Cal Club Autocross Forums

Don't know if any of you were going to head up... :unimpressed:

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Hey Tom Berry!

Should we contact Howard about two swings through Nirvana...uhm, El Toro? Maybe a storage option available at El Toro would encourage participation in both SD and the two El Toro events???

I'd love a return to Castle is that is possible, but lets not lose a West Coast pro again. Lets start early to see if an El Toro back up is possible.

I would rather drive out to Lincoln in May than come back down to El Toro. Nothing against El Toro, but if I'm going to drive that far, it might as well be to try the new surface.

Maybe Reno can do a Pro at Stead.

The letter sent out to those pre-registered for the event:

Thank you all for registering for the event. However, late yesterday afternoon the City of Alameda rescinded their approval of our event. The National Office is looking at the possibility of replacing the event. A final decision will be made very soon. Please call me if you have any questions or concerns.


Nancy Downing

Solo Events Manager

1-800-770-2055

What incredible foresight and financial acuity for a city in a depression economy with declining revenue and little additional expected help from the state to cancel a moneymaking event.

Read the last post in the thread at the SFR board. Interesting, but instructive on how to deal with municipal entities.

I'm sure the bureaucrat thinks we canceled on him. After all they didn't pull the permit, they "held" it....

Bureaucrats aren't managers and they don't take responsibility. So, don't expect rational behavior.

Its one of the reasons people don't understand the private versus public provider debates. The gov't have honorable motives and the private company just wants a profit. The motives aren't as important as the inevitable outcomes.

All I can tell you is there are a LOT of moving pieces in this story...some would argue too many.

It is a bummer, no matter to what you attribute the cancellation.

I've certainly seen the multiple contact problem before. Its happened in our region, its happen with my car club. We're not important enough or profitable enough to warrant noise and hassle for most site operators public or private. When in doubt its amazing how often "no" is the simplest solution.

Packwood is too far, just as far as Lincoln.

Sebastian Rios wrote:

Packwood is too far, just as far as Lincoln.

It always amuses me how the SoCal people expect the NW people to travel south for Pros, but so few SoCal people are willing to travel north for the Packwood Pro....

I made that drive far, far too many times last year to really want to see a second El Toro Pro added... that's brutal to need to drive 20 hours twice to get another Pro.

EDIT - if a second El Toro Pro was added so it was close after the first one, I'd be game. I'd just leave my car with Max for safe keeping

Annie Bauer wrote:

Sebastian Rios wrote:

Packwood is too far, just as far as Lincoln.

It always amuses me how the SoCal people expect the NW people to travel south for Pros, but so few SoCal people are willing to travel north for the Packwood Pro....

I made that drive far, far too many times last year to really want to see a second El Toro Pro added... that's brutal to need to drive 20 hours twice to get another Pro.

I don't expect you guys to come down, but if I didn't have other options I would go up. I've always wanted to visit the Packwood site, and I just may if nothing else comes up. But honestly, I'd rather go to Lincoln to get used to the surface if I have to drive 2 days anyway.

Annie Bauer wrote: It always amuses me how the SoCal people expect the NW people to travel south for Pros, but so few SoCal people are willing to travel north for the Packwood Pro....

I made that drive far, far too many times last year to really want to see a second El Toro Pro added... that's brutal to need to drive 20 hours twice to get another Pro.

EDIT - if a second El Toro Pro was added so it was close after the first one, I'd be game. I'd just leave my car with Max for safe keeping

I made the drive from AZ to Bremerton and Kent a number of times. It only took one trip from CA to Backwood (note, a six hour shorter drive than I made to your other sites) to decide it was not worth the trip. Mileage is only one consideration, the quality of the event site at Packwood is not even close to any of the Socal sights.

I really loved my trip to Packwood last year. The NW people are so much fun and the site is beautiful.
I don't think its near as far as Lincoln for us. Seems like it was about 2/3rds as far timewise as long as you don't take a 7hour detour stuck on a mountain watching the firefighters around you evacuate and shrug their shoulders as to what you should do.

Packwood is a small logging town that doesn't have a nightlife, high $ hotels or restaurants, but the *site itself* is pretty amazing - people should really consider coming to it. The town loves having us there, the site is smooth asphalt that can accommodate good, fun, big courses. And covered pits! More people I've heard echo Steve's comments about how good it is than Jason's. I can see people who really like the modern comforts of a big city may not like Packwood, but it's really a great set of events.

^ I agree...Jason doesn't know shxt...

Seriously, Packwood is a blast, if you are at all an outdoor oriented person. My wife and I spent a day on Ranier, last summer, hiking and followed by a great lunch at the National Park lodge, and it was way cool. There's tons to do around the area, as long as you don't need "amenities".

Steve Ekstrand wrote: I don't think its near as far as Lincoln for us. Seems like it was about 2/3rds as far timewise

google says it's 200 miles longer to go to lincoln vs packwood. about 21-ish hours vs. 18-ish hours.

Don't listen to me... I spent the first 21 years of my life in the NW, I guess I have just seen to many trees.

Marshall Grice wrote:
google says it's 200 miles longer to go to lincoln vs packwood. about 21-ish hours vs. 18-ish hours.

I bet google does not account for the CA towing "speed limit", which could put both sites at about the same amount of travel time.

Jason Isley BS RX8 wrote:Don't listen to me... I spent the first 21 years of my life in the NW, I guess I have just seen to many trees.

I think it would be a good step for you to more fully explore those feelings...

I'm sort of surprised Lincoln is only 200 further. Is Lincoln shorter than Topeka? Time to map out the schedule again. My memory fails...
I used to have all the major events sites saved along with side trips and such. Damn hard drive crashes....

I thoroughly enjoyed my Packwood experiences last year. Mind you, I flew in both times which is much more convenient.

If I was towing, had a some kind of saucy girlfriend etc, I would certainly try to make a mini vacation out of a Packwood visit... it's so pretty.

This year, I'll be flying in for the Pro. It's nice of Annie to provide me cars to drive up North

I can certainly understand Jason's feelings - Packwood really is a different feel than the SoCal events. For goodness sake, there's not even a four way stop sign on the main drag through town, let alone a traffic light.

And Jason, I'm not sure if you came up to the event where the Pro was whacky and the course was short & tight? Believe me, the region has learned and hasn't repeated that mistake... I can see if that's the one you went to, you'd get an icky taste in your mouth.

The site itself is far more flexible with course layouts, etc. than Bremerton is - Bremerton can't hold a Pro and most of the courses there use very similar elements. Most of the locals here think Packwood is superior to Bremerton, but most are new enough not to remember Kent. Now that was a big loss - the house I owned before moving to Cali actually was within visible distance to that site. Too bad it's a bunch of warehouses now...

Annie, you have your rose colored hindsight goggles on. While the Kent site was big, it was a gravel field.

Marshall Grice wrote:

Steve Ekstrand wrote: I don't think its near as far as Lincoln for us. Seems like it was about 2/3rds as far timewise

google says it's 200 miles longer to go to lincoln vs packwood. about 21-ish hours vs. 18-ish hours.

I really liked my trip up to Packwood last year and like the site, but given the choice, you'd be pretty crazy to choose Packwood over Lincoln, given that it is where the national championships are. Problem is given the need to drive 1500 miles each way just to get a second Pro, it's just hard to make a case for that in our current world climate. It's a minimum of 1100 miles from my house to any other Pro without Wendover or Alameda/Castle.

Hopefully something gets figured out because the west coast needs a central Pro to make the series anything but an Eastern US championship.