Just wanted to copy & paste a recent post I made on GS CA board:
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Well, I guess I must apologize for parts of my original post. I was obviously venting on the poor payouts this year for such a big well established event. It was what it was, and happened for various reasons. After more input from others & more thought on it all, here's what I got out of it:
The club puts on one of the biggest events going, and overall it is HUGE fun & many like me wouldn't miss it for the world no matter what "politics" or issues happen year to year.
The staff & volunteers NEVER get enough THANKS for all the hard work they do for us all. If you don't think they deserve it, just volunteer & find out!
Payouts were low IMO (don't have all the facts & NOT associated with the clun in any way) because:
1) All of the "potential" sponsors that *should* have paid into the "general payout funds" didn't do that. So, instead of the figure I was posting at first, there was actually less than 10k to work with it seems. Sponsorship was down a bit obviously.
2) Some of the sponsors either paid directly to a certain class (or 2) or specified part of their money to go to certain classes, and NOT into the general funds to pay everyone from.
3) Every class I believe DID get a winners jacket. Nice leather, $250 value each. Maybe not the best idea with such low sponsor input, but I'm sure the club had it's reasons & enough people asked for them to give it a try this year. I'm not sure which I would rather have, but personally I would have liked a $50 windbreaker & another $200 cash myself. But I didn't race, and I'm not the majority asking the club for specific payout procedures.
4) It was Rick Jegl's first year at doing the sponsor end of things. There is bound to be some sort of learning curve there, only makes sense. Next year should have a LOT of these issues ironed out & be better.
5) Q-16 seems to have been an oversight, along with a couple smaller logistical issues with payout splits. Not everone agrees where & how much each class gets, and they try to do what's best for all involved. Again, first year for Rick at it, should get better each year with experience & input from others.
Looks to me like what was paid in = what was paid out. I don't see that anyone got any they didn't deserve, or that any was lost. Not everyone has all the info of each aspect of the event, even though we all assume they do
There just wasn't what we all hoped for or thought would be there this year.
Bottom line, people go to the Nat's to have fun, race and/or show their car, and visit with friends! Getting prizes for winning should just be looked at as a bonus. Guess pre-99 payouts were very small & non-existant way back. In '99, there were several special 1-time BIG sponsors stepping up from local Ohio area (Columbus that year) that made it a REAL good year for prize money. No future year should really be compared to that. Heard Budwiser pulled sponsorship in '02 because NO alcohol can be served at sporting events in KY. What fault of the club is that? Just business sense for Bud. Other sponsors then had similar reasons not to continue sponsoring.
There is WAY more going on behind the scenes of the Nat's than anyone could imagine, including myself. There are huge costs involved and many smaller ones that add up fast, that none of us are aware of. And as for the club being a "for-profit" club instead of "non-profit", well here's my view (if anyone cares):
If they make a profit, more power too them. Don't even care what it is, as long as it stays profitable. Look at it this way: If it doesn't, there WON'T BE ANYMORE NAT'S! Profits ensure people will go thru more BS & hassles next year to put it on again for us all. I do feel bad if they made a bunch & didn't at least payout a decent amount to the winners, but if the money wasn't there, it ain't there. I can easily say "if it were me, I would take entry fee $$ & put it towards payouts", but I don't have a clue what was available if any to do that, or if they would even consider that. I DO think doing something like that to raise the base payouts to a decent level would increase attendance & makup for it & be a positive influence to the event/club, but that's just my opinion. It's their business & they will do what makes sense for the business & it's members. I can see where people look at the surface & say why this or why not this. I can see that they do their best to make it the best for the majority, and can NEVER please everyone. I know that from my business experience too.
Hope I didn't offend anyone or look like I sold out to the little guy. Just got a little insight on more things happening under the surface of what all the spectators & racers see, and now see the light a little brighter. I can see something good coming in '07 from all this, and people shouldn't take a negative outlook on this for whatever reason. It's still the best week in motorsports, regardless of payouts, and '07 should be better! Hope to see everyone there again!!
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Hope people see all this as CONSTRUCTIVE input to IMPROVE upon the event, and NOT as ammunition to nit-pick, pissnmoan, or to stop people from going. That was NEVEN my intention. I was OBVIOUSLY shocked with the payout news, but now understand better why it happened this year.
