Completely UNDERWHELMING ARRC coverage in Sportscar Mag

[glenn cooper]

No need for a spoiler alert if you have not received your Feb/'10 copy yet.
Not one single pic of anyones car, it's unbelievable!
There is one tiny mention about an incredible scrap that took place further in the pack.
I'm thinking Ray Charles coulda wrote a clearer, more concise article. Pretty disappointing...
GC

[jjstecher]

Agree coop buddy. I was all pumped to read it then left feeling like the dorky kid at prom in terms of disappointment levels.

[Northwind]

Seven sentences covered the race group. I almost flushed the magazine down the library after reading it. There seems to be a bit of bias in Sportscar magazine with tin-tops in the past few years. The only consistent number of pictures of formula or sports racing cars are found in the For Sale adds.

By the way, what happened to to the Goracingtv coverage that I heard we would be seeing?

[glenn cooper]

I just got an e/m from them yesterday stating that I should be able (via a password required site) to see the vid on 1/27. Hopefully this does not imply that I will not be able to actually take and post the vid...

[Wren]

I always like when my copy of sportscar shows up in my mail box on a monday. That means my trash can will be at the curb and I can put sportscar directly where it belongs. Otherwise, i have to walk all the way inside to throw it away.


That magazine is beyond worthless. I would much rather get a paper gcr than a subscription to sportscar.

[Purple Frog]

The ARRC used to get great coverage in Formula Car Magazine.

Rob let me cover the ARRC every year. And... let COOP cover Pro Formula Mazda. Rob was so brave.

The good ol' days.

Craighead was there, probably coverage live on eformulacarnews...

[GT1Vette]

Every one of the twenty-five classes competing in eleven separate races believe their single class/race is the most important one of the weekend and therefore deserves the lion's share of the coverage. Every driver can make a case for why THEIR story is the one that best describes the weekend.

All of them are wrong.

There's only so much room to report the weekend and ALL the stories cannot be told to their fullest extent. The author (who is an Atlanta Region volunteer and is heavily involved in making the ARRC by GRM what it is) did an excellent job of reflecting the nature of the event while mentioning the maximum number of names possible. If seeing your name in SportCar is reason you race, however, 95% of you will be disappointed.

If you'd like to be involved in organizing the 2010 ARRC by GRM let me know. I'm certain I can find a place where you can help out.

Butch Kummer
Competition Director
Atlanta Region SCCA

[rickb99]

I always like when my copy of sportscar shows up in my mail box on a monday. That means my trash can will be at the curb and I can put sportscar directly where it belongs.....

I could not agree MORE with that statement. BUT, I DO look at the advertisments It's geared toward the broad base of SCCA members which means it's so dumbed down it does a poor job at almost everything. But they try.

I notice from the survey only 14% of us here are over 60. You probably have to be that old to harken back to the days when Autoweek was a 'tabloid' type (size) news paper that showed up in the mail once a week!

Within its pages (30 to 40) was a report with photos in many cases of just about EVERY single road racing event from around the world that had taken place 2 weeks before including pictures! YES even regional and national SCCA races.

It was the best dang thing going in reporting road racing. Then they got rich and turned it in to just another of your typical news stand magazines.. sigh.

There's a market (EFormula )... Even in newpaper black and white tabloid format a bunch of us would eat it up! With todays technology, I bet the pictures could even be color. Kept me awake late in to the school night on the day it showed up.

[kea]

Rick,
I bought Competition Press, which was the name before Autoweek took it over, and then after a period of time, changed the name. It was great!

[glenn cooper]

Butch, I'm not bummed at all about not seeing my name in print, BUT...
The fact remains that the coverage of our race absolutely SUCKED.
While I appreciate the efforts of the author, I can only wonder if he was even present during our race. Now I've been racing for a few years, and I've been in some scraps.
I heard firsthand from those watching that it was a TITANIC battle they witnessed.
I know from what I saw unflding in front of me was way more entertaining than any televised Pro race shown in the last several years!
I'm bummed for Formula 1000 more than anything.

Respectfully, GC

[rickb99]

Rick,
I bought Competition Press, which was the name before Autoweek took it over, and then after a period of time, changed the name. It was great!

By golly you are SO right Keith. That was the original name.. forgot that.

[GT1Vette]

Butch, I'm not bummed at all about not seeing my name in print, BUT...
The fact remains that the coverage of our race absolutely SUCKED.
While I appreciate the efforts of the author, I can only wonder if he was even present during our race. Now I've been racing for a few years, and I've been in some scraps.
I heard firsthand from those watching that it was a TITANIC battle they witnessed.
I know from what I saw unflding in front of me was way more entertaining than any televised Pro race shown in the last several years!
I'm bummed for Formula 1000 more than anything.

Respectfully, GC

Coop,

I'm sure EVERY group/class felt their race was short-changed in the report. For instance, there was no mention of two of the top ITB cars getting taken out at Turn 7 on Lap 1 due to an "optimistic" move by someone driving over his head, there was no mention of the top ITA car getting taken out in the next race in a similar move, and there DEFINITELY was no mention that that best GTA driver in the country was not able to attend!

