I don't know who the idiot was that called for a meeting in Atlanta at 7:00 on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but he needs to have his head examined! You guys thought traffic at the ARRC was busy, GA 400 and I-285 was a damn zoo last night! Oh wait, it was MY meeting...
Current plan for 2007:
Dates will be Nov. 8-11.
Test day on Thursday - it's a major money-maker for Road Atlanta and they won't give it up. Having snacks and beverages at Registration that evening is an excellent idea.
Nine groups on Friday, 20 minute qualifier followed by a 15-minute qualifier (all but Pro-IT), followed by the Pro-IT race.
"True" hardship warm-up lap on Saturday morning - requires a hall pass from the Chief Steward and will be ONE LAP only (enter track at Turn 1, enter pits at Turn 11). Two groups - open and closed - and it's just to make sure the car steers and stops after rebuilding it Friday night.
Eight ARRC Championship races starting at 8:15 Saturday. Not necessarily in this order, but current thinking on the groupings is:
ASM, SSM
ITB, ITC
ITA, IT7
ITR, ITS
ASR, CF, CFC, CS2, FS, FSC*, F1000*
ITO, TCC, ST*
SPO, GTA, LMSC, BP*
SPU, ITT, SRX, GTP, ITU, DP*
* - new National classes that will not be invited to the 2007 Runoffs
Obviously the groupings could change based on pre-entries, but this is what we're thinking right now.
Enduro qualifying Sunday morning, race in afternoon. Length will be at least two hours, but is dependent on what else we run on Sunday (a number of options being explored right now).
The other two big changes from 2006 is that (1) we will NOT accept new entries at the window and (2) you'll need to pay your fees prior to showing up. Atlanta Region does not deposit checks until after the event and refunds PayPal for no-shows with absolutely no questions asked, so there's NO reason not to sign up if you think there's even the slightest chance you'll be coming. Ends up we've been killing our Registrars, particularly with last minute entries and money reconciliation, and this will help spread that work load out over a month or so. We also anticipate opening on-line registration right after our Labor Day event at Nashville, with a deadline of Oct. 15 if you want to be listed in the "Spectator Guide" (which will be much improved in 2007).
Looking forward to seeing y'all there...
Butch Kummer
2007 ARRC Committee Chairman