NARRC Townhall

[Andy Bettencourt]

23 drivers attended to discuss the 2008 NARRC format. Drivers from a great cross-section of classes gave input. Most impressive to me was the organization of the meeting. Note taking, white-boarding of ideas and real palpable enthusiasm from the Powers-That-Be. Although we are in a tough situation right now, that the future can be right if we all work together.

Rob Breault and I will represent IT on a newly formed drivers rep committee. I think I may even be the Chair of the new committee...Butch can verify!

If you know of drivers from other classes (open wheeled, big bore, Prod, SRF, SM, etc) who would like to be part of this, please have them contact me through the www.flatout-motorsports.com website.

I would like to host a round table for the IT group at our shop in Bellingham, MA prior to the first of two NARRC Committee meetings in November. Being prepared will be key to the success.

There is also no reason more people can't be reps. If you want to participate, please contact me as well. The more the better.

[Doc Bro]

Andy, I thought I was chair because you ducked out because you already held one chair. I may be wrong and I'm not going to fight you for it. It's just if I'm chair then you drive to CT (for Invisalign) not me driving to MA . Also, Butch put Dave Maynard in as ITS rep. . I'm really hoping we can get MORE great ideas from the body of racers to bring some simplicity, consistency and luster back to the NARRC points and championship.


Post thoughts as you feel inspired, we're listening.

R

[dtanthon]

Thanks to all those that attended the Town Hall meeting.

We will publish minites, committee members and keep NARRC rolling in 2008.

Keep the conversation and comments going, NARRC is a GREAT series and we can make it better for all of us.

Thanks again,
Darrell Anthony
NNJR-RE
#27 GTL

PS - That was August in Lime Rock on Friday? Felt more like October!

[Magical Trevor]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...08220336274374
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...85123907643331

[wdether]

Trevor,
Thank you for taping the NARRC Townhall and posting it on this site.

[Magical Trevor]

Trevor,
Thank you for taping the NARRC Townhall and posting it on this site.
[/b]

You're welcome. I sent links to Darrell as well in an e-mail asking if he wanted the original versions to put on NNJR's website. You're in the frame for some time, I can put you in the credits if you want (along with Serge, Kathy and a few others!)...

[wdether]

You're welcome. I sent links to Darrell as well in an e-mail asking if he wanted the original versions to put on NNJR's website. You're in the frame for some time, I can put you in the credits if you want (along with Serge, Kathy and a few others!)...
[/b]

Trevor, Thanks but I don't need to be in the credits. The Townhall was put on by the NARRC reps and was for the drivers' benefit, I was just an interested bystander. We all want the NARRC series to thrive. I thought there some very good ideas (timed races, revised point system, expanding on the tracks the series runs at to name a few). For those not there, I would highly recommend watching the videos. Andy needs your help in giving some good suggestions to the NARRC committee.

[Magical Trevor]

Well, I was half-kidding about the credits :P
But yeah, I thought that the timed races suggestion was a good idea, with the dollars-spent to time-on-track ratio becoming more important.

[robits325is]

any news for 2008 yet?

[Andy Bettencourt]

Nope. Hope to have a meeting at the NARRC or IT guys in which Rob will run. I will present to the NARRC committee in November, they will make the decisions over the winter.

[Tkczecheredflag]

Nope. Hope to have a meeting at the NARRC or IT guys in which Rob will run. I will present to the NARRC committee in November, they will make the decisions over the winter.
[/b]

Not sure what value, if any, this info has for structuring points in the future, but I found the numbers to be interesting to me:

Average points scored for the number of events a driver participated in, for ITA top 10 drivers:

ITA
Andy - 9.3
Joe - 8.0
TK- 7.5
Doc - 1.9
Jeff - 3.5
Greg - 6.5
Rich - 4.1
Chris - 1.6
Geoff - 4.4
Rick - 8.3

http://www.scca-nnjr.org/download/narrc-points.pdf

The most obvious thing that stands out, is the more races/tracks you run, the the easier it is to get in the money fund, with 20 bonus points available, of the 50 points required to qualify (Andy, Joe, tk, and Doc are in) . Keep in mind that only Andy, Joe, Doc and Chris will have competed in more than 8 races for the season - All other drivers 8 or less. My math uses all races that got a box score, not just the best 8 races scored.

