Open Letter to Aaron Hollander

[Dom Bastien]

Aaron:
I can think of only one word to describe the Skip Barber season that concluded yesterday.
Flawless.
We were treated to the usual great Skip Barber experience—the outstanding coaches; the skilled and dedicated people in the pit lane, control tower and hospitality suite; the great tracks; and the camaraderie that Skip Barber engenders.
What was noteworthy this season was the superior preparation and maintenance of the cars, as evidenced by zero break-downs beyond the normal wear and tear inflicted on the cars during the week-ends by skippy drivers. This consistency, I am sure, is the result of many of the rigorous procedures put in place in the last 6 months. And then at each race there were plenty of cars to cover any contingency [what an awesome sight Mt Tremblant offered—50 or so cars down the pit lane]. Combined with great work in the pit lane and in the control tower, this has led to an uninterrupted string of smoothly run and enjoyable race week-ends.

Also exciting was the influx of new drivers, to the point where being a mentor has become a full time occupation!

A great thanks to Abhi and Todd and their skilled and dedicated people for a truly flawless performance. And, Aaron, a great thanks to you for recognizing our concerns, for staffing up and for giving your people the opportunity and the means to do an exceptional job. Onward to the South and West!

PS. This is all well and fine but the toaster in the hospitality suite needs to be replaced. It takes 10 minutes for my cinnamon raisin bagel to get brown; and then I have to pull the darn thing out with a fork and risk electrocution. The rumor [according to Sy] is that the toaster was sourced from some discount bazaar in Shanghai. Please look into the capex budget and let’s get a real American toaster, one that will incinerate any bagel in 30 seconds flat and pop it 3 feet in the air with a loud ring.

[OLDMAN]

Dom:
There is no doubt that no one does it better than SBRS. They go to all the tracks, the cars are in great shape, the races are well run and the staff is the best. There is really no experience quite like a race weekend.

On the down side however is the ever rising cost of racing with SB. In 1997 I did my 3 day racing school. Practice sessions back then (1 hour) were $695. Currently they are $1,150. That's a 65% increase in 8 years. The cost of a practice session this season (Eastern Series) was $995, the cost starting now (Southern Series) is $1150, a 16% increase. If only my wages were increasing just half that quickly. In 1997 flagging paid $85 per day, the current wage for flagging is still $85 per day. Back then 8 flagging days got me a practice hour, today it takes 13.5 flagging days.

The current cost of a race weekend is $3,645 (not including any car damage). That does not include travel, lodging, or other expenses of going to the track. To put that much money in my pocket requires me to earn something north of $6,000. I know to most SPR guys this is not a significant sum of money, to me (and possibly other) it is.

Eight years ago a race weekend would draw 70 to 80 drivers, five groups was the norm. This past weekend there were four groups and one of them was the Masters National Series. If one were to extrapolate this out just a few years a typical weekend will be 20 racers. There is little doubt in my mind that in a short time SBRS will become the new country club of the rich. The club will be private and the tracks will be private. If you have to ask how much it is you can't afford it.

In 3 weeks there will be a race weekend at Daytona. Based on our experience there last spring, the wife and I had been considering doing the November weekend. Now however, I have to ask myself do I want to spend $3,645 for 5 sessions in a race car (not including other expenses) or spend the same funds on 10 days of skiing in Snowmass. For a working class slob like me the decision is becoming easier and easier.

So that's all I have to say. Do not consider this a knock on the SBRS or the drivers who love it. Believe me if I hit lotto tomorrow I wouldn't miss a weekend.


OLDMAN

[ORBlues]

What a perfect opening. While I can't render an opinion on the current crew, I have always felt that SBR has always provided racing as good as anywhere else, and I have been on both sides - a customer and an employee. For someone starting out it is probably the best value.

I am very happy that the quality of the cars and preparation has stayed so high and hope that the company can find a way to keep costs under control.

Now to make you really feel bad, when I ran the series, a weekend was around $400 and the whole series, including lapping was less than $4,000!

Of course gas was sixty cents a gallon, you could buy a Corvette for around $7,000 and you had to avoid the dinosaurs on Route 7......

If you are looking for an alternative however; stop down at Lime Rock this coming weekend for the NARRC Runoffs. Check out the Formula Vee or Formula Ford Classes. Stewart Racing rents FV's for around $1200 a race and if you own your own car, you should be able to get the cost down to around $800 per race.

This way you will be in shape for when you hit that lotto.

Chris Z

[dalyduo]

I second everything Dom said. (Didn't even know they had a toaster in hospitality...) Bravo and to all at Skip Barber who somehow made driving open wheeled racecars during 8 inches of rain over a four day period enjoyable, educational and fun! It was a very special week.

We missed you at the banquet Dom, but you were nicely represented in the Divi tribute video.

Pat Daly

[rgreist]

Both Dom and Oldman are right: the tracks, car equality and, especially, the SBR folk are as good as it gets; the rapidly rising cost will exclude some and everyone will miss them.
"Profitable racing business" is an oxymoron for almost everyone. Rob Walker said it well: "The way to make a small fortune is to start with a large fortune and go racing."

Getting this elephant to balance on one foot has always been a challenge and it continues to require clairvoyance to see the correct path ahead. Keeping the fun factor high is critical to success and that means large fields of competitive and congenial racers.

If the numbers racing drop too much because of cost, SBR may reconsider the merits of oldie but goodie school car racing. New cars are coming and should be fun, but will probably push costs still higher. Will the new cars be more fun? Are we really having more fun in the RT-2000s? Slicks were a marketing charade, now gone, wings provide little downforce and sequentials cost a ton. School cars have glorious slip angles, draft better, are quicker on the straights require good downshifting, cost lots less and are more fun. The only pictures in my office are of school cars racing.

The addiction is strong and SBR is the best fix for it, by far. I hope SBR keeps going, going, going....

John