IT United States Runoffs

[RussJones]

There has been much talk of having an IT runoff. I would like to put this to the IT community as a goal for 2007, and wondering what can we do to make it happen.

As all of you know, IT is very popular with high numbers of participation in most regions (more than National in many cases). Currently our "runoff" has been RA (the ARRC), with one regional race deciding the victor. IT is one of the most watched events at any race, you get to see your street car race and it is exciting. Even my wife enjoys the battle of Mazdas Porsches BMW VW Audi etc.

What would be more interesting to watch and participate than a true national event deciding the U.S. Champion?

Some thoughts and ideas; My years in sailboat racing lend ideas, when I sailed in a "national or world championship" we did not have one race but several. One race can not decide a champion, there are too many variables. So lets make it a three race weekend. Lets pick a track like Topeka where they reserve some of the track for championships so the locals dont have an edge. You must be invited, in your local region you must end the season in the top 25-? percentage to get an invite. Limit crew, so this doesnt turn into a show, and ruin it for the little guy, limit crew. Tech, top 10 places must tear down motors and show cams, bore and stroke.TV coverage and money; personally, I would be out there for the glory, so lets not worry about money for prizes, but why wouldn't Speed want to air this with ITR coming on board. Lots of modern day cars enticing to watch for the person sitting at home. Exciting to watch, heck almost every IT race is down-right fun to watch, bumps, spins, and as i said road cars competing in a true national high quality event.

Hope to hear from some of you.

Russ Jones ITS, NE region

[JoshS]

Isn't it a whole lot easier and more realistic to ask the SCCA to make the IT classes National? Although I'd definitely go to an event like the one you propose.

[lateapex911]

Wow..a lot to chew on here!

First, I may be biased, but I do think IT racing at the top level is prety good stuff. Better than a lot of what you see at the Runoffs.

But....there are, shall we say, some "hurdles" to such a concept.

I like the basic concept, and I like that you've targeted compliance...very important.

IT attracts both budget racers and those with deeper pockets. (Not to be confused with deep pockets, because while we might think Joe Speedracer with the $50K IT car and the fancy trailer is bucks up, he pales in comparision in the big picture). Assuming that the there are 10 guys who would submit to having the engine torn down is dubious. (I can't see myself going for the cost of a teardown for 10th place)
And thats a TON of work...skilled work too. Who's going to watch it, manage it...measure it all, and do it?? BIG staffing issues.

TV? Well that would be great. But don't hold your breath. I don't know all the facts of the Speed contract for World Challenge and the Runoffs, but I understand the Runoffs isn't their idea of a good time. They've given it their best shot too, but it just didn't draw the numbers. Heck, British Touring car is GREAT stuff, but even that gets hardly any coverage. Simply, TV coverage would be a pay deal...and huge money. The production would need to be paid for, as would the airtime. God only knows how lawmower racing does it, but they do. Of course, the production is a tiny fraction of the cost.

As for getting IT to be Runoffs eligible, thats a bit of a tall order. I'm not saying it can't happen, or won't, but there is a ton of history and lots of people who want it to stay regional. Honestly, I think it would be a smart move for the club...the Runoffs have a lot of races that are farces. 20 car fields...7 seconds between the pole and the guy two up from the back. Lapping in 6 laps. It's embarassing. IT would put on a better show to be sure. And SCCAs single best marketing opportunity IS the Runoffs...yet it is being wasted watching some claptraps run around going two laps down, alienating potential future racers.

Surprisingly, one point of resistance that HQ has regarding IT going National is the quality of the cars, and the age of the cars. Funny, but thats what I think when I look at Prod. Allowing IT to fight for a top 24 subscribed class position at the Runoffs would further help the strong to survive, and it would kill off the weak, which is the only way a weak class will ever be killed in SCCA. The 24 class rule is a huge step in the right direction.

I'll push...and to be honest, I already am pushing for IT to go National, but it's a long uphill battle.

[JoshS]

Jake,

Glad to see someone so aligned with my thoughts with a much longer tenure in the IT community.

Good point about TV coverage. It would cost a fortune. Who would pay for it?

About making IT national: the introduction of a new IT class is a great time to try an experiment with the concept without disturbing the status quo.

I'm also saying this selfishly, because I'd like to be in IT (I think it's a great ruleset, and with some really interesting cars listed), but I'd also like the opportunity to compete for a National championship, and right now, to do that, I'd need two cars. Unfortunately, I can't afford that.

I honestly don't feel that National IT racers would erode the regional competition that's going on right now in any way. Most National drivers don't have the time/money to run both a regional and a national points series anyway. Every National class is regional-eligible, but not too many national drivers that I know enter more than 1 or 2 regionals a year (I don't do any!) I suspect there would be a fairly small crossover population.

It would be SO much more beneficial to the club to make a fairly cheap new National class than any of the other National classes being proposed right now. And I can't disagree that it would put on a better show than a few classes we've got at the Runoffs now. I've already written my letter to both the CRB and the BOD -- I hope others will do the same.

[lateapex911]

Jake,

Glad to see someone so aligned with my thoughts with a much longer tenure in the IT community.

Good point about TV coverage. It would cost a fortune. Who would pay for it?[/b]

Sponsors, of course! We'll need to find them and sign them up. Mr Baker would kick a few bucks in IF the SCCA would lighten up on this whole SFI thing, but it will take deeper pockets....



About making IT national: the introduction of a new IT class is a great time to try an experiment with the concept without disturbing the status quo.
[/b]

Agreed....there are a few options...make them ALL national...it's actually the 'pure' way...treat the category as a whole. Would ITC make the numbers needed? Doubtful. OR, try it with ITR. But guess what...ITR won't make the show either...it (if approved) will be brand new. ITS and ITA certainly fit the bill, lots of good quality cars. I would lean to making them all National and let the laws of natural selection run their course.


