Two40MuscleZ Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Tim...I thought that I would save you the trouble and post this for you. Well guys, this little post I was hoping would have turned out better than it has. Nevertheless, here goes. I was talking with Tim240Z about parking areas at this years MSA. It seems that in prior years, MSA has managed to plop our little "arses" out in the middle of nowhere, away from the action and where all the "happenings" are going on. A suggestion was made, and I tried to persue it. My good friend Pierre Perrot each year has a front row position for this event. He brings a lot of notoriety to this event. The question was posed to me if perhaps "HybridZ" cars could park with him in his reserved spaces. Over the past weekend I approached him with the idea. He was very receptive to it and asked the projected number of HZ cars, so he could request additional spaces. However, MSA was not receptive to his request. Particularly after hearing the name HybridZ! They just passed it off and said they could not give him any additional spaces, eventhough, he mentioned that we had already paid for space. I met with Pierre this evening and he apologized again, and said he could not understand it either. Anyway, I will be placing one of his stickers on my car, and if anyone else would like to have one please let me know. The other thing about this is, had MSA been less political about this, the stickers would have allowed us to enter immediately without having to wait in that long Disney "E" ticket ride line! So, here again MSA is being less than fair to us. I'm getting a little tired of all their politics. Sorry guys...but I tried! Secondly, the 2nd Annual Hybrid Hooters Rendezvous...instead of the event Friday, Tim240Z suggested that it be moved to Saturday. That would allow for two things. 1st it would allow us a one time trip there, eleminating the multi-trips from home. We could all chip in on a room and go out party then go and crash. Still get up and make it to the line without the additional driving time. 2ndly, by moving the time to Saturday it eleminates Friday rush traffic, potential accidents, and in general just being rushed. These are all thoughts, but we need your feed back if we are going to make them work. Thanks, VAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 BIG EDIT (well, delete, actually) of my post. If what John C said is MSA's true view, I see no need for a Boycott. But I must say THEY could have straightened this out THEMSELVES by being BUSINESSLIKE in the first place. As for showing up at 530am, well, that takes alot of the fun out of it. But I understand that's what you have to do to get the good spots and to be able to "Be together". Well, that's not how I'd run things, but if that's how they want to do it, fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I knew it had to be due to that certain member They sound like a bunch of dumb asses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillZ260 Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I soooo do not understand MSA! ... should have left it at that. Let's have a HybridZ event, can do it here in Tulsa, or even Hallett, good central local, make a weekend of it, have tech stuff, driving classes. We even have a Hooters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Stop guys! Let me talk with Kurt and see what's up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I'm not sure how things get all turned around, but here's the story I got from Kurt: 1. No clubs get a guaranteed spot or row. 2. All clubs are treated the same and MSA simply asks that ALL the participating vehicles for that club arrive at the same time. That allows MSA to get the vehicles all in a group as close to center as possible. I know at the last event the HybridZ folks showed up at different times which kinda forced us out to the fringes just so we have extra spaces for the late comers. 3. Many clubs take this very seriously (GroupZ is one), co-ordinate their members arrival, and thus get the good spots near the center of the event. 4. Pierre is a vendor and is given one spot in his display booth to display a car. He is also, informally, given additional spots near the front for his customer's cars because of his long association with MSA and the volume of business that he does with them. Pierre is an exception and DOES NOT have spaces to give away to other people. He has to negotiate with Greg for the spaces he eventually gets every year. So, there's not any evil conspiracy to exclude HybridZ folks from the event and MSA does not hate us. If we can get our collective shit together and arrive with some level or organization AS A CLUB then we should be able to improve our location. But that means getting their as a group before 5:30am guys! Last year when I arrived at 6:00am with my car on the trailer, GroupZ and a number of other clubs were already there in force and they got the better locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two40MuscleZ Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 Tim: Lets get together and try and recoordinate this MSA thing. Thanks VAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 OK, Couple of comments here... Man this really saddens me. Pete has been working on me for a while now over coming to California. He wanted me to fly in for a week, and just dropping in to MSA for the show, and the get together at hooters with the gang, Visiting a few of the members here, then running between San Diego and San Fran... Yestrerday I had agreed to it. Now I'm not so sure... I'm really