Is there any (other) useful info?

[Andy Bettencourt]

Tim,

I love number crunching. What are you proposing with your math? You have to have a minimum # of events to be considered for a Championship. Otherwise, someone could come in and win one race and have a '12' average.

I think PART of a championship IS participation, I just don't want it to be unfairly weighted (ie: 12 points just to attend Pocono, Double NARRC for certain attendance, etc).

[Tkczecheredflag]

Tim,

I love number crunching. What are you proposing with your math? You have to have a minimum # of events to be considered for a Championship. Otherwise, someone could come in and win one race and have a '12' average.

I think PART of a championship IS participation, I just don't want it to be unfairly weighted (ie: 12 points just to attend Pocono, Double NARRC for certain attendance, etc).
[/b]

Andy - I guess I was wonder if we should consider increasing qualifications for Money Fund (I know it's not a ton of $- I think my first NARRC check in "C" was $63.00 - it helped me with my tire disposal fees) or reducing the the bonus point levels. Keep in mind that "maxing" out the bonus points happens by just "turning a wheel" on the tracks eligible (reminder that WGI is not equal player to Pocono and the others). So, I show, do a practice/qualifying session, DNF, and pick up 40% of the Money Fund (MF) eligiblity points - 40% or 20 of the 50 points. I was wondering if we should make it more difficult to max out the points (maybe add WGI to the mix) or increase the MF qualifications, and make the "pot" bigger for those who not only showed but did well too.

Just a thought.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Andy - I guess I was wonder if we should consider increasing qualifications for Money Fund (I know it's not a ton of $- I think my first NARRC check in "C" was $63.00 - it helped me with my tire disposal fees) or reducing the the bonus point levels. Keep in mind that "maxing" out the bonus points happens by just "turning a wheel" on the tracks eligible (reminder that WGI is not equal player to Pocono and the others). So, I show, do a practice, qualifying session, DNF, and pick up 40% of the Money Fund (MF) eligiblity points - 40% or 20 of the 50 points. I was wondering if we should make it more difficult to max out the points (maybe add WGI to the mix) or increase the MF qualifications, and make the "pot" bigger for those who not only showed but did well too.

Just a thought. [/b]

If the money fund is a sore spot, you could just pay out the top 3 - or the top 5 if they hit more than 75% of the 1st place points.

I think the solution is that nobody wants uneven bonuses. I would hope that in 2008, we have NARRC races at LRP, NHIS, Pocono, WGI and Thunderbolt. All or none could have bonuses - but I want them all to be the same. What does everyone else think?

[ulfelder]

Having never paid attention to (or been in the running for! ) a points championship, I've stayed on the sidelines here, but I do have one suggestion: How about offering a "bonus points Mulligan" that would give racers full track bonus points as long as they made it to 4 out of the 5 tracks (or 3 out of 4, or whatever)?

This would reward attendance, which I believe is appropriate for a points championship, but would also recognize the fact that this is amateur racing, and that many of us simply can't go galivanting off to the races every weekend we'd like to (such as Mother's Day! )

Steve U
05 ITS
Flatout Motorsports

[RSTPerformance]

If the money fund is a sore spot, you could just pay out the top 3 - or the top 5 if they hit more than 75% of the 1st place points.

[/b]

I like the Top 3 getting most of the pot, and 4th and 5th maybe enough for dinner if they hit more than 75% of 1st place points... although with the number of races I have never had an issue reaching 50 points as per the current rule.

Raymond "Thunderbolt?" Blethen

Also if you don't have bonus points for each track, then the way to win a championship is to concentrate on "your" local track and win every race coming close to the max # of races (IE: NHIS guy will win it all without going to other races).

What I have always liked about the bonuses was giving the 5th place guy a chance at the championship if they travel and do OK at each race. I wouldn't want to see that benifit going away.

A prime example of this is NARRC ITB for several years Scott Carlson dominating NHIS but actually being challenged by several people (including me) for the NARRC championship because he never traveled(s) much further than NHIS and Lime Rock once in a while.

Raymond "jack of all tracks, master or none" Blethen