So, really, why are autocrosses on Sundays?

quite often parking lots are available on Sun when they might not be on Sat...

i teach sunday school. so when i want to autocross not only am i skipping church, i also have to find a substitute. which i do for local events. since i can't/don't do this more than 6-7 times a year, i am not involved besides showing up driving(and working my corner, etc).

I work the night shift Monday-Friday so it would be pretty hard and dangerous for me to go to an autocross on Saturday morning. I Don't know about other religions but us Catholics have several well attended services on Saturday as well.

sundays is when most people have the day off. We (AMEC) held one last Saturday. Our next one will be on sunday. Oct 2.

Doesn't anyone remember the church of the heavenly cone?

looks like the site is still up...

When this came up in our region a few years ago, the decision was made to move to Saturdays unless there was no other way around it and yes there were several church going members who pushed the change. Lots of people have to work Saturdays, including me. That meant I couldn't make near the events I used to.

So now instead of conflicting with their church it conflicts with my work. Can't win.

ReverendDexter wrote: Honestly, though, and I'm sure this will sound harsh, but I have no sympathy. It's your life and your priorities. If church and AX overlap, it's you alone that makes the decision as to which you're going to do. I don't see any legit reason why some one can't do one one weekend a month and the other the other three, but I guess some Gods are less forgiving than others

I have to agree with Dexter on this one...after all he is a Reverend

Curmudgeon wrote: the decision was made to move to Saturdays unless there was no other way around it and yes there were several church going members who pushed the change.

Strange. Autocross is supposed to bring people closer to God; don't novices usually pray the first time they ride along through a slalom on r-comps?

JoeyM wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: the decision was made to move to Saturdays unless there was no other way around it and yes there were several church going members who pushed the change.

Strange. Autocross is supposed to bring people closer to God; don't novices usually pray the first time they ride along through a slalom on r-comps?

Only if they're riding with someone quick. Otherwise, they're slow enough that I can actually finish in front of someone!

Seriously..to the religious guys, try contacting these people.

http://www.motorsportsministries.com/

See if there's some kind of program for autocross. I met them back when I was club racing..but Road Atlanta has a loooong brunch break on Sundays due to local regulations (not as bad as Lime Rock, tho!), so anyone without big repairs to do had the time to participate. I don't know when you'd find the time at the average autoX.

And of course, since they're not your local church, you'd still be missing out on that stuff.

I hate to be cynical, but I find church to be a massive waste of time. I am too busy to waste 1/7th of my week, (and whatever percentage of my paycheck in tithing) to organized religion.

I find it hard to believe that "god" really cares if you go to some weird building every week to apologize to some other mortal that probably commits worse sins than you.

Give me a parking lot with cones any day of the week, and there you have a truly religious experience!

Here in NC we've tried the Saturday thing, and our entries were down consistently every time we run a Saturday event instead of Sunday. Ohh and there's a minister on site who runs a quick service(~15m) for those of us who feel guilty about skipping church(Yep, I'm definitely Catholic)

Tim

scardeal wrote: I've wondered this. Why are they on Sundays? Saturdays are much more convenient for lots of people.

Lot's of people? Sure. Most? I doubt it. Where I live, less than a third of the population goes to church. I know a lot of people that work Saturdays, and nobody that goes to church.

SupraWes wrote: I work the night shift Monday-Friday so it would be pretty hard and dangerous for me to go to an autocross on Saturday morning. I Don't know about other religions but us Catholics have several well attended services on Saturday as well.

Same here...Well kinda. M-F 1-11pm with a 1.5 hour commute (each way) and then an hour to get to the nearest auto-x in the morning. I prefer sunday auto-x's. Not many around though.

I thought the autocross was church.

I always figure we choose how we live, and we live how we prioritize our lives. If you choose church over some other event/endeavor, or vice versa, that is a matter of choice. I suppose the question is why you attend church and find that more important that going auto-x'ing. And no, that question is not as dumb as it may sound to some folks. Is church a time to commune with others? A time to commune with god? A time to network and schmooze? A time to make and keep up appearances? A time to repent? A time to help you feel righteous? My point is that there are good and lousy reasons for attending church, and I've found people do it for lousy ones as much as the good ones. IMHO, any time you commune with good people in a good way counts as church... and for some that means attending the church of the cone dodgers.

if NASCAR (with it's southern roots and historically deeply religious fanbase) can have their big events on Sunday, then why can't you go drive around some cones in a parking lot on the same day?

I prefer the Saturday events, and not just because of church. For the average autocross, set up is 6:00 am. That means leaving the house at 5 for the local events, or a hotel stay if out of town. After running, working and clean up, I usually don't leave the site until 6-7 pm. For a Sunday event, out of town, I then have a 2-3 hour drive home. That's a long day for an old fat guy. I'd like to have Sunday to recover.

JoeyM wrote: 1) Many people use it as a chance to NOT be dragged to church by SWMBO.

This.

I work every Saturday so it's great for me but I realize I am the exception. Also Sunday is a day of rest and although I may be hard pressed to argue that an autocross is restful (not!!) it is at least recreational.

The old Sunday laws kept businesses closed on Sunday's so empty parking lots were plentiful. As a Seventh-day Adventist, I choose to worship on Sabbath or Saturday. A friend, competitor, and fellow Christian worships on Sunday so we do not see each other often. Our local club features a Nite Series where we race on Wednesday nights. Everyone is happy! The format is to keep the same course for the season since setup, course walking, tech, etc is all condensed.

So if you ever visit Western North Carolina ...... http://highlandssportscarclub.com/

For those who are devout, Sunday mass/service/worship/etc. is the source and summit of their week. It is not merely some requirement to be checked off.

If I honestly looked at it, I'd say that the issue is that it starts on Sunday morning, unlike, iirc, NASCAR or football, which generally tend to start at noon or later (at least in their time zone).

Lots of us have to work Saturdays, so it's not an option. Locally both the groups I run with run both days though Sundays in one is a "Test-n-Tune" .

While not an auto cross, our ice races are always on Sunday, except for a two day event. You just have to make a commitment as to what you want to do.

Maroon92 wrote: I hate to be cynical, but I find church to be a massive waste of time. I am too busy to waste 1/7th of my week, (and whatever percentage of my paycheck in tithing) to organized religion. I find it hard to believe that "god" really cares if you go to some weird building every week to apologize to some other mortal that probably commits worse sins than you. Give me a parking lot with cones any day of the week, and there you have a truly religious experience!

You're doing it wrong. :)