Wow
Well as a person who is a diehard supporter for Buick events, I guess I was thinking I would see this post eventually. Im not a weekend racer nor a guy who races brackets all year long. I own street driven cars that run in the 12s/11s in street trim and i like to cruise them and get in stop light battles. But I am a person who supports Buick events day in and day out (BPG was a last minute ordeal and bought tickets to fly in 2300 miles from Las Vegas a mere 48 hours before the opening day). Attendance is dropping everywhere b/c the economy is horrible. But as enthusiasts we better take advantage of all the events. This year's BPG focus was the Stage 1 Reunion and Marco and Brad and Duane did a terrific job running it. The 70 or so Stage 1s crossed the gamut of quality from drivers to survivors to concourse quality. The GS crowd is big in restorations. The turbo crowd focuses more on racing and showing, or rather doing both all the time. Im hoping to make this point next year for the T party by encompassing a show to obviously highlight the particular specialty turbo cars as well as a race to honor them as well. More on that coming up really soon!
The BPG I feel has gotten a feeling from the turbo 6 crowd that they are more aligned with v8s. This coming year I will try and squash that notion. I have run by some ideas to people I consider to be loyal to the turbo car scene as well as people who will definitely help sponsor the T party. Its my goal to make it the largest reunion of Turbo cars since the old days of GS Nats in the early 90s when it would be a sea of black and 800-1000k cars cross through the gate. I am a realist and realize some people just prefer to keep their cars in the garage and not drive them (my father
). And I also realize the days of having massive events due to the age of a lot of the owners and traveling and expenses are taking its toll on attendance and it just wont happen like the old days. But I realized the turbo crowd wants bang for their buck. They like to take their cars out on avenue and cruise them, take them to car shows and run mid 11s in street trim. That is what makes our cars so great. Sleeper approach in running low 11s and drive it on the street with full use of power options. Buicks do it better than anyone else in this category: full weight with all power options and kicking butt on the track. Our cars are too nice quite often and too valuable to cut up and build race cars. Some people do it and thats fine, I marvel at them, no joke! But for the vast majority of owners, owning a quick street car (say anything in the 12s or 11s) is the common ground that most turbo regal owners have with one another. Minor bolt ons and that is it. I will try my best to appeal to both the show crowd as well as the show/race crowd who not only wants their car to be highlighted in the show but wants to run their car down the track against other turbo cars in a heads up style format with the relatively same modifications. More on this coming up soon!
Now since I decided to give back to the turbo buick community b/c i have met so many great people, I will undertake a principal role in the T Party which will promote the Turbo T, T-Type, TTA and Turbo Limited at 2011 BPG Nats. I have already contacted almost a dozen vendors about participating in event sponsorship and also have some great ideas about running the show and maybe even some special race classes to honor these cars and their owners. As far as racing goes, I am not a racer, i prefer stop light battles!
But im taking notes as to the issues and will discuss with Sean a way on how to handle this and have more cars attend. The "liability on each person with their car" sounds great but will NTR buy it? Clint's idea works well and I honestly feel that more people would show up if the track is not so stringent. I own 2 low mileage mostly original with bolt on parts turbo regals. The GN was almost 19,100 brand new and heavily optioned and the Limited is the same way. No way will cut it up with a roll bar or cage. The cars are too nice for me to do it and plain and simple they are getting up there in value where I refuse to do it! Many people already since I have posted on the boards and Facebook about the T party said they would show up if the following happened: 1. Less stringent race rules and teching. 2. Reduced racer fees. 3. More vendors. The vendors issue I am working on as we speak and i have thought of some ideas to relieve the burden of finances on the people who bring their cars to show race or spectate especially families (since this is a family driven event) i.e. such as minimums for race classes to put the burden on the club and the vendor wont have to pay if minimums arent met. I have gotten emails from numerous people who say they kept their cars home this year b/c of the gate fees, safety teching, and lack of vendors. I am going to try like hell to fix these issues and I realize not everyone will be happy. I saw first hand how hard Sean worked at the event to make sure people were satisfied and happy and he still doesnt get enough credit for what a great job he did b/c people always focus on the negative. Sure it sucks they are hard on tech and sure your car runs 10.0s and you dont want to detune it to run 11.50 but im trying to make up some classes you can run in, bring your car , race and show it and not bring it hundreds of miles to sit in a trailer all weekend doing nothing. I understand that type of frustration just listening on the phone talking with people the last few days and I feel just as aggravated as they do about the whole situation. I will do everything in my power to make people's wishes or desires followed through but if i dont know your complaint i cant fix it. so email me at
trose231@hotmail.com or pm me on this board or call me at 216.470.8844 anytime and ill return your call asap. Ill be plugging away with emails and phone calls these next few days and trying to solidify some committed sponsors and ideas for race/show classes to get people to attend. I really want to make this an awesome time for the turbo people b/c i am such a diehard and live and breathe these cars and i want the owners of these cars to feel when all is said and done that they had a great time, got bang for their buck and feel proud to own these cars b/c we honored them well.
Be thankful for these events. I lived in Cleveland Ohio and grew up going to BG and loved it. I now have to fly 2300 miles to enjoy anything Buick and that is anytime I want to go to Columbus, or BG, or Norwalk and then add on more miles if I go further east or south (Cecil County or Reynolds). The car hobby despite how great the weather is year round on the west coast can not compete with the midwest and south and east coast and never will. Point is I love these cars, i love talking with people like Jim (phillyturbosix) who i consider a great friend and a pleasure getting to see him once a year. Ive made great friendships and enjoy talking to these fellow "turbo nuts" like myself as well and to be that is the best part about our hobby. Car nuts can never know one another and instantly fall into a conversation about a particular car. Look at turbo regals. 25 years later the following is still great, small sure but we all love the "sleeper" appeal of our turbo cars and the fact that most people still dont know what our cars are about and what they can do on the street or the track! Cherish these events, support them, make new friends and enjoy it. B/c sooner or later you wont be able to and will wonder back with the one phrase no one likes to say.. "I wish I would have gone." Like Quick's father stated its time to grow up. Do what you want to with your car but enjoy it b/c it wont be like this forever. Come to the events, support them and enjoy them. I will try my absolute 100 percent to try and get these major issues fixed and also provide a show that turbo people will want to attend and feel they are getting not only recognized for their cars but also that they feel they are having fun at a good price and not getting hosed. Any questions complaints or input send it my way. i look forward to it all!
