Originally posted by rjohnson999:
I guess you really need to do some work on your SCCA history. Anyone who thinks region officials don't matter reveals a gross misunderstanding of the club structure.
Regions, not Topeka or the CRB or the BOD, put on races. That's where the real power is in the club.
Your view of how the driver progression should be structured has been suggested before. It fails the fundamental test of scheduling. Unless, of course, you're looking to kill off a bunch of classes and get down to about four run groups. Other clubs doing this, like EMRA, have much smaller entries that are clustered much differently than the SCCA region in the same market.
Many tracks, and therefore regions, are bound by local use limitations. Those restrictions are getting tighter, not loser. Let's see how you'd do a complete event schedule that gives all classes fair and meaningful track time. Let's see how you'd do a schedule that allows events at Lime Rock to support an entry with sub 40 car/group limits. Let's see how you'd safely group cars at a track that supports 100 car/group limits. Oh, and throw in some sponsor requirements for big events like the Rose Cup and June Sprints.
Just the CRB and BOD? You don't have a clue.
Ok Mr. Johnson, let's analyze this response. As Mr. Knestis so aptly pointed out, your bias agains Regional drivers colors your entire position.
Let's look at the 'the fundamental test of scheduling' (I had no idea there was such a test). We're talking about adding 4 more classes to a Qualifying Race (they're already part of the Non-Qualifying races, so no need to worry about them there). Granted, these would probably be very well subscribed classes, and may require additional run groups.
It actually becomes a simple matter of numbers. Those classes that bring the most cars to the track, are the ones that get to run. It may not be popular, but it would certainly be more equitable. Just for an example, I looked at the April, '04 results from the Summit Point National. Group 2 (CSR/DSR/S2) had 16 starters (half of which were S2 cars). Why should a group that can only bring that many cars to the track get the slot over a group that could easily bring 3x that many cars to the track? Do you consider that 'fair'? BTW, you could have groups the SRF/DSR/CSR/S2 cars together and still had room. However, I do realize that this won't be true at every race at every track, so I don't hold this up as evidence, merely cite it as an example.
And your comments about tracks w/ limits doesn't really hold any water either. Let's use LRP as an example (since you brought it up). Run group size is limited to 40 cars, per the 25 cars per mile regulation. How is it currently handled for a National, if say, 45 SRF's show up? I'm pretty sure that only the first 40 cars to register, are allowed on the track. Sure, if you're #41, you can register, and show up at the track, but you're only going to get to run if somebody ahead of you doesn't run. However, I'm sure all this has already been taken into consideration w/ SM being added for '06. Pretty safe bet that they're going to get their own run group at tracks like LRP, Beaver Run, or Summit Point.
As far as the safety issue of what cars are group w/ what, there are plenty of races out there today, w/ screwy run groups (as the Prod folks how they like running w/ SRF or SS). And the response from Topeka has been that it's up to the race organizers to address the issues of run groups. So much for your much lauded officials.
Other clubs doing this, like EMRA, have much smaller entries that are clustered much differently than the SCCA region in the same market.
I've quoted this again, because after reading it for about the 10th time, I still can't figure out how it is germane to the discussion at hand. What exactly is EMRA 'doing'? If you're talking about the fact that they don't have different license grades, why should they, they're a local organization that has no distinction between cars, drivers, or races. And you lambast me for supposedly equating the Runoffs to the ARRC. You compare the SCCA to EMRA, now there's a laugh. Note: No disrespect intended towards the EMRA folks. They're a fine group (it's who I started racing with), that fill a need, and provide a valuable service to their customers. And please provide data to support your claim regarding entry clustering.
Just the CRB and BOD? You don't have a clue.
Please re-read my post, I said
drivers, CRB, and BoD.
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