The Order of Team Creation (Page 2 of 2)

No whiners and lots of cash.  That pretty well covers it.

Sounds more like an Indy 500 effort than a true to the spirit Lemons setup      I bet you could add a 0 to the end of that supposed $370 and it would STILL be less than you spent !!          you must show up at BS inspection with a beer truck for the judges or a calculator to keep track of the penalty laps                                                    youve got my vote for peoples curse already !!!

You know, I'd take you seriously, but, I won't.

Report back when you get your team off the ground.

I forgot to ansewer the question that started all this.  My grand idea was to have as much stuff in order as possiable when I entered the race.  If you show the Lemons people that you do indeed have most of your stuff in order and thus more likely to actually show up if given a slot, they will be more likely to accept you.  All the team info, a pic of the car (even if its not done) and so forth.  Themes and a well written team letter are always a good idea as well.

As a captain from a fellow rookie team, this was my approach:

Dreamed up the idea from reading autoblog and jalopnik
Called any buddy that was as crazy as me
Sat them down in a room with free BBQ and gave them the pitch

Out of 20 people, I came up with 6 committed drivers, and 3 good contributors.

We researched any cost we could come up with, and added 10-20%.  From the entire projected budget (not including personal safety gear and personal race fees), we split up the cost over the range of committed individuals, and came up with "monthly dues".

Of course, we had no idea if we'd be getting in, we already had the car, and the theme was already setup in our heads.  Like people have said, pitch a great theme and it's not a big deal.  (There's other things you can do too...)

Anyways, we started this 6 months prior to the race day.  By the time it was ready to pay dues, we had enough money and then some to write the check and we're still well in the black.  Splitting up the cost of entry way in advance was easier on everyone.

It all started with being up front with one item - If you treat this like an investment, you're going to be very disappointed. ;-)

Overall though, drivers of the car are spending around $1k-$1200 including safety gear.  Pit crew are spending about $450.

Let me clarify this as well...  My "pit crew" is not just a bunch of people waiting to wrench in the paddock on race day...  They've done a lot of legwork on the presentation of the team, from the website to the bribe packages.  The money they spend has gone to purchasing of things ranging from software design suites to hops and grain for the homebrew beer we'll have in our pit. 

We're all friends, and this whole experience was pitched as a way for all of us to spend a summer together making something work.  And as most of us know, there's more to this thing than just wrenching on a car with some buddies and some beer (although that's a definite highlight!). 

If I asked someone who just wanted to sit in the pits for $450, they'd laugh and walk away.  If I ask someone for $50/month 7 months in advance of a race and gave them goals to complete, it's a much easier sell.  (Easier on the friendships too)

We're all on equal footing, and everyone has a say.  We're having a blast doing it too!

Everyone owns the car (in hindsight, might be the worst decision). 

Food, lodging, gas are paid for...  The non-driver contributors are getting something out of the deal (software, etc.), but for the most part they aren't interested in driving, they're more about contributing to the team as a whole. 

I guess my best explanation is that I have friends with extra disposable income looking for ways to waste it instead of donating canned food to orphanages.  I will probably get one more tick in the "Send him to hell" book for organizing this.

But I did it anyway >-)