An open plea to Martelli bros., BITD or anyone willing to make a change

[baja_racer]

Some of you may remember a little race at Riverside, lots of shenanigans (St.Patricks day reference) going on their. Somehow we managed. I think the 2018 Mint was a success.....I had fun!!!

 

[pdailey]

So you're going to ask Volunteers, who already shell out their own $$ to get to the race, take an extra vacation day off work and pay for an extra hotel room for the second day of Tech & Contingency to add another day because a handful of people can't control their ****?

Would racers be willing to pay more $$ to start paying to cover volunteer's costs?

I know for a fact that the TT racers would pay extra to be out there by themselves in their own heat.

 

[Robert Encinas]

With all due respect, yes. But not solely as a means to mitigate a spectator problem. The reasons to support a two day race go far beyond that. But at the end of the day, people either volunteer or they don't. The two day race needs to happen in my opinion and if I were a betting man I'd bet that it will happen.

If there aren't enough volunteers to support everything that's needed that the promoter will have to find ways to solve that. But being unwilling to ask volunteers if they voluntarily want to volunteer to support a two day event is not a valid reason to keep from moving towards a multi day race schedule.

The two day event has been tried already and getting volunteers onboard proved that it was too difficult. Remember when the trophy trucks ran on Friday ? And asking racers to race on Sunday is also a headache , as most are traveling back home , unloading , getting ready to go back to work the following day.

 

[Robert Encinas]

I'm willing to bet most racers don't care about spectator sections, VIP tents, celebrity ride alongs, etc., but MM is in it to make money, so that's what we have to deal with in order to race the Mint.

Most racers actually do like and appreciate the spectators , they are a big morale booster. even if your in dead last.

 

[pdailey]

The two day event has been tried already and getting volunteers onboard proved that it was too difficult. Remember when the trophy trucks ran on Friday ? And asking racers to race on Sunday is also a headache , as most are traveling back home , unloading , getting ready to go back to work the following day.

Racing on Sunday works perfectly fine at races like Battle at Primm and Rage at the River.

 

[EMS702]

This is really silly. There were 5 spectator areas. By all accounts, four of them ran flawlessly. Figure out what they did differently and fix the single, isolated, identified problem.

Mad Media has demonstrated more than enough desire and capability to adapt and overcome the hurdles placed in front of them.

This too will pass.

Crazy concept...Id like to thank the staff and volunteers from both Mad Media and BITD for putting themselves out there to give racers a place to do their thing and trying to put us in front of as many people as possible. Additionally, thank you to the fans that did come...it's fun to put on a show.

Brutal and great race.

Cheers

I would think spec 4 is the easiest to walk out and give a friend their parking pass. With the Knight Ranch road initial checkpoint and then each spec area has one it's double the security. Plus a long walk to the main road. Private minimum wage security up against drunk asshats. I would not go up against them.

 

[Robert Encinas]

Racing on Sunday works perfectly fine at races like Battle at Primm and Rage at the River.

True , however the entries are not as high and the Mint is far bigger an event. Neither of those events are as long as the 400 either.

 

[AZracefan]

Depending on what class's would race Sunday, I don't see Sunday drawing the same amount of fans as it would if the race was on Saturday. If the unlimited race is on Saturday, I see a lower amount of fans for the limited race on Sunday. If the limited race is on Saturday I think the crowd would be fair, but many would skip for the unlimited race the next day. The die hard fans would be there regardless. The current 2 day races seem to work fine, but a good majority of the racers have already DNF come Sunday. From what I've witnessed at Parker and the Mint, once the unlimited races comes up, the crowd comes in.

As for the racers not being concerned about the fans(their fans), I think in some way they need to be. I'm sure their sponsors need fans at the races for their marketing brands. I believe that's another reason the Mint draws in so many, thousands of fans and T.V coverage, perfect marketing tool for sponsors

 

[pdailey]

True , however the entries are not as high and the Mint is far bigger an event. Neither of those events are as long as the 400 either.

The volunteers are out there before the sunrise, all day. For 2 straight days. RATR pulls in close to 400 entries.

 

[Ol' Curmudgeon]

You can't jet ski in Jean.

 

[TecateRay]

Curious to see the outcome of this. Sounds like mad media needs a logistics officer to help manage the show. Maybe it’s grown beyond the span of control of mad media?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you’re going to charge admission you need to pay for help. Depending on volunteers for parking and crowd control to paid events is usually a major FAIL. Sounds like this wasn’t the first year with the same problems, promoter needs to step up and part with some $$$.

 

[MasTacos]

The volunteers are out there before the sunrise, all day. For 2 straight days. RATR pulls in close to 400 entries.

Don't forget that volunteers also help set up and scrub the course so some of them may be out there for longer.

 

[Robert Encinas]

The volunteers are out there before the sunrise, all day. For 2 straight days. RATR pulls in close to 400 entries.

