Post #1Kim Banaszak (Cleveland, OH) wroteon January 29, 2009 at 6:00pm
The Grand Am Experience for Mazda Owners is shaping up to be an amazing experience for all who wish to come out and support the Grand Am Rolex and KONI series! Grand Am hopes to put on a truely unique experience for Mazda owners that love to spend their time at the track.

Here are a few of the perks that are in the works for the 2009 season. Each race will be posted with full details, but here are some teasers!**

1. Parade Laps (at select tracks)

2. Hospitality tent or indoor facility when available

3. Tech Talks with KONI, Hoosier, Pirelli and Grand Am Officials

4. Driver Meet and Greets (private)

5. Track Tours

6. Pit Crew Challenge

7. Crew member for a day on a Mazda team ( by drawing)

8. Pace Car rides ( by drawing)

9. Swag from series sponsors

10. Eric Meyer or another driver-owner will do a Grand Am 101

11. Crew Chef Q & A where you can get some advice from the leading crew chiefs

**Please note that all offers may not be included at every track or event. The organizers of each event will do their best to offer as many experiences as possible, however, not every even will offer the same things. All experiences are WHERE APPLICABLE and not 100% for every event. Please make sure you check back often for updates on what will be offered at what track.


Please note we also have a Face Book Page that will have information on it as well. You can also sign up for the Grand Am Newsletter, which will have information as well. We hope to see as many of you as possible at events in your area or region

Wicked cool

Yeah let us know the plans.... My experiences at previous Grand Am races have been fantastic.

sounds worth the drive :P

where the heck was this at Daytona???

^You missed it, cuz they had this going on there.


Marlon, good job getting this set up, looking forward to the next one. And I'll take you up on that "good word" to Eric Meyer since, it looks like I won't be crewing for ROAR this year.

where the heck was this at Daytona???

We had special tickets printed up and we had 30 Mazda owners that showed up. It started @ 10:30 at the Toshiba Hauler, where Eric Meyer and I met with Mazdaspeed Motorsports and Grand-Am Marketing and Promotions and we finalized the deal per se.

This is going to be huge, we need to reach as many Mazda owners and forums as possible. We will be updating this post frequntly, as soon as we have additinal information. Can a moderator sticky this post or make it an announcement?

I am sure Eric Meyer will be posting info as well...

I printed and laminated my ticket but by the time I left my computer to actually travel to Daytona everything was up in the air and pretty much called off...

Well as for Eric, his crew and drivers were more than polite and accomodating with info and synopsis of the teams success's and struggle(engine hunt) but as for Eric when I went to talk to he brushed me off and came off pretty damn rude, now in all due fairness he was searching for an engiene at the moment but he was the only one whom didnt seem excited or happy to see and talk to another Mazda owner...
I apologize if that sounds harsh but in all fairness thats just how he came off,,,

Eric is a stand up guy, I can vouch for that. Most fans out at the track fail to realize that the race is our job first and foremost. Eric, being the owner/driver, he has alot more on his plate than most. Believe me nothing bothers me more when people come up wanting to BS when they can obviously see we, as in race/pit crews, are hard at work. Not saying that was the case with Rotr8, but I'm just saying this in general.

I'm sure you would be a little pissy if you had to find a motor and replace it within a few hours. Not to mention the hurt on the wallet to boot.

Something for the South West people

As I stated in my introduction post, I plan Mazda corrals For Mazdaspeed Motorsports, well, we have partnered with Grand Am to bring you "The Grand Am Experience", presented by Mazda!

Grand Am noticed how well our LRP events have progressed during the last two years, so they tracked me down and want to move forward, by using our template to host events across the country. I can tell you that a lot of exciting things will be taking effect for 2009!

All of the ideas presented to date have been met with a lot of excitement, all of the Mazda teams are solidly behind the entire idea as well. Here is just a few of the highlights of our discussions.

1. Parade laps at all of the tracks (if permitted)

2. Tram transportattion for all corral atttendees (where possible)

3. Tech Talk with KONI, Hoosier, Pirelli and Grand Am Race Officals

4. Photoshoots with all Mazda teams, drivers, crew, etc

5. Hot Pit Tours

6. Pit Stop Challenge (corral members will be able to witness an actual pit stop from behind the pit stop wall.

7. Timing and scoring tours

8. Pace Car laps

9. Crew member for a day on a Mazda team (we will hold drawings)

10. Sponsor swag

11. Dedicated webspace on the Grand Am website, with information on upcoming events, ticket prices, etc.

12. Discount ticket prices


Thse are just a few of the things we have on the table and Grand Am is excited at the possibilities. We will be finalizing a few things during Daytona , so stay tuned for more updates.

