I don't have a dog in this fight but I've come to believe that - contrary to what we often do - it's better to mix classes that have substantially different lap times, rather than similar ones, if they are fundamentally different kinds of cars.
Jeff's point about the SRF's having similar lap times but getting there differently is a good example of why putting the spec racers with SLOWER IT cars might be better than putting them with FASTER ones. The SIC answer went as smoothly as any of those mis-matched groups I've ever seen. Of course, the SRF's are a pretty homogenous group, in terms of lap times. The ITS cars at the Festival were a very different thing, for example.
K
Kirk,
You make a very good point! Although, in my opinion there are at actually three different types of potential "problems" when I look at who I'm running with.
1) Similar times, but in different places -- When one is faster in the straights and the other in the corners, they are constantly in each others way.
2) Significantly different times -- Cars may be different in the corners, but I believe the *big* differences come down to top speed. This results in very high closing rates at the end of long straights, like T1 and T14 at VIR.
3) Different driving "styles" -- This seems to be the one that gets people riled up the most. I'm not going to point fingers or say it needs to change. We are what we are for very good reasons. There are some classes with very high subscription numbers that have spec cars. Most are very close in performance. With relatively fewer opportunities to pass and a ton of cars to try to get by or stay ahead of, you learn to take advantage of the chances you get. Other classes can afford to be more patient and may think twice before sticking their nose in somewhere.
In a perfect world, I wouldn't mix any of these groups during a weekend. Unfortunately, our world is imperfect and there aren't enough hours of daylight to do that.
The major growth in Regional racing over the last 10 years seems to have been in IT and SM. Production numbers are dwindling, but many/most of these guys and gals have been at it for a long time and have helped make our club what it is. I think it's wonderful that NC Region and VIR do this for them once every year. If that places one of the "problem" classes in with me I can deal with it. (And it doesn't in this case, but I do face this issue in ECRs and CCPS. I don't necessarily look forward to it, but I do run those races)
There are Prod drivers coming from as far away as California, and there are going to be a lot of them. Let them have their party. They earned it!
