who was there when Gerald and Chan decided to form this club, my first concern is that the club is straying from it's motorsports roots. I think this is a problem because the type of people a "car club" attracts are the type of people who engage in the type of jackassery that would get the club's charter revoked by JMU.
I see now a club of people who don't seem that enthusiastic about the "motorsports" aspect. There seems to be a shroud of mystique surrounding track events that leads to a misconception among current students.
Participating in track events doesn't necessarily mean a driver school. It could be just spectating or working an event (which by the way, helps pay for a school!). It's a way to get experience and immerse yourself in the culture that is this club.
Make no mistake, NONE of the OGs had all the "track" vehicles in college that they have now. So it's hard for me (and us) to understand why the main excuse from students is "I don't have a track car and don't want to drive my daily driver, so I'm not going"
In college, if Chan was signed up for an autocross or an HPDE, he spent the week before in the parking lot bleeding the brakes on his ONLY car. HPDE doesn't mean that you need a track car. It doesn't even mean you need a nice car. By all means, drive a craptastic honda in an HPDE. Believe me, that will be fast enough for you.
While there is always a concern about wrecking your only car, I'd say you're just as likely (if not more likely) to be in an accident driving around the streets of Harrisonburg than at an HPDE. Why? It's a controlled environment, you aren't going all out on your first HPDE, and you are there to learn how to control your car and manuever around the course, not go balls out into a tire wall.
But there is no way any of you new guys would know these things unless you got out there and saw this for yourself.
Further, what about autocrossing? That was an easy way to participate early on, before these guys started going to track events. It's easy, it's doesn't really cost anything but the entrace fee (maybe $30) and the prep on a car is next to nil - so you can run your daily driver!
And it doesn't have to be just about cars. Now we've got a bunch of OGs into bikes. There's also karting events like enduros.
I just feel that it's WAY to easy to get invovled, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO, and I just feel at times that the current students drag their feet on getting invovled in the real "motorsports" and instead opt for car meets, etc or whatever else it is you guys do to show off your bling. If you want to party, great. But the social aspect should supplement the aims and goals of this club, not replace the real action.
*phew* longest post evaR...
I see now a club of people who don't seem that enthusiastic about the "motorsports" aspect. There seems to be a shroud of mystique surrounding track events that leads to a misconception among current students.
Participating in track events doesn't necessarily mean a driver school. It could be just spectating or working an event (which by the way, helps pay for a school!). It's a way to get experience and immerse yourself in the culture that is this club.
Make no mistake, NONE of the OGs had all the "track" vehicles in college that they have now. So it's hard for me (and us) to understand why the main excuse from students is "I don't have a track car and don't want to drive my daily driver, so I'm not going"
In college, if Chan was signed up for an autocross or an HPDE, he spent the week before in the parking lot bleeding the brakes on his ONLY car. HPDE doesn't mean that you need a track car. It doesn't even mean you need a nice car. By all means, drive a craptastic honda in an HPDE. Believe me, that will be fast enough for you.
While there is always a concern about wrecking your only car, I'd say you're just as likely (if not more likely) to be in an accident driving around the streets of Harrisonburg than at an HPDE. Why? It's a controlled environment, you aren't going all out on your first HPDE, and you are there to learn how to control your car and manuever around the course, not go balls out into a tire wall.
But there is no way any of you new guys would know these things unless you got out there and saw this for yourself.
Further, what about autocrossing? That was an easy way to participate early on, before these guys started going to track events. It's easy, it's doesn't really cost anything but the entrace fee (maybe $30) and the prep on a car is next to nil - so you can run your daily driver!
And it doesn't have to be just about cars. Now we've got a bunch of OGs into bikes. There's also karting events like enduros.
I just feel that it's WAY to easy to get invovled, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO, and I just feel at times that the current students drag their feet on getting invovled in the real "motorsports" and instead opt for car meets, etc or whatever else it is you guys do to show off your bling. If you want to party, great. But the social aspect should supplement the aims and goals of this club, not replace the real action.
*phew* longest post evaR...
2002 BMW 325i (a.k.a. the baby mobile)