The Trailering Issue - Saving the tree while losing the forest

Our annual concours has come and gone.

We had 10 Champion division cars and 11 Driven division cars (a pretty thin field considering JCNA now has 42 classes, I repeat 42 classes ÔÇô but thatÔÇÖs another problem).

There were 2 trailered cars, both Champion division. So much for the 'sky is falling' Driven division trailering controversy. As typical of a good portion of JCNA membership, we can't see the forest for the trees. While we worry about the 'purity' of the Driven division with respect to the great 'trailering' debate of 2008, we have 21 cars show up for a concours with 42 classes, and EVERYONE gets a trophy because there is no competition. This year, of the 21 awards we gave out to the 21 entrants, 15 of those had no competition. THAT is the problem we should be trying to fix, not creating a mountain out of a mole hill about trailering.

After reading the ideas espoused by the JCOV and delineated in the Jaguar Journal by Doug Ingram a few months back, we instituted an 'Enthusiasts' division this year at our concours. We had 16 participants in this local division. Without these Jags, the field would have indeed been mighty sparse. The overwhelming sentiment was appreciation by those who entered this division, since now they felt they were part of the event, not relegated to some 'do not judge' display class.

We parked these cars amongst the Champion and Driven entries, making no distinction between them and the other Jags on the field. Their participation was just as highly prized as Champion or Driven division entries. We awarded 3 places for the 16 cars entered based on a popular vote by the all entrants. Next year we may have to split the cars into two classes because of the number of entries.

Honestly, the whole Driven division should be done away with as currently embodied. It would be much better to have ALL judged cars participate in Champion division and have all other cars participate in the Enthusiasts division. You are either judged completely, or not at all. And we should most definitely reduce the number of classes in Champion division from the current ridiculous 24 (based on participation) to something like 10 or so. How utterly laughable is it to give someone a first place award when there is no competition?

Any way, thanks again to the JCOV for the great idea about an 'Enthusiasts' division. EVERY club should embrace this concept.