some cool racing!

Dylan W.

Dylan W.

lone resident of Bro-Lite Island
Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Location
Mocksville NC
Ok guys and gals, I am taking it on myself to try to get the ecors races on everyones minds. I know most of you dont want to actually race in the races, but what you should know is that these races are a heck of alot of fun to watch.

You'll see everything from junkyard xj's to 50 thousand dollar rigs out there, racing each other hard. And since the rigs in each class, are on the track at the same time, this means more excitement,carnage, and possible crashes, so that should make it very exciting to watch. Plus...most of the racers are well known nc4x4ers and would love to see you out there.

I just wanted to post this up in chit chat, not as an ECORS employee(which I am not) but as someone who would love to see this kind of racing take off and become more popular with racers and spectators alike.

The next race is at the Flats, on April 17th. Entry prices are very cheap, vendors will be on hand, and the racing will be intense. All classes have a very close points battle brewing and there may already be some heated rivalries developing!

It's great fun, so come on out to the races!


Are you interested? Please discuss!:popcorn:
 
I had planned on joining ECORS to race the XJ I raced last year at the 4x4cross... but my tow rig needs a new front end and I have no money :(

Soon though I hope!
 
My Son and I will be there in april at the flats. Has anyone started working on course maps or will that be last minute so racers can't prepare? Dylan if you need any help getting ready let me know My work schedule is crazy but I will try to help out. Ecors at the DPG was sick I couldn't believe how hard ya'll was racing. I will be there early enough to watch the first class next time. The only thing I didn't like was in the b class race I was crossing the track after all 3 racers were past and one of the track guys screamed at my son and me, but I understand that was his job and I stayed calm and walked down to the 1 crossing. I would like to get into ecors and I do have a cj5 sitting down in the woods.
 
mmcj7 said:
The only thing I didn't like was in the b class race I was crossing the track after all 3 racers were past and one of the track guys screamed at my son and me, but I understand that was his job and I stayed calm and walked down to the 1 crossing. I would like to get into ecors and I do have a cj5 sitting down in the woods.
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We try to make sure everyone knows not to go on the track, especially with children. In some other types of racing, if anyone gets on to a hot course, the race is shut down completely. We don't want to do that so we provide manned areas for crossing for everyone's safety. Some people are responsible, some are not. But, we have to do our best to keep spectators off of the race course. It will get better in the future as we see what works and what doesn't. Insurance is extremely sensitive to spectators on the race course. Please bear with us and help us keep the course clear at all times :)


We already started working on the course. Been up there already and will be working on it more in the coming weeks. The course map will be available upon check-in and pre-running on Friday. :)


We'll have more info on the event posted in the ECORS area soon.
 
To answer a couple peoples question about where "The Flats" is located... It's probably the easiest place you will ever try to find. Keep in mind, this is private property leased by Rock Corps LLC. Non club members are only invited a few times a year, so, with that said..............

From East of Marion NC..Travel west on I-40 to exit 85. Turn right off the exit ramp, go less the 1/4 of a mile, and you will see the entrance on the left.
From west of Marion NC, travel east on I-40, exit 85, take a left off the ramp, go 1/4 of a mile and look for entrance on the left.

Hope that is clear enough for everyone.

Look forward to seeing you all out there!
 
i just watched the vids over in the ecors section. i gotta admit....its alot more exciting than i thought it would be! i hate i missed the DPG race.
 
mmcj7 said:
The only thing I didn't like was in the b class race I was crossing the track after all 3 racers were past and one of the track guys screamed at my son and me, but I understand that was his job and I stayed calm and walked down to the 1 crossing.....
Click to expand...

That was probably me yelling at you. Sorry if I offended you, but I'm glad you were able to remain calm. I was asked to (try) keep people from crossing there.
 
BigRedB2 said:
i just watched the vids over in the ecors section. i gotta admit....its alot more exciting than i thought it would be! i hate i missed the DPG race.
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Yeah punk, why weren't you there? I was looking just to give you the :flipoff2: I owed you.
(don't even remember why anymore...)

The racing was very awesome, both as a participant and a spectator.
Unfortunately I can't make this one, I'll be out of the country, if it weren't for that (and the fact that I have soem fun breakage to repair) I'd be back.

Without knowing the course/spectator layout... based on teh last races, I'd say that if you're coming to hang out and watch, bring a backpack w/ a towel, soem water/mucnhies, maybe a folding chair, and just plan to plant yourself and chill for awhile. It's easy to want to move around alot, but IMO you end up missing alot of the action, and if there are places the footpaths cross the course then you'll be stuck anyway.

And bring sunscreen lol.
 