Bottom line - there's only so much that can be reported in the space available.

That said, I'm always willing to think outside the box and consider ways to make things better. Instead of having one person write the entire article, what if we get "group experts" to write a couple of paragraphs about their race and we combine them into the final article? Are you volunteering to write about the Wings & Things? Are you willing to "try out" for the position by writing about the 2009 race?

If so, you've got a maximum of two paragraphs, approximately 200 words total. You can PM me or submit it here for the rest of the world to see. Go!

BK

[flat tappet]

No need for a spoiler alert if you have not received your Feb/'10 copy yet.
Not one single pic of anyones car, it's unbelievable!
There is one tiny mention about an incredible scrap that took place further in the pack.
I'm thinking Ray Charles coulda wrote a clearer, more concise article. Pretty disappointing...
GC

That's because Ray Charles had "Georgia" on his mind.....LOL

[SteveLevin]

I notice from the survey only 14% of us here are over 60. You probably have to be that old to harken back to the days when Autoweek was a 'tabloid' type (size) news paper that showed up in the mail once a week!

The good news (depending upon how you look at it) is that you don't have to be quite that old. I'm just 42 and when I started getting Autoweek as a teenager it was on paper. I think the transition happened in the late 1980s, but for sure after 1985.

Steve

[Rick Ross]

I was at the ARRC and watched the entire FB race. It was indeed very exciting and featured some hard, close racing. The driving throughout the field was top-notch, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to witness some FB history.

However......Butch is 100% correct. In my opinion, while the FB race was outstanding, it was not unique. There were no doubt plenty of good races that weekend. In fact, I watched the CF race and it was EVERY bit as exciting as the FB scrap, believe me.

Perhaps we should just be glad that the the SCCA still has volunteers who are willing to put the time and effort into staging these events and writing these reports. Just my opinion.......

[Mike B]

I just got an e/m from them yesterday stating that I should be able (via a password required site) to see the vid on 1/27. Hopefully this does not imply that I will not be able to actually take and post the vid...

Well?

[Bill Bonow]

Coop,

I'm sure EVERY group/class felt their race was short-changed in the report.

Yep. FST has been around for 8 years and 1 year as a GCR class. The 30 or so words covering our race was the first time SportsCar has said one word about the class outside of race results.

[glenn cooper]

"Bless their heart".
I got the e/m today from them with the password protected website.
It took quite awhile to download it and... it's a bunch of NASCAR types running around at the ARRC.
At the rate this is going, I firmly believe that by ARRC '10 it should all be worked out...
F'ing wonderful.
GC

I guess this beats the hell out of an earthquake rippin' through, or having your house get washed away in a Typhoon, or blown to bits by an F5 Tornado.

Gee, I'm feeling better allready. Yipee...

[Mike B]

Is it safe to say that they missed the best battle of the weekend, from the best seat in the house?

[CAM]

If it is any consolation. The FB scrap was the best of the weekend. It was the only race I was able to watch as it was one race before ours. So it was the best race by far.

I know the there is only so much room in sports car but I often feel the coverage of the larger SCCA events is often awfully short.

I mean they could have at least included a picture and a few words.

If it makes you feel any better Coop here's a picture form your race.

[swiftdrivr]

Did I miss it, or did they fail to cover the FF 40th at all? Jim

[glenn cooper]

Sort of saw your race from impound as we waited. It looked good, 4 sure.
Great pics you took also, thanks.

Mike B - I still have the tinyest hope left that there will be some vid, I just don't know when I'll have it.

GC

[Bill Maisey]

Readership of print media continues its exponential decline while Internet usage does the opposite. Readers have little, if any, tolerance for waiting. Sites like Apexspeed provide timely and in depth information. Magazines don’t and can’t. Users know they can get information when and how they want it. No matter what the activity, if people can't literally or figuratively double click and get what they need, forget it.

IMHO SportsCar has become useless. I don’t even look at it anymore.

[formulasuper]

Readership of print media continues its exponential decline while Internet usage does the opposite. Readers have little, if any, tolerance for waiting. Sites like Apexspeed provide timely and in depth information. Magazines don’t and can’t. Users know they can get information when and how they want it. No matter what the activity, if people can't literally or figuratively double click and get what they need, forget it.

IMHO SportsCar has become useless. I don’t even look at it anymore.

Very True. Only a matter of time until newspapers & magazines are a thing of the past.

[RussMcB]

I remember a long time ago when I was reading books about how to get race car sponsorship, one thing stuck with me. If you want to get publicity, make it as easy as possible for the person who creates it. I think the example was, give a print-ready story to a reporter, something they can publish without much effort.

I also remember how exciting it was to get Autoweek, On Track, SportsCar, Road & Track, etc. in the mail box. Today, not so much. I agree. Those days are over.

[Mike Devins]

The only picture from our group was of JLL piloting Clark's LSRII and although it makes me proud it was not really "the race" since he had no competition. The FB battle pic posted above - now that was racing!