Barriers to IT National Status

It occurred to me yesterday that, as much as we talk about it, I could *not* recall anyone ever requesting that formal GCR barriers to IT National status be removed.

To that end, I submitted a request yesterday that 9.1.13.C be amended to strike the "except Improved Touring" bit from:

C. Based on member input, a Regional Class (except Improved Touring) meeting or exceeding the participation requirements outlined in paragraph 9.1.12.A. for 1 year may be reviewed to become a National Class.

Discuss...

K

What does "9.1.12.A." say about participation? I have no GCR access.

What, beyond being able to participate in the Ruboffs, does IT gain by becoming a national class? I still have concerns with an influx of even more money into IT cars.

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Originally Posted by gran racing

What, beyond being able to participate in the Ruboffs, does IT gain by becoming a national class? I still have concerns with an influx of even more money into IT cars.

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Agreed, but that doesn't have much to do with why IT is specifically prevented from being National. THAT is the interesting question.

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Originally Posted by Ron Earp

Agreed, but that doesn't have much to do with why IT is specifically prevented from being National. THAT is the interesting question.

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That's an easy question, easily resolved through searches on this forum (I'm too lazy). We've gone through this before. Quick answer...

Early 80's, N Cali and PacNW started a new series, I forget the name (Prof knows it), the genesis of IT. Wildly popular. Regions/Divisions across this land of ours all wanted to start a category like that, but each had slight variations on the regs so it made it difficult for competitors to race outside their own areas. Divisions asked SCCA (in Englewood CO at the time, I believe) to publish standard set of regs for IT. Englewood agreed to publish a rulebook (each category was published in a separate physical book at the time, no PDFs!) but said that they would do it with the mandate that this was a Regional-only category, not eligible for National status. It was being done solely as a service to the membership to standardize the regs, with absolutely, positively no intention to make the category a National class.

And they lived happily ever after.

GA

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Originally Posted by gran racing

What, beyond being able to participate in the Ruboffs, does IT gain by becoming a national class? I still have concerns with an influx of even more money into IT cars.

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My quick and very informal opinion: With the advent of the Majors, Invitationals, and all the other BS that the Marketing dept is shoving down our throats, regional classes are quickly going to become 2-races-per-year classes.

Greg said it right.

...and that restriction was, as viewed through the lens of the time (from NWR, anyway) as a way to grease the wheels to get the category off the ground without upsetting the establishment of the then-current National classes. For example, Showroom Stock was having something of a resurgence so folks were reluctant to do something to put it at risk, or to earn the ire of that constituency by creating a class that might compete with it. Heck - IT was proposed largely (if not completely) as a place for old SS cars to retire.

K

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Originally Posted by Matt93SE

My quick and very informal opinion: With the advent of the Majors, Invitationals, and all the other BS that the Marketing dept is shoving down our throats, regional classes are quickly going to become 2-races-per-year classes.

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Up here in NER, I'm not sure we will even run Nationals, we''ll just go with regionals.

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Originally Posted by ner88

Up here in NER, I'm not sure we will even run Nationals, we''ll just go with regionals.

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good luck getting sanction numbers from Big Brother when you cut them out of their paycheck! :p

The future blending of the Reg/Nat levels will increase the ruboffs numbers, just by opening the door to more players. WE will take a look at that road now. College kids cant take 4 days off to race all over the country for points/ .

If the club voted and made it known that we wanted a runoff race or 5. Just by the cash value alone , it could happen.
I would suggest a letter writing campaign and maybe hope for a stand alone, 4 days of IT Nationals. Combine with a couple other regional only ( GTA) classes.

I am sure that a large part of the "no national" for IT is the lacking of specs for the cars. Tech is easy for new SS cars and prod cars. They have hard value specs, that are easy access.
But we cant even decide if the Audi has 38 or40mm intakes valves. Let alone actual OE cam parts numbers. Just the tech logistics are a large burden<IMHO.

