regional road racing board meeting
We met last night, and I'm proud to say Jake Gulick and the Brothers Blethen showed up -- so this bulletin board was well represented. Here, in no particular order, are items of interest:
* For the April 18 Regional at NHIS, your first shot at Tech is Saturday April 17, 4-6PM. All Tech sessions at the track before then will be for school cars and instructors only. On race day, Tech opens at 7:30.
* On April 18, there will be child care available at NHIS; a highly qualified provider has volunteered, bless her. It's an experimental program with a "soft" launch to gauge interest. I think you'll hear more about the program in an upcoming mailing. Oh, and it's free. I asked if I could drop my kids off in April and pick 'em up in October, but no dice.
* One note on the NHIS school: there is much skepticism about the double-school concept in certain circles, and as a result there *will* be observers there making sure students get 3 hours of track time per day, as required. So if you're taking the school, crewing, instructing, etc., expect a couple of very full days.
* We are probably going to experiment with "split" starts (using 2 pace cars and dividing cars by class) at the April NHIS race, *but only in the small-bore group that has requested it.* I mention this because if split starts work, they might be worth considering for our traditional ITS/ITB and ITA/ITC run groups. Keep in mind, though, that this is all very up-in-the-air and does not affect us right now.
* There's been some sort of palace coup in New Jersey Region SCCA. Executives tarred and feathered, new execs replacing them, etc. Upshot: NNJR will no longer officially staff Lime Rock Pro races, specifically Memorial Day Weekend and the July 4 Weekend Busch North race. The responsibility thus falls to NER, in conjunction with NYR and Mohud. (Keep in mind that many NNJR workers will be there; it's just that the region won't "own" the event.) This is of course a huge additional workload for our volunteers. I'm sure any driver who wants to work either event will be welcomed with open arms.
* Some of you asked if we could switch the Enduro (Saturday) and the Regional (Sunday) scheduled for Aug. 28-29 at NHIS. You were concerned that the enduro beats up on your cars and could even force you to miss Sunday's points-paying event. The board was sympathetic, and I'm glad the issue was raised because it seemed as if nobody had considered this before (which is why it's a good idea for drivers to attend these meetings). However, the schedule has already been published in some places, and many Enduro competitors travel a long way for the race (so giving them Sunday to get home is a nice touch). There will be no change this year. Next year, we'll consider running the Regional on Saturday.
* Finally, one intriguing note about the July 4 Busch North weekend: One of the planned supporting races has pulled out -- the series went belly-up, actually. So they're looking to add a supporting race. Among the options being considered: Pro Spec Miata and Spec Miata. All very preliminary, stay tuned, etc.
/Steve U
05 ITS