Pat , you've been involved with this for a long time as i have been, actually since 88. Volunteers are needed for more than two days and you know this .

 

[J Prich]

Its strange though because I spent a solid 3 hours in Spectator 4 last year after racing in the morning heat and watched pretty much the whole field come through on their second lap. No Ferguson style riots, no looting, no couch burnings...the craziest thing I personally saw was a couple of people trying to bounce their trucks off a little wash out that ran through the middle of the parking area.

For the most part everyone seemed civil and moderately well behaved. Admittedly didn't see it this year but I have a hard time buying this notion that Spectator 4 was basically overrun by some kind of out of control mob. 100% sure there were probably a small handful of people acting like dooshers but all of this crazy speculation about how bad ALL the fans/spectators are, how out of control stuff is, etc...is a bridge too far.

 

[Dirty Harry]

If you’re going to charge admission you need to pay for help. Depending on volunteers for parking and crowd control to paid events is usually a major FAIL. Sounds like this wasn’t the first year with the same problems, promoter needs to step up and part with some $$$.

I’m fairly certain that the security for the event are not volunteers.

 

[pinned24/7]

Its strange though because I spent a solid 3 hours in Spectator 4 last year after racing in the morning heat and watched pretty much the whole field come through on their second lap. No Ferguson style riots, no looting, no couch burnings...the craziest thing I personally saw was a couple of people trying to bounce their trucks off a little wash out that ran through the middle of the parking area.

For the most part everyone seemed civil and moderately well behaved. Admittedly didn't see it this year but I have a hard time buying this notion that Spectator 4 was basically overrun by some kind of out of control mob. 100% sure there were probably a small handful of people acting like dooshers but all of this crazy speculation about how bad ALL the fans/spectators are, how out of control stuff is, etc...is a bridge too far.

You're right, there was no Ferguson style riots or couch burnings. What I mentioned was the problems from those "small handful of people acting like dooshers". I also witnessed people trying to jump the little wash out while driving through the area at 10:30 thinking they would actually find a parking spot.

Yes for the most part everyone is well behaved. But, as many know, all it takes is a small handful of people every 10 trucks or so that ruin it for everyone else.

 

[J Prich]

You're right, there was no Ferguson style riots or couch burnings. What I mentioned was the problems from those "small handful of people acting like dooshers". I also witnessed people trying to jump the little wash out while driving through the area at 10:30 thinking they would actually find a parking spot.

Yes for the most part everyone is well behaved. But, as many know, all it takes is a small handful of people every 10 trucks or so that ruin it for everyone else.

Yup totally with you. Agreed that the problem is actually just a small handful of wrong do’ers messing things up and they certainly need to be dealt with. It’s not that hard of a problem to fix I think.

 

[tooltime]

The difference with Spec 4 and the other 4 is simple. The other 4 got lucky and didn't have a little douche with an RC car, a couple dogs with owners with no respect for others and....... IT'S THE MOST POPULAR SPOT!. Next year we can easily be complaining about another spot. I'm sure MM will fix the situation. Now next year you all are going to be complaining to RDC that you were so restricted in what you could or couldn't do that now that sucks. Half the peeps half the time but not all the peeps all the time right. I for one will racing my bike next year and LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!! 40+ EX CHAMP,, come get some HAHAHAHAHA

Next year, I'm not buying a SPOT. I'm just going to get to spec 4 at 1am. I'm going to bring all four of my RC cars, my new drone, and all of my dogs. Then "I'm going to bring all my shoes, so I have them!" Lol couldn't help myself.

 

[tooltime]

Does anyone remember the Mint before two day contingency? Before 6100s qualified? Before the live stream and tracking? Before they even had parking passes?

It is unreasonable to expect every single thing to be fixed overnight (not that that stops anyone on RDC). The FACT is that Mad Media listens and this event gets better every single year. I’m sure changes to Spec 4 are on the to do list. If you expect perfection, you are going to be disappointed. But you don’t get to be the biggest desert race in America by doing a crappy job.

Agreed! And I have a good feeling about the outcome of this so far responsible forum. I feel comfortable knowing many in here feel the same way. I also feel the powers that be are listening, or in this case reading and probably hear us loud and clear. I for one look forward to the future of this and many more off road events held here in the U.S. Lastly, I will offer to do what I can to help promote a solution. I would be interested in helping do my part.

 

[tooltime]

Some of you may remember a little race at Riverside, lots of shenanigans (St.Patricks day reference) going on their. Somehow we managed. I think the 2018 Mint was a success.....I had fun!!!

Nobody is saying the event wasn't a success. The racing was Great! With popularity comes growth. With growth come growing pains. With growth comes opportunity. Let's not squander this opportunity to let our sport grow and prosper, but do it responsibly.