The Flats course will be set up to allow a better access to the course. It may be a little of a hike to some of the good areas but we'll have it set up so that its fairly easy to see. However, some of the good racing will be easily seen from the parking area as well :)
 
yager said:
That was probably me yelling at you. Sorry if I offended you, but I'm glad you were able to remain calm. I was asked to (try) keep people from crossing there.
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I understand the principle and feel for the volunteer's. I raced local hare scramblers and helped flag at motorcross and 4 wheeler events before I got all broke-up in a car wreck. I did see guys crossing when the racers were coming and the guy with the mic was yelling at them. So I'm glad that it was serious because coming from the racer side there is to much going on to worry about someone crossing the track in front of you. After reading it I realize it sounded more like a complaint:shaking:. I just meant I didn't like it not that I was right. So heres to ya:beer::beer: Since my junk aint worthy of the race I would be glad to help at some of the events.
 
I was at the DPG event as a spectator, and it was much more exciting than I expected. A-class rules! Those guys were going for it, and it was very exciting to watch. There are two things that I think might make it more exciting for the spectators.

1) More racers.
Obviously more people out there creates more action. Could the entry fees be lowered? Would that entice more people to enter? Would the racers still want to race if the cash prizes were reduced as well as the entry fees? I suppose more spectators could help reduce the racers entry fees which leads to my second comment.

2) Short race courses.
I think a short enough course so that you can see most of it from one vantage point (think supercross) will draw more spectators. This will also allow the racers to stay more bunched up creating higher action as lappers get in the way. I'm sure as a racer that there is a minimum length of track that is desirable for an event like this so you aren't running too many laps on too few of obstacles. DPG seemed like a pretty good balance to me. What do the racers think?

My thoughts on the classes:
A-class: Lots of rigs seem to be beaters specifically built for ECORS. Folks probably bought another rig besides their regular wheeling rig to race in ECORS.

B-class: Most rigs seem to be folks w/e trail riding rigs. Maybe low turn out is due to it being too expensive to build and enter a second wheeling rig for most people and be competitive, and others don't want to risk tearing up there only w/e trail rig that they have a bunch of money invested in.

C-class: Most rigs seem to be folks w/e trail riding buggies so they built them to beat on and love entering in events like this.

Just my 2 cents as a spectator and fellow fourwheeler.

I'm wondering if this series continues, if it won't end up being just A-class and C-class.

Rob and Ron, you guys did an amazing job putting on the race at DPG. Hats off to you for starting this project and following through.
 
I hope that B class can gain more competitors. I'm working to get my B-class ride together, but I just don't have enough time in the day it seems like....
 
In two races it will have atleast one more B class racer!!!
 
B class had the numbers signed up, just not everyone showed up as is expected.

We are looking at other ideas/options and will have a good B class in the coming races and for season 2011 :)

and drkelly, you are correct on the classes. That is exactly what we expected from the beginning. Class A would be somewhat of a beginner trail rig but figured most would have a "beater" to build and run. Class B would be a typical modified trail rig with a couple of exceptions and Class C would be the buggy racers and rigs built specifically for racing.


Short course is ideal for spectators but we need to make it fun for the racers too. Ultimately, this is for the RACERS! So, we must make them the #1 priority with course, etc. and then figure how to get the spectators there. DPG provided the opportunity to do both easily and I feel the Flats will do the same.

We do have a race in Spartanburg, SC, which will be at Carolina Crawlin'. That is basically our type of event taken to an arena! You can sit in the grandstands and watch everything going on at once! This will be our first arena type endurance event, so we'll see how well it works out. who knows, it may be a total flop for all parties! We'll do our best for everyone at that venue :)

We have looked at the entry fees and are taking the comments into consideration. Having said that, expect to see some changes for 2011! :)
 
If you're coming to spectate, get there early.

I know it can make for a long day if you have to travel to the event, but I ran into a bunch of folks at DPG that didn't arrive until 10 or 11am and completely missed out on the Class A race.
 
+1 on getting there early. A class is a blast to watch and you don't want to miss a minute of it.

I would definitely build an A class rig to race myself if the entry fees were a bit less. I could honestly care less about a nice payout for winning although I know that the prizes are a nice incentive for others that race. But if entry fees are lowered I'll definitely be running A class in 2011. Otherwise, look for me watching from the sidelines but I'll be there one way or another.
 
drkelly said:
I was at the DPG event as a spectator, and it was much more exciting than I expected. A-class rules! Those guys were going for it, and it was very exciting to watch. There are two things that I think might make it more exciting for the spectators.
1) More racers.
2) Short race courses.
Click to expand...