I would also like to address some issues posted on this thread. As for car count/members getting less & less (posted here I think), the car count was obviously down from last years 25th anniv event. BUT, this years count was actually similar to '04, making it a pretty std year. Weather was actually good overall too, unlike some that made it sound like another rain-filled week. Most vendors I talked to seem to have done OK/normal too, so I don't really see this years event as being down much in any way. Actual cars entered compared to cars down the track during open T&T was down for some reason. Must have been more wrenching & less racing this year.
Big payouts posted in advance are NOT always the answer either. Even though the BPG has done it & been profitable (as far as I know) so far, I think it didn't work as well with the Bristol event years back. They did the big payouts in advance, and never seemed to get the turnout expected for whatever reason (politics/location/dates/etc). I am not sure, but lack of profits & too much effort probably had a big part to do with the event not continuing. Jim or others can correct me on this if I don't have the correct skinny on this, but that's the way I understand it. I think bumping the pre-race announcement of payouts a little could help turnout, but that gets tricky and really isn't the true reason people go or continue to go. Just need to make sure more paying sponsors are on board.
Red didn't post all his sponsor money to his class & try to get onthers not to enter. He was gracious enough to sponsor the $1000 level (as he always does), and only half goes to a class he can designate & 1/2 goes to the general funds to pay all classes. He actually wanted to split his half to designate it to 2 classes, but there was a mis-communication and that didn't happen. People like to make him out to be a bad guy sometimes (like the club & others), and he REALLY isn't & really does a LOT to support the club & Buicks in general. I kinda jumped to conclusions too, based on what others (NOT Red) had told me prior to this post, and thought he put the whole 1k to his class. I guess I could have put half mine in 1 class, but I don't have any reason to do that. So I put all mine into general funds to cover all. I don't see what Red or Cal did as a bad thing, and no one else should either. I'm surprised you didn't see Red.Cal offering more money for their class as an invite to try to take them.
As for the ads in the GSxTRA, well I personally am glad they invite me to advertise. To MANY that never go online, that is about the only way they get to see what we have to offer. All those ads keep the dues lower than they would be if there were NO advertisers. I'm sure many appreciate the ads to see what new stuff is out there, or contact info, or whatever. Take ANY newsletter or magazine, ads are part of the mix to get a good product to it's customers without costing a fortune.
The money they take in for the event may seem like BIG numbers to us all, and at first glance they look like they are making boat loads of money from all this (racers/members). Well, I just got a little taste of *some* of the "hidden" costs associated with putting on the event. All I can say is there are LOT of expenses going out to put on such a huge week long event that none of us could imagine. I don't think they are getting super rich from it, but I DO HOPE they continue to be profitable (as posted above here) so there continues to be a HUGE week-long Buick event to go to. I will go to all I can, but this one will always be #1 to many (including me). Even non-profit clubs/events need to be profitable to continue operations, they just file taxes differently.
Just kinda sad how some (including myself this time) jump to conclusions based on what we see on the surface, and post things that can have negative effects on the club/nat's. It's EASY to see all this stuff 1-sided & pass judgement. Sadly, most of the clubs upper mgmt don't go online & don't have time to correct assumptions, or to post financial info of their BUSINESS that really shouldn't be public knowledge. Just as I won't (and shouldn't have to) ever post my business financial info for all to see. I did ask (as a paying sponsor) to see where my money went, and I DO SEE that it all got paid out on one way or the other. Was it my choice how it was dispursed, no. Was it horrible to get a cool nice leather jacket worth $250 & some cash, probably. I can't say for sure cause I don't have a race car & didn't win, too busy in vendor area & helping racers sort out their cars & go faster & safer. Don't think anyone threw the jackets out in protest
Of course, some see what they did as a negative thing, and some see it as a positive thing. I see it more like they tried something new (that I'm sure some members asked for) and it didn't go over as well as expected because of the low sponsor input.
Hope good stuff can come from all this & we all can enjoy several Buick events per year! I hope they keep doing what it takes to continue having the Nat's at BG & keep having the GSxTRA going for YEARS & YEARS to come! I can see now that some people kinda get an attitude about some point or something that happened & boycot the event. If it's warranted then fine, but I sadly feel that many people might have made a hasty decision on stuff they saw or heard that either wasn't all true and/or didn't have ALL the facts. It's easily done, I just did it myself! Now they miss out on the fun & friends & good times because of it. Oh well, life goes on I guess, and we all have fun 1 way or the other. Hope to see ya all at one event or another in years to come
Indy is coming....
Does a guy named MARK who answers the GS?A phone REALLY richard? Why is that? 