This is going to finalized by Saturday morning, and we look to be holding our first full event @ Homestead Miami. Cory has agreed to work with me on this, as I am assembling teams across the country to volunteer and make this happen. Mazda was chosen as they've seen our corrals here in the Midwest and East.

So, we are planning a huge event @ Miller Motorsports Park and we;ll have a large event @ Mazda raceway as well. You guys will have access to all of the Mazda teams, SpeedSource, (I am crewing for them @ Daytona), Racers Edge, Dempsey Racing ( Yes, Patrick will be there, he has become a good friend of ours), Freedom Motorsports, Team Sahlen, Meyer Motorsports, Pirate Racin and more.

You will get to meet all of them one on one, no waiting in line, have tech talks with the drivers and crews, as well as the sponsors, KONI, Pirelli and more! I will keep you guys informed and if you know of any other Mazda boards, local, regional and national, please let me know and have them contact me so we can get huge numbers. Remember this, they came to the Mazda owner, not the Porsche owners, BMW owners, Pontiac, Corvette, etc, but us fo rthis program..if we make is successful, they may let the others come in, with out permission of course.

UPDATE:
Ok, guys and gals, here's the skinny on "The Grand Am Experience for Mazda Owners...

Grand Am has agreed to everything that we've proposed.

1. Parade Laps

2. Hospitality tent or indoor facility when available

3. Tech Talks with KONI, Hoosier, Pirelli and Grand Am Officials

4. Driver Meet and Greets (private)

5. On site lunch or dinner at the Sahlen's food tent ( usually reserved for drivers, crews and special guests)

6. Track Tours

7. Pit Crew Challenge

8. Crew member for a day on a Mazda team ( by drawing)

9. Pace Car rides ( by drawing)

10. Swag from series sponsors

11. Eric Meyer or another driver-owner will do a Grand Am 101

12. Crew Chef Q & A where you can get some advice from the leading crew chiefs


They are working on our dedicated web page, for registration, track info, etc....

We wil have access to the Toshiba informational hauler were we can print out schedules, have staff meetings and use as a staging area as well. there is lots more to come, as I just hit the main highlights of our program.


Looks like the Miller Park and Laguna Seca is as close as we get to Vegas this year. May 15-17 for Laguna and September 18-19 for Miller in Utah.

Sounds like fun. I will keep you all posted when I get more info!

Well as for Eric, his crew and drivers were more than polite and accomodating with info and synopsis of the teams success's and struggle(engine hunt) but as for Eric when I went to talk to he brushed me off and came off pretty damn rude, now in all due fairness he was searching for an engiene at the moment but he was the only one whom didnt seem excited or happy to see and talk to another Mazda owner...
I apologize if that sounds harsh but in all fairness thats just how he came off,,,

First off, Eric had not only blown an engine but a transmission as well and time was a major factor in finding and getting replacements for both. You have to consider that Eric is responsible for running the entire team, that includes making arrangements for lodging, travel, etc. He has an obligation to his crew, the drivers as well as the fans.

Eric, after the crisis was over, and it is a crisis when it cost $20,000 plus to run @ Daytona, that was just for the weekend, not including the test days...you can see why he was not a welcoming host..but that's racing and not meant to be personal attack or disrespecful to the fans.

Eric, went out of his way for the fans that attended the event, he gave personal tours to the members that showed up, got usinto drivers meeting, let us use his headsets during practice and the race, arrange with Sahlen's to feed 25-30 people, that he may have even paid for out of his pocket.

He cares about the fans and if you would have found us early enough, you would have seen that side of him. So don't base your opinion on a time where he had to get things done and there was little time to get it done.

First off, Eric had not only blown an engine but a transmission as well and time was a major factor in finding and getting replacements for both. You have to consider that Eric is responsible for running the entire team, that includes making arrangements for lodging, travel, etc. He has an obligation to his crew, the drivers as well as the fans.

Eric, after the crisis was over, and it is a crisis when it cost $20,000 plus to run @ Daytona, that was just for the weekend, not including the test days...you can see why he was not a welcoming host..but that's racing and not meant to be personal attack or disrespecful to the fans.

Eric, went out of his way for the fans that attended the event, he gave personal tours to the members that showed up, got usinto drivers meeting, let us use his headsets during practice and the race, arrange with Sahlen's to feed 25-30 people, that he may have even paid for out of his pocket.

He cares about the fans and if you would have found us early enough, you would have seen that side of him. So don't base your opinion on a time where he had to get things done and there was little time to get it done.

