Should SAAC conventions remain on 4th of July?

I can see all of the arguments. I want to take my car, so I can't really fly. So that means an extra day sometimes to travel on each end of the event (VIR 3 hours from home was a luxury). So having the extra days off from work are good, still leaving me enough time to take real vacation time for other things.

But it was just extrememly hot and humid, and Virigina is typically not that bad.... Imagine what some other places might be.

But in all things considered, I will be there whenever the events are close enough to drag the car and trailer.

 

I voted no, I think it's a poor weekend, since that is the hottest time of the year, one of the busiest driving holidays, gas prices "Seem" to be higher. VIR was insanity in that heat, and every one I've attended, whether it was Road America in 97, which was during a major heatwave, pushing 100 air temp, or Lime Rock, 90's, it's always the same. Nashville was hot on Memorial Day, and it also rained, but I've been rained out more on July 4th, losing $$$$$ for lost track time. I would never travel to the Left Coast for a SAAC convention, driving all that way for little track time, over crowded run groups (More cars = More $$$$), and all that heat. I can't imagine what Miller will be like, well, actually I can. I have a very hard time listening at the convention banquet about how hard it is, how expensive, blah blah blah it is to get a track once a year. SAAC is making a killing on these weekends. The most expensive track to rent that I know is the one across the street from us, $15k a day. But do the math, if only 50 cars total showed up it would be $300 per car per day. I saw maybe 150 total on track at VIR? $15k would then be $100 per car. They got $200 if people ran both sessions per day. Our business, in conjunction with a Cobra club rented Sebring for 2 full days, not out to make a profit, just to pay expenses. Think it was something like $330 for 2 full days, and that was 4 run groups of at most 20 cars on the track at a time. By day 2, there were just a handful of cars as everyone had had their of more track time than they could handle. That's the mark of a successful event, peole leaving "full up", not leaving pissed off because there were 65 cars on a 2.5 mile track. If anyone is interested, the Deep South Cobra club has Sebring rented in the Fall, $330 for 2 full days of track time.
As for the other parts of the SAAC convention, the car shows, banquest, etc are fine, doesn't matter what the weather is for those, but the people on the track are the ones footing the bill and need to be getting their money's worth. I have stopped the track stuff, as I feel I'm being short changed. My 2 cents, for what it's worth.

 

I vote NO . The Commish has made Points that I echo. I vote for Labor Day!!

 

I'm onboard with the Labor day thing. Cooler temps are the best reason.

 

i vote no for 4th of july.

 

I would go whenever. IF they would just have one around Texas.

 

I vote no.

What is up with this site. I logged in and wrote a long reply and went to post it and it said I wasn't logged in.......damn....lost all the copy. I'm not typing it all over again....and there was a really good point in there to.....crap!!!

 

Man I hate when that happens!!!!

Utah is closer to you than it is to me!!

 

From the inital poll results it appears that July4th weekend is not a good one because of various things such as traffic, heat, etc etc. If this view does reflect the majority of particpants, has anyone ever made any submissions to Rick Kopec and the rest of his organising committee
to have it changed ??. I live 12hrs (at Boeing 747 speed) away from L.A so any trip is a major mission for me. I attended SAAC30 and had the best time ever but was very envious of those who were able to take their cars......
I was hoping to be able to attend SAAC33 which was proposed for L.A again but i've heard rumours that that has been canned and it's going to be in New Jersey in 2008 - anybody know anything??
cheers. Graeme.

 

Well here’s my 2 cents worth on the subject. I have only attended the 2 West Coast events so I don’t know anything about the happenings at the other locations. I have a street Shelby but went to see the racecars. That was the most exciting thing for me. I can always see the show cars at other events. I have been told the July 4th date is used because of track availability and reduced cost of renting them. However I also think that making a profit is an overriding factor. Rental rates have to be lower in the dog days of summer than at any other times. I also pay more for SAAC track time that at any other event I go to….again gets back to the profit motive. I was always curious of how Rick could continue to run the club AND have an outside job….unless he was independently wealthy…which is always a nice thing to be. Reading a post about SAAC on here cleared all this up for me. I know if I were wealthy I would do that kind of thing for the love of it.

Hearsay has it that Larry Miller of Utah Jazz ownership fame donated the use of the Utah location to SAAC. I cannot confirm if this is true or not but it came from a reliable source close to SAAC…..and it makes very good business sense to me. Here you have a new track that Larry wants to have exposure…what better way to do that than get a whole lot of high dollar race cars and driver’s over to see the layout. Which other wise they may not see it in their lifetime. And what better way for SAAC to make a bit more money. I know they will still charge for track time….I don’t think it will be reduced any…do you? And the real clincher is why would SAAC have an event in an area where hardly any SAAC members reside? So I think the no cost aspect of the deal is very compelling. The really big unknown in this is how big will the turnout be?? I would imagine some of the eastern guys won’t make it but then a lot of them didn’t come to Fontana either. Could pick up some from the Midwest and South and Northwest. Will be interesting to see how it all comes out.

Now don’t get me wrong….I will definitely be dragging my trailer the 730 miles and going at any price. To be able to drive on a track of this quality will be a wonderful experience…and I would think this track has to be a WHOLE lot better than Fontana…which in my opinion is the most boring track I have been on. It can’t hold a candle to Willow Springs, Sears Point or Laguna Seca.

