Have never been able to make Bowling Green but with the theme for original owners this year, I want to be there in May. Looking for tips and help about where to stay and are there hotels where other orig guys will be staying. Other club nat's I have attended have a host hotel but I understand all are miles from the track. I have talked with Richard Lasseter and he is all for us talking and working out anything that works for all involved. Is there any advantage to trying to stay in the same hotel or close together? Also, can a novice make a run on the track, just for fun? Have not tried it before and car is more show than race. Like street tires (polyglas) and all. Still would be a thrill, just once.
i dont know about the motels but ...... last year on the test and tune day you can run down the track for 5-10 dollars you will need a helmet if your car is faster than 14 sec. scott
You should join the GS Club, dues are only $40 for a year and the event and hotel information is printed in the club news letter well in advance of the event. http://www.buickgsca.com/
agree GSCA is good value. have been a member for many years and that is why I called Richard Lasseter with this suggestion. He explained that there isn't a host hotel. It was his suggestion I post the question here to see if I could find out where others stay and why they like that one.
A list of some hotels in Bowling Green is available at the GSCA website, as someone mentioned in a previous post, they did not recommend the Comfort Inn. http://www.gsnationals.com/gs_nationals_hotels.htm
Where did you see the news of original owners? My dad is the original owner of his GSX and he may be interested. Thanks, Mark
read this in the newsletter. so wanted to see if orig owners were going to be able to get together. called Richard and he suggested I see if orig wanted to try to stay together for the event. Please tell your Dad that Iam going and want to meet others here
How did you race for 5-10 dollars? You have to be a member $40, or pay a non member fee of $50? Registration fee of $50? and $30 or so per day to race.
That's a whole lot of money to race your car. I think that may be why attendance is low in this economy.
I'm with Jim. Anyone who attends the Nat's does not go away asking themselves where their money went, they go away looking forward to the same event next year. This goes at least double if you take your car. A good time is always had by all. Randy
Sorry but I'm still tweaked about last year. We always come with two cars and about 10 people. Last year two extra spectators came with us at the last minute and when we added them at the ticket tent we got charged the non pre-registered price. We mailed $550 dollars or so of money two months in advance and two extra spectators get charged extra for not pre-registering. ou: There's a couple of other issues but this one is the proverbial straw..... The Nats is twice as much money as any other race we go to and when they try and milk that last $20 out of someone who has attended 16 of the last 20 years it starts to get really aggravating. I wasn't trying to be critical I was trying to inform a fellow poster of the cost associated with bringing a car to the Nats or figure out how I could do it for $10 like someone mentioned. He can make his own choice on whether or not to go but this forum is about getting the information out. I'm not trying to hijack the thread but I don't think "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" is right either. Constructive observations can be a learning opportunity to maybe adjust policies that unknowingly aggravate long time customers or can be ignored and lose $600 worth of attendees each year.
I've been attending the GSCA Nats for many many years. It always is great to see old friends, but when it became a money grabbing who cares about you event, that's when I took my hard earned money elsewhere. When you feel like you are being taken for a ride moneywise, that's when the fun ends for me and my friends. Just ask some of the racers how long it takes to get their payouts. Maybe that's why attendance has gone down drastically in the past years. I go where they make me feel welcome, not to where I feel like I've been held up.
The good old days of the GSCA are long gone. I too have dropped my membership for the same reasons. The Stage1 reunion will bring record attendance to the next BPG event. Dave
We attended both events this year, and I can tell you we had to spend a LOT more at the BPG even than at the GSCA event...but that being said- its not about money, its about getting to see like minded people who you may only get to see one time in the whole year...and you cannot put a price on the friendships we have made through both events. Our family has made the Nationals in Bowling Green a family vacation for the last 3 years, Dad, Tim and I work together but never get to just hang out, this year we are bringing the wives and children up for the actual race...barring another rain out, but the week before will be boys time and we love it!
since when is it a no-no to say something unflattering about the GSCA? i think doug made some good points. a few years ago i pre-paid 155.00 dollars to attend the GS NATS. 2 days before my wife and i were gonna leave, i blew the trans on my truck, so we couldn't go. a couple weeks after the NATS i asked for a refund. they told me their policy was to give a voucher for the following year. i said fine, no problem. well, the next year when i asked for my voucher, someone from the GSCA wrote me back and said they kinew nothing about a voucher promised to me. when i insisted they owed me tickets, the same GSCA guy accused me of being "delusional", and that i was trying to rip them off. only after i went on the GSCA BOARD and complained about the way i was treated, were they willing to now give me the tickets. i had attended the nats for 5 years before this happened, brought my GSX there twice, and spent a lot of money in bowling green. this is not how you treat loayal members of your club. you GSCA guys out there might not like this post, but it's the truth.
If I'm not mistaken, this type of treatment by the GSCA is what led a group of disatisfied members to form an independant club that is run by the membership and not by one person. That club is now called The Buick Performance Group. At least now you have a choice of where to spend your money. Back in the day you had no choice. The new club is operated with it's members in mind, with a say in how it's run. The BPG has made great strides in only a few years to try to keep everyone happy. That is the way it should be in my book. BPG was the first with a theme, now the GSCA jumps on the bandwagon with a theme. How about a member appreciation theme for 2010, GSCA? Treat the people right and maybe they'll start comming back.