concerned about a couple of things here... First, My apologies to Dan Porter, owner of HybridZ.org. You mention this site and half the time people think it is mine. You also mention this site and my name in the same sentance and you can get mixed opinions... For that, I'm deeply sorry and apologize to all those who have worked hard to make this site the absolute best site for technical discussions related to the Zcar. Next, Van, I know you meant well and it should have been recieved well. But the last thing I want is someone with Pierre's reputation to get tainted by the battle that I waged with MSA. Unfortunately, you mention HybridZ and they (MSA) think of me. So my apologies go out to Pierre as well... Third, and most important to me are Steve and Ian. These two guys are two of the most honest, and talented guys, with the best intentions on the planet. Super guys who have taken the SCCA Solo2 rule book and played it to the edge of insanity, while managing to stay legal. They will likely be fastest at the AutoX again this year, and they will likely get trash talked by those who associate them with... You guessed it... Mike Kelly and ZF Racing LLC... I do NOT want a BOYCOTT of MSA. They are a business and they are holding and hosting one of the largest ZCAR events in the world. It is their call to run their business how they see fit. We are NOT their target customer. Never will be and I don't see a problem with that. It was made clear to me by their buyer that they don't get a lot of business from HybridZ customers. Should you attend the event? Sure, why the hell not?? There are three sides to what happened at the 2002 MSA event. Mine, theirs, and the truth. Regardless on what was said by both sides, a LOT of feelings were hurt, I was almost arrested, and last years turn out by Steve and Ian was totally tarneshed by my crowing over it... It got nothing but bad bad bad... John Williams, a Man that bailed me out of the conrol arm problem when I had no supply won't even return my phone calls, and that saddens me that he would have to be put in a position to pick sides... This whole thing happened because I was trying to make a go at it with my dream of a business to get me out of the mundane job I had. It never should have gone this far.. and I never should have let them get to me, and I certainly shouldn't have acted unprofessional when provoked by someone else who was obviously having a very bad day himself. I surpased the goals I set with my ZF Racing project 10 fold. Rear arms weren't even in the mix originally, and we didn't plan to make more than 8-12 sets of fronts. We made $20,000 in gross sales of the items sold before it was said and done, so you can say I over shot my goal significantly. But I'd take it all back tomorrow NOT to have this riff within the ZCAR community. Come on guys, lets put this one to bed. Let them do their thing, and us do ours... If we rise above this, they will have to one day accept us for the work and craftsmenship created by those gifted people on this site... ...And besides, I don't know how much more "I'm sorry's" I can hand out before I just walk away from it all, all together. Mike Kelly 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 OK....So how's this for a plan?: ~~Have a gathering at Hooters in Anaheim on Saturday night (8PM?) ~~Stay the night somewhere close by (we can split hotel rooms and save a bunch of $$$) ~~Get up early on Sunday morning and get in line (together), and then go get some breakfast At least that we will be together. Now who will have cars there from the HybridZ ranks? Me Van Owen (I'll believe it when I see it ) John Coffey Who Else (for SURE!!)? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I, and the Club that I am associated with, enjoy attending the Motorsport Nationals every year. It is the one biggest events that we can justify the costs to attend. I like seeing ALL Zcars and having them all together sure makes my trip worthwhile. I own first and third generations and am in the process of getting a hybrid, I want them all there to steal ideas from, not necessarily to purchase items from Motorsports. By boycotting the event you are boycotting the Z community not the Motorsport business. So get your butts out there and help me build my car! : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Third, and most important to me are Steve and Ian. These two guys are two of the most honest, and talented guys, with the best intentions on the planet. Super guys who have taken the SCCA Solo2 rule book and played it to the edge of insanity, while managing to stay legal. They will likely be fastest at the AutoX again this year, and they will likely get trash talked by those who associate them with... No, they won't be trashed. I'll be running interference for them with the local boys and I want to trade rides for a couple runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 John, I appreciate it... Please do. They deserve a fair shake! I want to thank those who called me yesterday and emailed me last night. I appeciate the support fellas, means a lot to me. I won't be at the MSA event. I appreciate the offers of places to stay and cars to drive, parties to have and whatnot. But this has opened a wound I had hoped would stay closed. Thanks again! Mike 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 AAWWW come on Mike! Come out to Cali!! Even if you don't feel like going to the show, we can still have fun....lots to do out here and great weather!!! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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