The first event at Fontana, along with other encouragement, is what got me interested in getting a track car. By the 2nd event at Fontana 2 years later I had the car and was really looking forward to getting on the track. I was sort of new to running so I picked the beginners run group even though I had maybe 5-6 track events under my belt by then. There were a lot of cars in that group as well as ALL the other run groups and even for a newbie like me it was just about intolerable in the corners. Coming off the back straight into the infield everyone just about came to a complete stop and that corner was about a 50mph corner as I recall. I didn’t begin to even be able to use the correct line in the corners until Sunday. It boiled down to just too many cars in each run group. I know SAAC wants to accommodate everyone because it is a for PROFIT business. Sunday was a LOT better…many cars had gone or were entered in the car show.…so there was much less on track traffic. The best thing about Fontana was it was only 50 miles from me…now that was great. So its off to Utah next summer….dry heat and just under 5000 foot altitude….I’ll need to rejet.

 

I agree with everyone else about the downsides of July 4th weekend. We made it to SAAC-31 after just joining SAAC a few weeks before. After reading the Shelby American all about SAAC-30 and the Snakebite issues they sent with my welcome packet, I figured we had to go since it was on the east coast. We lucked into a late cancellation at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Danville and we had a great time. We met some really nice folks. Who would think that you could do some of your best info gathering and networking in the hotel pool! And the parking lot was amazing!! Cobras, Mustangs, Pantaras, everywhere

We just went to the show on Saturday, and it was great but awfully hot. My husband and I did fine, but we ended up leaving mid afternoon because our 13 year old son was having a really hard time with the heat. So we headed back to the hotel pool to cool off and then went out to dinner at the Red Lobster adjacent to the hotel and ended up chatting with some cobra owners at the next table.

We will be trying to make any future shows east of the Mississippi, but some other weekend would be nice. I know someone said not Labor Day, but it does have the advantage of cooler temps (most places) and maybe less traffic, and having those extra non vacation days. Maybe the demographic of the average owner avoids this, but at least for the next few years we are bound by the school calendar so having it during the school year would be tough for us.

 

I believe one of the main reasons Rick gave years back as to why it is on the 4th is that it is one of the easiest times to get a track. Most tracks are booked thruout the summer and to get a track once every so many years(since SAAC moves all around the country) is really hard to do. Plus the extra travel time with a holiday. Tracks cater to REPEAT customers before customers who only rent once in a while. I think he said this in a Snakebite issue in response to moving the date.

 

I'm for the 4th of July.... our anniversary, so it gives us a long weekend getaway each year.

As mentioned above...the SAAC Nationals have the dilemma of finding a venue that can give both track dates AND hotel dates...and that severely limits the choices.

 

As others have mentioned there are allot of good and bad about this particular weekend, many of them would be issues with other holiday weekends (since this allows allot of people at least a three day weekend)

Hate the heat but bad weather would be worst, Allot of this country does not have great weather (guaranteed) much of the year. Since I really don't care about the open track you could hold the convention anywhere (almost) but since it is a very important part for many people (not sure what the percentage of participation really is) guess we will continue paying a bunch of money and everyone will pay.

Bottom line is that this is not something we get to choose, vote on or have allot of input on. If you, we, us want to attend we go where the show is.

 

My vote is NO based only on the weather factor. It's not only too hot for the members but tough on the cars we love. I think SAAC would get even higher attendence numbers (and higher numbers of REAL cars showing up) if the date was moved to the Spring or Fall. Fontana in July? Hot. Miller? Hot. Thankfully SAAC still gets strong attendence numbers though. Remember SAAC does Vegas' being held on or near New Years? Cold and Windy! Lots of us still showed up. I just think SAAC would realize record attendences if the dates were moved left or right. The higher the turn out the better chance we have of attracting the next generation(s) of owners/members. I look forward to seeing everyone here at SAAC-32. Please come by and see me loitering around SFM5022 (yes, no "S" or "R").

 

Doesn't make much difference as to what one's preference is towards the
date of the National SAAC event. SAAC has its own agenda as to when
a convention is conducted.

A lot of issues have to be accomodated; from track availability to hotels, to banquets/programs, tours, etc. SAAC, being a private operation has to make a profit at each convention to fund subsequent events.

The 4th of July time frame has served them well. Simple economics. Operating
expenses to conduct a SAAC convention are less during that time frame.

So the decision is yours. Come to SAAC-32 and have a great time or just find
something else to do.
shlby66

 

Shelby66 is correct. The dozens of volunteers that make the SAAC Conventions run so well when dealing with thousands of attendees and dozens of events have to be a available and accomodated. Their expenses are taken care of by filling the hotel(s), meals and events. Plus the track expenses are horrific. While I would love to see it in the fall when conditions are cooler, I doubt if SAAC could get the attendance it needs and volunteers.

They tried a mid week convention at SAAC 17 in 1992 in Portland, Or and attendance dropped dramatically. I would say to those who would like conventions at another time, see what you can find with a track/motorsports complex and nearby hotel/convention center and let SAAC know.

 

I went to SAAC-31 at VIR and raced in the vintage race; had a good time. It was damn hot! For selfish reasons I would vote to move the date, but as others have pointed out, it is a private club. If enough of the membership had an issue, the dates would move.

On that note, does anyone know how the club is operated? Are the officers paid? Does it make money? A little off topic, but I thought I would ask.

MC

 

SAAC is a private business with the owners, Eber and Kopec, being paid personnel. It has a board of directors. It received Carroll's personal endorsement at SAAC 12 in Charlotte in 1987. Many volunteers and members provide the support necessary to maintain the enthusiasm, history and integrity of the products associated with Carroll Shelby and Shelby American. Despite the many business changes that have evolved with Shelby name, SAAC has been the constant entity keeping the records and compiling the knowledge that maintained the value and history of all these special Ford powerd vehilces. That is why whether you agree or disagree with those involved with SAAC, it worthwhile to be a contributing member (paying dues and supplying information) to support its continuing existence as the premier Shelby American resource. Read the main page of the saac.com web site. It details what SAAC is all about.