None of this was brought up when I asked him and his crew about it,,,,
I was even on your list ,,,
In my mind organizing this at the last minute was the problem every one knew that Daytona was coming up and it seems this wheole even was organized at the last minute...

[/B]

None of this was brought up when I asked him and his crew about it,,,,
I was even on your list ,,,
In my mind organizing this at the last minute was the problem every one knew that Daytona was coming up and it seems this wheole even was organized at the last minute...

This was started 3 weeks before Daytona and Eric, myself and another Mazda owner presented this idea to Grand Am, after we came to an agreement. Wuththat being said, we still had a 50% fall out from people who said they were going to show up and didn't. The only way we could communicate was through forums and that is what we did.

Sorry that you could not find us, since we have come to a meeting of the minds with Grand Corporate, Mazdaspeed Motorsports and all of the teams we can proceed. This may seem like an easy thing to do, but it isn't when you are dealing with several different entities.

Ask some of the people who have attended Lime Rock and other corrals that I have put on, the amount of work is unbelievable, but we got it done. This undertaking is now become nationwide and we have created a system where you will have access, not only on the forums, but on a dedicated web page (it is being worked on) on the Grand Am site, on Face Book and we're looking into local media access as well.

All in all, we are looking to give every Mazda owner a great experience, one that will be personal in nature.

I can vouch for Marlon on this one. A TON of work goes into each of these events. Marlon, Lauri and Kim put in a ton of hours for each event. Even with a weeks notice for the Rolex race at MidOhio last year he was able to scrounge up an impromptu coral for us 8 owners. We got guided tours of multiple garages and even had one of the ROAR Racing cars parked with us in the infield.

Eric is a really nice guy and you probably just caught him at a really bad time. He and his crew are a great bunch of people and I can guarantee you that your experience is not the norm.

I can vouch for Marlon on this one. A TON of work goes into each of these events. Marlon, Lauri and Kim put in a ton of hours for each event. Even with a weeks notice for the Rolex race at MidOhio last year he was able to scrounge up an impromptu coral for us 8 owners. We got guided tours of multiple garages and even had one of the ROAR Racing cars parked with us in the infield.

Eric is a really nice guy and you probably just caught him at a really bad time. He and his crew are a great bunch of people and I can guarantee you that your experience is not the norm.


Im sure, Im just bitter after spending around $2k to take my dad down there and there was no phone number to call and seemed all but canceled or unfinalized til the last minute, I was on the list and would have loved to have been a part of it,,,

I plan on going to the 6hrs @ the Glenn, NJ Motosports, and maybe even VIR so I hope to catch up with more rotorheads and if one of these events are held at any of those venues I will deffinately show up with my 8....

I might make it out to the Glenn the second time around...haven't decided for sure yet. Your experience at the Glenn will be much better I am sure. Daytona is just a pressure cooker and being the first race of the season I am sure didn't help Eric out.

thats fine and to be expected....

[/B]


Im sure, Im just bitter after spending around $2k to take my dad down there and there was no phone number to call and seemed all but canceled or unfinalized til the last minute, I was on the list and would have loved to have been a part of it,,,

I plan on going to the 6hrs @ the Glenn, NJ Motosports, and maybe even VIR so I hope to catch up with more rotorheads and if one of these events are held at any of those venues I will deffinately show up with my 8....

$2k dam thats a lot of money. What did you spend that on? the trip or was it for the event?

$2k dam thats a lot of money. What did you spend that on? the trip or was it for the event?

Everything, flying into Daytona from Baltimore and back, 5 days/4 nights for hotels, tickets, food, suvineers, etc, etc... x 2

Sounds great Marlon. Keep me updated on VIR in April and if you need an extra pair of hands let me know.

Bob

On top of what Marlon mentioned there were a lot of constraints put on the program by Daytona. We had to work around some of there hurdles to provide the schedule that was put together.

Overall with the time constraints and track difficulties we were able to pull together a pretty fun weekend. If you do come to VIR I would guarantee you would have a good time.

well it sounds like I need to come to VIR then...

well it sounds like I need to come to VIR then...


You won’t be disappointed if you go. Marlon is a great guy and puts on great events. We have to remember the he does this in addition to his job and personal time. So while we are getting ready to head to the race, so is Marlon in addition to organizing everything. I met Marlon and his wife last year and they are the best. We are lucky to have them representing Mazda owners at these events. Without Marlon’s corrals it would be just another race. Having a place to meet other Mazda owners, meet drivers and get granted access that other fans do not get, is a huge bonus that Marlon gets for us.

Ok, rant over
Bob

Any plnas for a corral at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in May, thats the closest track to me and I could convince many of the tri-state rotary club to come out....