1 - I'm certain more will come - IMO it's really more a matter of drumming up talk/interest over time, as more find out, more will come.
IMO the entry fees and payouts are about right - there are no otehr racing bodies w/ fees as low as this already, and the entry fee is chunp change compared to all the otehr expenses of doing it anyway. I think teh bigger hold back is people being afraid of what could happen to their vehicle.
The fact is that only X% of people that are interested will actually comes through and participate anyway... so you have to get the word out and find those people first.
2 - IMO as a racer, the course was just about teh right length for a several-lap ordeal, but things were already getting crowded - we had to have only 30 secs between starts to even fit all of us in before starting guy might lap around. If there are more folks (hopefully) then a shorter course = even more congested.
I know that the crowd lieks to see people neck/neck, a little rubbing, but personally I'm there to drive and have fun doing it, NOT get my truck all beat up from other guys. IMO this is a race against YOURSELF (endurance) and keeping your head, not rubbing out other guys. Just my take.
drkelly said:
A-class: Lots of rigs seem to be beaters specifically built for ECORS. Folks probably bought another rig besides their regular wheeling rig to race in ECORS.
Click to expand...
Yes and no. I for one have only 1 vehcile, and in fact this is teh first time I didn't drive that vehicle to/from the race b/c I don't even own a tow rig. I know I'm not the only one. When considering what I want to do to my vehcile, I find myself walking a very fine line between regular trail use, ECORS ready, and still using it as my weekend truck for trips to the hardware store and getting to work in the snow.
Buying/maintaining seperate vehicles gets expensive fast.
 
I appreciate everyone's feedback.
Rob and I have discussed entry fees and rates a couple times, there are pros and cons to both sides. Honestly we want it cheap enough to raw a crowd, but not so cheap that "anyone" can enter. The thought here is if it is too cheaap people will enter vehicles that are not depenable at all and they soon become trail clutter. This slows down the process as you remove broken vehicles, and adds a degree of risk for competitors having a broken down vehicle on the track and generally detracts from everyones enjoyment.

I think we both feel A class specifically could reduce rates a bit, but as this is a points championship based on full season performance and points are based on number of entrants, changing the entry fees mid season does a dis-service to our competitors.

But we will certainly entertain the idea for next season. We will be looking aggressively for input from both current racers, and future potential competitors. Ultimately this is the racers series, and I feel strongly that if we make it fun an exciting for the racers they will put on a show that fans want to see. Take care of the product and the emand will handle itself.

B-class is a bastard class there is no way around that, but we ar working on something right now that may add 5-6 competitors to this class by June.

Overall competitor numbers are still growing. In both A and C class we had more racers this event than we did in our first event, and both classes had drivers who raced the first time who will be back but had other commitments this weekend. Long term we wold like 15 competitors per class, after 2 events I feel comfortable that we are 2/3rds there in 2 of the 3 classes with minimal advertising. We are consciously growing at a crawl pace so that the foundation we lay is solid and builable.

Spectator access is a challenge and one we will continue to work on, I hope that no one gets offended by myself, Rob, or our volunteer's efforts but safety is paramount. I feel fairly certain that if one of our insurance reps was on site and saw spectators walking across a hot track they woul order a halt to the entire event. None of us want that.

In the future we will be taking more steps to curb this, but in the interim I appreciate everyone's cooperation.

Please feel free to offer any suggestions you have and if you prefernot to say it publically feel free to PM rob or myself or email us ron@ecors.com or rob@ecors.com (tough to forget those!)

Thanks again and hope to see everyone on the 17th....
 
mmcj7 said:
My Son and I will be there in april at the flats. Has anyone started working on course maps or will that be last minute so racers can't prepare? Dylan if you need any help getting ready let me know My work schedule is crazy but I will try to help out. Ecors at the DPG was sick I couldn't believe how hard ya'll was racing. I will be there early enough to watch the first class next time. The only thing I didn't like was in the b class race I was crossing the track after all 3 racers were past and one of the track guys screamed at my son and me, but I understand that was his job and I stayed calm and walked down to the 1 crossing. I would like to get into ecors and I do have a cj5 sitting down in the woods.
Click to expand...
Probably gonna be working on the ole xj some thurs and friday, here in mocksville, give me a call.
I still have the Table Crawl prizes that the youngins won.
 
At DPG, A class was supposed to start at 9am. Luckily for me, they were a little behind on getting started, so I didn't miss anything even though I didn't get there til about 9:15 or so.
 
Our standard summer time posted schedule will be driver meeting at 8 first class race starts at 9.

But seems like everyone drags a bit in the morning.
 
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