Keep in mind that maybe 80% of IT racers just want to race their buds, at the local track.

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Originally Posted by Flyinglizard

The future blending of the Reg/Nat levels will increase the ruboffs numbers, just by opening the door to more players. WE will take a look at that road now. College kids cant take 4 days off to race all over the country for points/ .

If the club voted and made it known that we wanted a runoff race or 5. Just by the cash value alone , it could happen.
I would suggest a letter writing campaign and maybe hope for a stand alone, 4 days of IT Nationals. Combine with a couple other regional only ( GTA) classes.

I am sure that a large part of the "no national" for IT is the lacking of specs for the cars. Tech is easy for new SS cars and prod cars. They have hard value specs, that are easy access.
But we cant even decide if the Audi has 38 or40mm intakes valves. Let alone actual OE cam parts numbers. Just the tech logistics are a large burden<IMHO.

Keep in mind that maybe 80% of IT racers just want to race their buds, at the local track.

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Thought, is that not what the ARRC is nearly supposed to be now? I like the idea though, I might be interested. It is tough for a junior engineer as much as your aforementioned college kids to get that much time off though.

I actually believe this would not only be great for IT, but the club as a whole as well. It came up a while back on here..see thread link below. I never did write a letter...sold my car...wanted to get a new one..didn't work out, but nonetheless I still think its a good idea! I went from IT, to National Prod and then National GT4/GTL. They are all fantastic and I want to see them all do well, I actually think a healthy IT could actually aid the development of those classs as well...If the club has a more healthy racing program it will help all classes.

https://improvedtouring.com...ad.php?t=29510

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Originally Posted by gran racing

What, beyond being able to participate in the Ruboffs, does IT gain by becoming a national class? I still have concerns with an influx of even more money into IT cars.

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Nothing personal Dave, but I've never bought the cost argument. There are plenty of folks, in all of the other categories and classes, that have a great time Running Regionals, and don't have to spend National-level budgets, or worry about competing against them. Although, w/ the new Runoffs qualification format (and I readily admit that I haven't read through the whole thing), that may change. But if it changes, it will change for everybody. In fact, it may make Regionals 'less fun', as people may be looking for the easy button to get the points they need for their Runoffs' invitation.

To Kirk's question, I don't think there's any valid reason for IT not to have the same standing as all of the other categories in the GCR. I'm definitely interested in what the response to his letter is going to be.

And to answer your question Dave, in addition to being able to qualify for the Runoffs, you will have a larger selection of races to choose from, when deciding on your schedule for the year.

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Originally Posted by Matt93SE

My quick and very informal opinion: With the advent of the Majors, Invitationals, and all the other BS that the Marketing dept is shoving down our throats, regional classes are quickly going to become 2-races-per-year classes.

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What he said. This is what we risk in Midiv.

You IT guys should all write letters if you want nats.
Please keep in mind the level of tech @ Nats.
I am not up on the latest IT rules concerning washer bottles, chassis harmonics weights, horns, washer hoses, shifter bushings, cam belt covers, it goes on., as you know.
And you still will have to find all of the fact specs. That to me is the real hurdle, lack of info . No VTS sheets for most of these cars.
Many of the prior IT cars are now Prod, easy tech, few rules . Much easier to race and tech. Scale, cam, compression, done.
I would hate to get tossed for having the wrong washer bottle. But that is the level of ferocity of Nats tech. Be careful for what you wish for.


These next few years are big for SCCA.
The new money is going elsewhere.
The SCCA rentals are way down, even for schools. Other sanctions are moving way up on participation while SCCA has dropped.
Maybe we should have a SCCA PR guy at the Chumpcar races, handing out cards that say that two Chumpcar races will count for one SCCA school, and/or offer discounts or something.
Track hrs per weekend is still a big issue with todays newbies. We will have to improve that ratio to compete with the many options for track time.