If anyone is going to VIR in April I just booked a hotel room at Days Inn South Boston for 41 bucks a night. Can't beat that. Just thought I would give a heads up to everyone needing to book.

Bob

Yes, we will have this set up for NJ and every event stop that Grand Am has.

yaaahhhhhh I will see you guys there definately, besides the fact that it was a dust bowl last it was a great event to go to... and only 2hrs away from me....

I know that the NY, NJ and CT Rotaries are coming out for NJ, The Glen, LRP, VIR at this point, if there is any local, regional or national club we have missed , please let myself or James know, so we can contact them.

We have a great opportunitty to set the standard here, while we may not be the wine and cheese crowd, obviously we have earned not only Grand-Am's respect, but Speed World Challenge ( World Vison) as well.

So please just hang with us, as we get things where we need them to be. Bob, you can grill with Brian again, as I think that WC Vision, may be throwing us a Bar B Que @ Lime Rock on that Sunday!!!

Hey Marlon, you can count on my group...NC Rotaries.com!

Ill try to get as many of the Tri-State Rotary Club out...

Count at least one more in for the NC Rotaries group. :)

Count at least one more in for the NC Rotaries group. :)

Guys, I have created a separate post for attendees of VIR, please go to that post so we can keep track of the numbers and present them to Grand Am, so James, Eric and I can plan accordingly.

Thanks

Guys, I have created a separate post for attendees of VIR, please go to that post so we can keep track of the numbers and present them to Grand Am, so James, Eric and I can plan accordingly.

Thanks

link maybe?

beers :beer:

Laguna Seca. That's where we'll be. I hope.

link maybe?

beers :beer:

Scott, the thread is in located under this thread in the sub forum.

Nic

Scott, the thread is in located under this thread in the sub forum.

Nic

that was more for others to make it easy.. :) cant be to easy!

beers :beer:

link maybe?

beers :beer:

Link: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=165914

Marlon, I pm'd one of the mods over on rx7club, about setting up a subforum over there too. Once it's done, I'll check it regularly so we can add those who sign up there to our list here.

i dont know who you pm'd but dr kiljoy can do it

Thanks zoom, I sent one Neo, but heard nothing back.

I started a thread on the mazda3club forum. Hopefully those guys are interested...

Hey Marlon,

DRKSYDE here. Any more dete's for LRP? I plan on attending this year. Super bummed that Grand AM isn't going to LRP and I have been talking to them about trying to get them back. If you need any help from me, I will gladly lend a hand. Just say the word and i will try to make things go a little smoother!

Hey Marlon,

DRKSYDE here. Any more dete's for LRP? I plan on attending this year. Super bummed that Grand AM isn't going to LRP and I have been talking to them about trying to get them back. If you need any help from me, I will gladly lend a hand. Just say the word and i will try to make things go a little smoother!



http://www.grand-am.com/assets/09LimeRockprelimsched.pdf

Beat me to it Eric, I was wondering what DRKSYDE was talking about. I never even thought GA was canceling the LRP race. Sorry I couldn't make it up to VIR to meet you guys.

I think what Drksyde was talking about was when you go to the grand-am site and you select schedule it defaults to the Rolex schedule. This schedule shows that Grand-Am is not going to LRP; however, if you go over to the KONI page it is on the schedule. Just another annoying part of the Grand-Am site.

Ahh, yes I see. Yeah there will be no Rolex race there this year.

Bob,

I hate to break the news to you, but Marlon is only one small piece of the puzzle...

So you and everyone understands, there are 5-6 people busting there ass to make the the Grand-Am Experience for Mazda Owners a success. The 3 people that should be getting all the recognition here are James Patanio, Eric Meyer, and Steve Focazio (of Grand-Am).

- Marlon's not the one putting these on.
- We all have jobs too.
- He is not organizing everything, he's organizing very little, he just has the mouth to talk about it.
- I met them last year too at Sebring, whoopdy doo.
- This is not just Marlon's corral.
- Marlon isn't getting the corral for you, Grand-Am is.

Ok, rant over
Mike



You won’t be disappointed if you go. Marlon is a great guy and puts on great events. We have to remember the he does this in addition to his job and personal time. So while we are getting ready to head to the race, so is Marlon in addition to organizing everything. I met Marlon and his wife last year and they are the best. We are lucky to have them representing Mazda owners at these events. Without Marlon’s corrals it would be just another race. Having a place to meet other Mazda owners, meet drivers and get granted access that other fans do not get, is a huge bonus that Marlon gets for us.

Ok, rant over
Bob

Bob,

I hate to break the news to you, but Marlon is only one small piece of the puzzle...

