Rich250RRacer
01-24-2007, 04:33 PM
I know this is a disputed topic, but what I saw this past weekend got me thinking about it again. I've raced alot of GNCC's over the last nine years, and while I enjoy the series, I've been a very big critic of the POOR year-end awards that racers receive. When you consider the amount of money that racers spend each year, receiving $600-800 (for first place) in prizes doesn't seem like much. I understand that the main reason we do this is for fun and friendship, but a little more at the end of the year wouldn't hurt. There are regulars on here who will defend the GNCC to the end, stating what it costs to put on a race, and they're entitled to their opinion. Here's mine.
I attended the CRA banquet this past weekend. For those who don't know, the CRA is a sanctioning body in northeast Ohio that runs quad and bike MX and harescrambles. The CRA harescrambles average about 75-150 riders (both bike and quad) per week. I'm sure the MX averages a little more per event. A yearly CRA membership is $15, gate fees are $8, race fee is $20. This hardly compares to what Racer productions brings in per event. The CRA banquet honors quad and bike riders, both in MX and harescrambles in one event. For the third year in a row, along with year-end awards, the CRA held two drawings, one for quad riders and one for bike riders. All year-end award winners are entered no matter what class or type of machine. In each drawing, fifth place received $100, fourth new helmet, third new riding gear, second new pit bike (CRF50). The quad winner received a new quad of choice, the bike winner got a new bike of choice. While I don't know the actual number of bike entrants, there were 120 in the quad drawing, and the winner of the quad was the 10th place finisher in the Blaster class for the year.
There was also a drawing in which every banquet ticket holder is eligible. $100 Walmart gift cards, an EZ-up and a few other items were given away, along with the top prize of a $1000 Honda generator, which Dave Simmons walked away with.
If a small organization with no big sponsorship can afford to give away almost $15000 in prizes on top of the regular year-end awards, why can't the GNCC? They have huge sponsors such as Yamaha or Suzuki and countless others. Maybe it's time for Racer productions to get off their wallet, or get the sponsors to ante up a little more.
I attended the CRA banquet this past weekend. For those who don't know, the CRA is a sanctioning body in northeast Ohio that runs quad and bike MX and harescrambles. The CRA harescrambles average about 75-150 riders (both bike and quad) per week. I'm sure the MX averages a little more per event. A yearly CRA membership is $15, gate fees are $8, race fee is $20. This hardly compares to what Racer productions brings in per event. The CRA banquet honors quad and bike riders, both in MX and harescrambles in one event. For the third year in a row, along with year-end awards, the CRA held two drawings, one for quad riders and one for bike riders. All year-end award winners are entered no matter what class or type of machine. In each drawing, fifth place received $100, fourth new helmet, third new riding gear, second new pit bike (CRF50). The quad winner received a new quad of choice, the bike winner got a new bike of choice. While I don't know the actual number of bike entrants, there were 120 in the quad drawing, and the winner of the quad was the 10th place finisher in the Blaster class for the year.
There was also a drawing in which every banquet ticket holder is eligible. $100 Walmart gift cards, an EZ-up and a few other items were given away, along with the top prize of a $1000 Honda generator, which Dave Simmons walked away with.
If a small organization with no big sponsorship can afford to give away almost $15000 in prizes on top of the regular year-end awards, why can't the GNCC? They have huge sponsors such as Yamaha or Suzuki and countless others. Maybe it's time for Racer productions to get off their wallet, or get the sponsors to ante up a little more.