Just got back from the SCCA rallycross @ PBIR. I tried to drum up more interest for rallycross in Tampa, and several folks seemed very interested. I mentioned the idea of putting a "network" of events together so it spreads the responsibility and pain (for travel, cost, organization, etc.), and folks liked that idea as well. There were 21 drivers for the event today, which is a decent showing I suppose, but I know there are a lot more out there that just need some encouragement, some reassurance, and some guidance. Many of the drivers there today traveled 2-4 hours to get to the event, which just shows the kind of enthusiasm folks have for it. A couple of the drivers were from the Orlando area and they said the loved the idea of driving 1.5 hours to Tampa rather than 3+ to PBIR or the St. Lucie fairgrounds.

But it's clear that one of the bigger issues in general is simply getting the word out to the kind of people that might be interested. We clearly can't rely on a single website or forum to get the word out and/or generate interest... if folks don't know, they won't show. We gotta figure out how to get the word out to people (even beyond the Tampa area), whether that means using facebook, bumper stickers, "calling cards", or whatever. I asked several folks how they found out about the SCCA event today and many said they found it rather randomly. "Randomly" shouldn't be the answer.

One last thing... I heard talk from several different folks independent of each other about some sanctioning body looking to put together a rally event in Florida next year. Anders Green's name came up a couple times. There was also mention of someone looking to do some rallycross events with sanctioning body support and financial backing, but it wasn't clear if that is the same thing that Anders Green name got mentioned about. In any case, the more the merrier, right?

 

Come on folks... I know there's more interest in Tampa Bay area rally than is showing here. Remember, we have a great resource for helping build the local rally scene with rallycrosses and TSDs, and maybe even a rally sprint or mini gravel event I bet, but Jeff can't do it alone. He needs us to help ourselves.

BTW, I was just ogling some pics from a TSD event he did back in '07 and it looked absolutely AWSOME! Check 'em out here: https://picasaweb.google.com/nickare...erTSDSept12007

So let's get this thing going!