I'm also saying this selfishly, because I'd like to be in IT (I think it's a great ruleset, and with some really interesting cars listed), but I'd also like the opportunity to compete for a National championship.....[/b]

I think you are like a LOT of guys. I hear comments like that again and again.



It would be SO much more beneficial to the club to make a fairly cheap new National class than any of the other National classes being proposed right now. And I can't disagree that it would put on a better show than a few classes we've got at the Runoffs now. EverI've already written my letter to both the CRB and the BOD -- I hope others will do the same.
[/b]

There are other possible benefits. As it stands, many National races are jokes with guys going out and running the absolute minimum distance then pulling off the track, just to make it to the show. Why? Because there isn't enough competition to make qualifying a challenge. Does the club want guys who run half races and pull over? I don't. Having hungry guys in big classes means that classes with no compettion need to get it together or vanish. Better racing across the country.

[zracre]

as for TV coverage, SCCA should have an IT race as a side show for a Speed WC weekend to see what happens...I'm sure participation would be over the top...I would go to that! then televise it to show the public what they can do! (1/2 hour show should cover all the drama)

[Ken Grammer]

Gentlemen:

USERA is trying to offer you something real close to what you are describing through our Carbotech Endurance Championship. Of course we can't do anything about the "SCCA National" desires, but I think we are building a series that is close to what you want.

Our current format is endurance races, but we are being asked by several classes to consider adding sprint races to build something closer to the suggested "world challenge/IT" format with an endurance event and sprint races for the weekend.

If you haven't looked into our VIR weekend, I urge you to do so. Double races on the Grand-Am weekend which is close in format to the suggested World Challenge/IT weekend. The last weekend in September we will be at Lime Rock with their Busch East weekend. Entry fees start at $450, so we are quite inexpensive for such high profile weekends.

We are also working with several regions to build higher profile weekends. We just ran with Neohio with there 12 Hours and we will be running with Oregon Region in August at Portland.

And for 2007 we are expecting more "VIR-like" higher profile weekends. We are also investigating a couple of options for TV, though as was already pointed out, TV is expensive.

Please keep an eye on what we are doing.

[RSTPerformance]

Maybe we should have a National Points Championship that includes "the big race" from each region?

In the Northeast we have the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship... Very competitive and IMO an honor to win. Its not easy and takes not only a fast car but also dedication to the series.


Jut a thought...

[RussJones]

I think my original post and idea is getting off track. The idea is to have a United States (Canadians are welcome too) official IT Championship. Everyone is getting tied up in the National argument, who will sponsor, will it be televised, etc. Try to put these things aside.

I’m talking about a true championship, that you must qualify for. All cars are teched maybe before hand, and after. I mentioned TV and prizes just for the hell of it. But in reality, we don’t need sponsors if the weekend was a quality event (people will sign-up). When I say a quality event I mean; (three days in total) a full day of practice, next day morning qualifying, then a sprint race that afternoon, and two more sprints the next day, you win based on final points. If I qualified in my region I would be willing to pay a $600 entry fee for that kind of track time. Heck we pay $300 for a one day regional at Lime Rock. I think you’ll find sponsorship and possible television coverage will follow.

This event is about us drivers, being the best we can, tuning our cars, and winning a coveted trophy that says “you are the best IT driver” in North America. The thing I love about IT racing is its homegrown, grassroots, low-key, fairly low budget origins. That is what this event should be about.

[RSTPerformance]

Russ-

I love your idea as do many other people, I think numerouse people have "tried" to do this at multiple tracks/regions, the only ones with any sucess is the ARRC - American road Race of Champions. I think that for all intence and purposes this is the united States Champion.

In the Northeast we have the NARRC Runoffs, yet another IMO "prestigeouse" event to win.

As mentioned earlier tearing down the "top 10" is far to expensive and would certainly turn people away. I know at the ARRC if/when we get torn down we will probably almoast pull the motor as it is a biatch to get the head off the Audi... I certainly will/would do it for a top 3 or possibly a top 6 spot, but most likely would take a DSQ rather than a 10th place.

With ll that said though If you make it, and numbers/attendies are their then I will come, provided it is within reasonable towing distance and fits into my budget... yet another issue even witnessed in the "SCCA NAtional Series."

Raymond

[Knestis]

You might be surprised how little it would actually cost to buy the time on SPEED for an hour-long highlights show. And be equally surprised how MUCH it costs to PRODUCE it.

Last year's PCA enduro (at Willow, I think?) is a good example of how this sytem works - or the televised Summit 12 Hours from a few years back. A few well-heeled entrants got together, in the name of their sponsors (aka the companies they owned) and made it happen. They did the deal w/SPEED and had a production company shoot and edit the race (actually pretty easy for an enduro with a huge real-time-to-air-time ratio, only need one or two cameras). There was probably terms involved that gave SPEED the opportunity to shop the airtime to other possible show sponsors but much of the commercial time was the same as the logos on the cars that didn't end up on the cutting room floor.

That's how it works. We collectively have some misconceptions, I think, about how cameras just show up at "cool" events, and make a show happen on the telly.

K

[Ken Grammer]

I'm very well versed in the costs, having worked on several deals both with cameras on the corners (IMSA/WC/Miata Cup events) and without (in the format you described). And yes, the costs are different, but still substantial enough to take your breath away.

We were working a deal to have HDnet record/broadcast our Lime Rock weekend until they dropped the Busch East series altogether. Oh well...

I am making inquiries into the Grand-Am weekend since the cameras will already be there. I expect cost in the $30k range just to record the race... :(

Later...