So you and everyone understands, there are 5-6 people busting there ass to make the the Grand-Am Experience for Mazda Owners a success. The 3 people that should be getting all the recognition here are James Patanio, Eric Meyer, and Steve Focazio (of Grand-Am).

- Marlon's not the one putting these on.
- We all have jobs too.
- He is not organizing everything, he's organizing very little, he just has the mouth to talk about it.
- I met them last year too at Sebring, whoopdy doo.
- This is not just Marlon's corral.
- Marlon isn't getting the corral for you, Grand-Am is.

Ok, rant over
Mike

Mike I don't want to say you are wrong about what is going on this year. However, I can say that Marlon has put on great corral's in the past that I have attended at different tracks. I know him personally and I know that he is putting in some work on getting things done this year because of what he has done in the past. As for Grand-Am putting on the corral, while they may be doing it, a lot of the ideas for things to be done came out of a discussion between about 10 of us at MidOhio last year in a corral with some drivers and a series marketing director. Since like 99% of those things have been promised to be available this year at some point...I know Marlon is involved more than just being the mouth. And being the spokesperson for the group he is going to be the one that is going to get the questions asked directly of him. So please...no more ranting about a guy, or group of guys, watching out for us, the fan.

First off, I am not going to get in a pissing match with anyone, not worth my time, especially to anyone who does not have all of the facts. Secondly, the reason boh midlifer and Devilbois spoke up, as they have been to events that had nothing to do with Grand-Am or anyone else.

The whole basis of the Grand-Am experience is based on a concept that Eric, James and I presented to Steve Focazio @ Daytona. I was sought out by Eric and others, based on the events we put together @ Mid-Ohio and Lime Rock Park.

The formula that we use at these events, were adapted and expanded by the Eric, James and myself, at no time do I take any credit for any of this for myself.. At the present time, I am already working on other events, despite working 14-16 hour days on my real job, 6-7 days a week.

So those who are speaking are doing so, when the only support we had came from Mazdaspeed Motorsports and the Mazda teams. Maybe you can drive out 15-17 hours and attend our Mid-Ohio event, Lime Rock Park, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, Mosport and Miller Motorsports Park, Just a few of the tracks where we have had corrals, that I personally attended and put together.....enough said.

Damn Mike,

A little on edge? Sorry to piss in your Wheaties, most of us who first saw this idea of the Grand-Am Experience assumed Marlon had a part in it due to the fact that many of us had attended one of his previous corrals. I agree Eric and the others deserve more props but like you said Marlon has the mouth to vocalize it more. Eric is a busy man being an owner/driver so, I know why he isn't around here more. I and my car club look forward to attending as many Grand-Am events as possible. Some people forget that without us owners there wouldn't even be an opportunity like this.

-Nic

I didn't mean to open a can of worms, nor did I intend to disrespect anyone or not give anyone due credit. I was speaking about what I know and the events I attended last year Marlon was the key man. I was letting everyone know what a great guy he was, that's it. No other reasoning. I thought maybe it would bring in more fans. I certainly didn't want this.

Bob

I have to apologize for myself. I think it was some tension that was building inside and just got out of hand. I had seen very little of how Marlon's involvement at Sebring last year and again at Daytona made them great events.

I'm sure Marlon has put on great events in the past, and not trying to knock them. I just wanted to bring to the light that so many others are involved here, I want to see them get recognized too.

Be it the group from Mid-Ohio last year or our group that'd been working with Eric Meyer last year, the culmination leading to these events was something desperately wanted by so many people. It's inevitable that the event will be a success, but it requires a team of people communicating together to make it a reality.

No worries. I'm just a fan trying to get more fans to join in on the fun. The end result being fun. It's all good.

Bob

Mike no issues here, it is about getting people out to these events.......all Mazda owners are needed here......

Beat me to it Eric, I was wondering what DRKSYDE was talking about. I never even thought GA was canceling the LRP race. Sorry I couldn't make it up to VIR to meet you guys.

Sorry! I should have been more clear. I meant the GT series race not being there as they were in years past.

Haha, yeah I figured it out after I looked at the schedules from last year and this year's. No worries man, see you at VIR if you make it out.

Dang, a lot of testosterone in this thread. :)

Nic, don't forget to keep my group in the loop for these events. We'll have a stronger presence this year. Looking forward to April.

I have a conference call with Grand-Am on Monday, we will be discussing special pricing for Mazda owners and the corral. We will be having parade laps for sure, again laps, not lap.

Yeah let us know the plans.... My experiences at previous Grand Am races have been fantastic.