Pro IT

[charrbq]

I've only been running SEDIV events for a couple of years, and only became a member this year, having moved from SOWDIV for the competition.

I've always wondered why ITC is excluded from the Pro IT races. No one has ever given me an answer until this year when a SEDIV official told me that there just aren't enough ITC cars running to fill out a class. Interesting, in my brief SEDIV racing career, I've never raced against fewer than 6 cars and normally at least ten in ITC.

From what I've witnessed, that would make a significant contribution to the racing group.

The curious part is that there are normally only 2 to 3 ITT's running any Pro IT event (that I've seen). Is that more than would be entered in ITC? I doubt it.

 

[Racerboy03]

And can someone tell me why SM is in a Pro-"IT" race? If they were worried about car counts, the pre-race entry list for the ARRC ProIT was around 80 cars! They should add the ITC cars for sure, I think car counts would be fine all year. I def. think SM shouldnt be included in the Pro-IT races, especially since they are going national now.

 

[RacerBowie]

Originally posted by Racerboy03@Nov 22 2005, 02:21 AM
And can someone tell me why SM is in a Pro-"IT" race? If they were worried about car counts, the pre-race entry list for the ARRC ProIT was around 80 cars! They should add the ITC cars for sure, I think car counts would be fine all year. I def. think SM shouldnt be included in the Pro-IT races, especially since they are going national now.

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SM was added to ProIT this season because they WERE worried about car counts, and the SM guys had expressed interest in running. The goal, as it was expressed to us in a driver's meeting when we voted to include SM, was to have 50+ cars in every race, as that is a big selling point to potential series sponsors.

The ARRC edition of the ProIT is an "exception" event, for lack of a better word, due to lots of people who enter the race for seat time, but don't run any other ProITs the rest of the year. I personally can't decide whether having those drivers run that one race is good for the series or not, but I am not in any way involved with all of the hard work to put on the series, so even if I made up my mind it wouldn't really matter, and I would keep my opinion to myself.

As to the original question, I heard rumors in the paddock this year that ITC was to be invited back to ProIT next year due to the increased car counts the class has seen recently, especially the second half of this year when you guys got moved out of the SM grouping.

 

[Catch22]

Per Butch Kummer, of the Atlanta Region Board...
ITC will be back in ProIT as of next year.
It was originally dropped because nobody was running it. Now they are going to try again.

Just in time for me to not have a car anymore.

 

[Sandy]

So glad I spotted this topic. ITC was dropped out of PRO IT many years ago and I think it was because the ITC cars running then didn't like running with the faster cars and quit running. Yes, we are proposing to put them back in for 2006. As for SM, we added them because they kept nagging us to include them. We haven't decided yet whether to take them out or leave them in for 2006.
I am in the process of developing a rule change proposal to ask for comments on proposed changes and to solicit additional rule additions or changes. It will be posted on the Atlanta Region website and I will post on this website when it is available. We can also use the forum to kick ideas around.
Sandy Pence, Pro IT Administrator

 

[Catch22]

Sandy,
After discussing it with Butch we took an impromptu poll of local ITC drivers at the track and came up with 6 drivers who were interested in doing Pro-IT.

Of course, that number is now 5 since my car died the next day, but thats still a pretty good start.

Just an FYI.

 

[charrbq]

Scott,
I don't know if you included me in the 6 drivers polled, but I'd love to do it. Running with the faster cars doesn't bother me at all...I have mirrors and know how to use them. I'd rather run with a field of BMW's than a covey of SRF's or a swarm of SM's. As a rule, most IT drivers are observant, semi-sane, and have read the GCR.