thinking about hosting a "drift day" for the SE

[Hachi Kid]

hey, I live about 15 min away from Jackson, MS, and we have a this huge parking lot that we used to have autocross on for about the past 30 years. but it might have gotten cancelled indefinately for Jackson. the attourney general said that it can't be used without someone paying for it. so I told my dad about it and he said he rented it out for his work for a drivers saftey course for about $300.

so I started thinking, I could host my own drift event. it would be something like drift day out in cali except for pretty much the Southeast. I have alway been peeved that all the drifting stuff is happening either on the west coast or on the freakin tip of Florida. so I figured since it is only about $300, I will rent it out for a whole day and have a drift event. I'm not sure what I would call it though.

but what the reason for this post it, if I hosted it, how many of you would come. it would be in Jackson, MS. and if it happens, it will probably happen around next september. if it does good the first couple of times, I will probably turn it into a quarter-annually thing. like 4 times a year or so.

also, to the people who work at the drift day events and who book them and everything, I need to know what you guys usually need/have at the events to make it go well. and also to some of the people that teach at drift day events(like alex pheiffer, ect.), would you guys be willing to come down here and teach?

as I said, I get pretty peeved that these drifting events and stuff usually happen either up north, on the west coast, or on the tip of Florida. and I want the SouthEast drifters to have a place to do it safely and for begginners around here to have a place to do it. also, I can show all the so called "bandwagon drifters" what is needed to do to actually get your car to drift. and give them helpful tips on where to get some info and products, and setup tips.

I believe this would advance the SouthEast drifting world a lot and it would be in the right direction as well.



post your feedback please.














rock.

[mranlet]

If you want to have people in the area get good, you really need events at least once a month. The guys that get to drive every other week are phenomenal, but people who get to drive 4 times a year are still beginners.

At any rate, the first few events will probably have fairly thin attendance but things should pick up once word gets around that they are worth going to. If you host events in MS, I imagine that a bunch of FL and SC people would get into it.

-MR

[Hachi Kid]

true, how many times do you think I should have them, once a month? once every two months?



also, what would be needed to make things go smoothly?












rock.

[mranlet]

The frequency of the events is dependant on how much it will cost you. Insurance isn't free and I'd assume that the track isn't free either.

The lower the fee for the drivers, the mroe poeple you may have come - if it's $75 and people have to drive from 4 hours away then not many may come, but if it's $20 then people may be more inclined to make the trip.

If you could pull off having one event every other month for $30 or so and 6 gauranteed runs that ought to be enough to at least get people's attention. If the surface is nice and there's plenty of room to get up some good speed and have a good mix of turns and transitions and more than 5 runs then that will definately draw people in.

It's hard to judge these things because the more drivers you get the less you'll have to charge, but also the less track time they can each get.

To make things go smoothly, you'd need an organized way for people to enter, register, pay, set up pit, and run. The Drift Out days that DGtrials run go pretty smoothly, there's a pretty good explaination of how things work at http://dgtrials.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=949

I'm not 100% positive about anything, but try and contact the folks at DGtrials (www.dgtrials.com) and see if they'd be interested in funding events in MS. Erik's E-mail addy is erik.j@dgtrials.com but he might not be back from Formula D yet, so be patient.

I hope this helps and I'd love to try and help in the future if possible.

-MR

[Hachi Kid]

thanks.








rock.

[oldrx7]

I'm down (this is rob from wangan midnight)

Keep me posted as to whats up... and let me know if I can help out with this too.

[Hachi Kid]

np, this can also serve as a meet for the SE members of WM(your all from Florida anyway), drifting.com and GTP.net. I will keep you posted.



also mranlet, what would I do about insurance I keep hearing about? how much do you think it would be and what does it cover?












rock.

[Wickdmarz]

You need to ge the wonderful $1 million insurance...ask the operator of the Just Drift events. justdrift.com he has it and should know.

I think it covers million in personal damages to land and to persons, like for being hospitalized.

You need to set up some kind of contract between you and drivers, so they can sue you for damages made to their cars. Getting some legal advice is kinda cheap and they can help you in that part. Just have one main paper with the contract and have drivers and specators to sign.

Oh hey pm me and I'll try to make some kind of check list you should have for this kind of event...some things I can remember to going to other events.

[tight_corner]

post a pic of the parking lot

[oldrx7]

Originally posted by Hachi Kid
np, this can also serve as a meet for the SE members of WM(your all from Florida anyway), drifting.com and GTP.net. I will keep you posted.



also mranlet, what would I do about insurance I keep hearing about? how much do you think it would be and what does it cover?












rock.

I'm in Jackson actually

[mranlet]

Originally posted by Hachi Kid
np, this can also serve as a meet for the SE members of WM(your all from Florida anyway), drifting.com and GTP.net. I will keep you posted.

also mranlet, what would I do about insurance I keep hearing about? how much do you think it would be and what does it cover?

Yeah, it's the $1mil insurance that Marz posted about.

Be sure to update those on www.tamparacing.com and www.dgtrials.com as well - if you submit the information to DGtrials or Justdrift or some of the other groups that put on events you will most likely get someone who will do it.

-MR

[Hachi Kid]

Originally posted by oldrx7
I'm in Jackson actually

really!!!, you know the size of the Fairgrounds parking lot then. do you go to the SCCA autocrosses when they happen? I used to go to the Jackson ones, but they are put on hold indefinately unless the MS chapter of SCCA decides to rent the parking lot out. so now it will be just at Columbus and Grenada.

when I start learning how to drift, we will have to meet up sometime. also, what is your AIM name?












rock.

[oldrx7]

Originally posted by Hachi Kid
really!!!, you know the size of the Fairgrounds parking lot then. do you go to the SCCA autocrosses when they happen? I used to go to the Jackson ones, but they are put on hold indefinately unless the MS chapter of SCCA decides to rent the parking lot out. so now it will be just at Columbus and Grenada.

when I start learning how to drift, we will have to meet up sometime. also, what is your AIM name?












rock.

yeah, I havnt been in a while, but I used to autox a bit.