ARRC by GRM Schedule Change Requested

[Butch Kummer]

After looking at the Pre-Entry numbers as of 5:00 yesterday afternoon, I have submitted a request for the following changes to the ARRC by GRM schedule:

. Move DP, ITU, & SPU into Group 6 (with ITR & ITS)
. Move ITT & SRX into Group 3 (with ITB & ITC)
. Group 10 (FE) now becomes Group 1 for all Friday sessions

What this means is we won't have 79 single-seaters on the track during Friday's qualifying sessions and all FE sessions will be stand-alone. Both of these are good things.

The negative, of course, is that Groups 3 & 6 will now be more "cluttered" (27 & 17 cars respectively), but both are still smaller than all but one group. I'm not sure why the ITS guys are staying home in droves, but I don't need to figure that out right now. Right now I just want to put on the best event we can for the people that are coming.

This is not official until the SOM approves it, but I have absolute confidence that will happen. I will update this post when that approval is received.

= = = = =

10/25 - The RFA has been approved and the websites should be updated by this weekend. I'll also be sending the new schedule to all affected groups via e-mail this evening.

= = = = =

See ya...

Butch Kummer

[tom_sprecher]

Hey guys, what happened to all the ITS drivers? There is a grand total of 8 registered. The car count for the different goups will be 180 degrees out from last year. Out of almost 260 cars registered for the ARRC less than 1/3 of the cars are IT?. There's damn close to as many Formula cars as there are in IT. What"s up with that? This is supposed to be our National Championship.

One thing that comes to mind is, if they're like me, they're tapped. No mun, no fun.

I guess the Formula guys have all the money.

[R2 Racing]

Did the idea of what happened to the ITS run group last year ever come as why hardly any of them appear to be coming back this year? I know a lot of them were kind of pissed because it made their racing on track terrible. Might be something to think about....

I don't know, but by starting to bury the IT cars deep into varied run groups, won't it kind of begin to demean the event?

[Butch Kummer]

Although combining ITS with TCC was a regretable decision on my part, the 2007 schedule has been out for two months with ITR & ITS as stand-alone sessions so I don't buy the theory that guys are still ticked about last year. Let me know if I'm wrong and how we can make up for that.

As far as "starting to bury the IT cars deep into varied run groups", let's look at the numbers as of 5:00 yesterday afternoon:

Group 3 - ITB (16) + ITC (6) = 22 total
Group 5 - IT7 (9) + ITA (31) = 40 total
Group 6 - ITR (2) + ITS (8) = 10 total

Adding the 4 ITT's and 1 SRX into Group 3 still keeps it an IT-centric group. Granted the 7 SPU cars in Group 6 dilutes the product there, but 17 cars total is still the smallest run group out there. And 31 ITA cars are still signed up, so how come I didn't piss THOSE guys off?

I'm willing to listen to why guys are staying home and be as flexible as possible, but I also need to make sure the event stays financially viable for Atlanta Region.

BK

[dj10]

Although combining ITS with TCC was a regretable decision on my part, the 2007 schedule has been out for two months with ITR & ITS as stand-alone sessions so I don't buy the theory that guys are still ticked about last year. Let me know if I'm wrong and how we can make up for that.

As far as "starting to bury the IT cars deep into varied run groups", let's look at the numbers as of 5:00 yesterday afternoon:

Group 3 - ITB (16) + ITC (6) = 22 total
Group 5 - IT7 (9) + ITA (31) = 40 total
Group 6 - ITR (2) + ITS (8) = 10 total

Adding the 4 ITT's and 1 SRX into Group 3 still keeps it an IT-centric group. Granted the 7 SPU cars in Group 6 dilutes the product there, but 17 cars total is still the smallest run group out there. And 31 ITA cars are still signed up, so how come I didn't piss THOSE guys off?

I'm willing to listen to why guys are staying home and be as flexible as possible, but I also need to make sure the event stays financially viable for Atlanta Region.

BK [/b]

BK, might be the economy, things are slowing down up here.

[924Guy]

As far as "starting to bury the IT cars deep into varied run groups", let's look at the numbers as of 5:00 yesterday afternoon:

Group 3 - ITB (16) + ITC (6) = 22 total
Group 5 - IT7 (9) + ITA (31) = 40 total
Group 6 - ITR (2) + ITS (8) = 10 total

Adding the 4 ITT's and 1 SRX into Group 3 still keeps it an IT-centric group. Granted the 7 SPU cars in Group 6 dilutes the product there, but 17 cars total is still the smallest run group out there. And 31 ITA cars are still signed up, so how come I didn't piss THOSE guys off?

I'm willing to listen to why guys are staying home and be as flexible as possible, but I also need to make sure the event stays financially viable for Atlanta Region.

BK
[/b]

I can't say I'm too fond of throwing in the SRX and ITT's in with us, but knowing it's only 5 cars does help make it more palatable! I have an idea where the SRX's would be; how do the ITT's stack up in speed relative to the regular IT classes? I haven't been to the SE yet, so have no idea how they compare to what I'm used to...

[Butch Kummer]

ARRC Track Records:

ITB - 1:47.916
ITC - 1:49.998
ITT - 1:51.157
SRX - 1:51.136

ITR - n/a
ITS - 1:39.914
SPU - 1:35.021

[jinxcrx]

Butch.....
Any type of "split start" in that ITB, ITC, ITT, SRX group?
At least split the "B" group from the rest so we (ITC)
can have a real race not cluttered in the middle.
Thanks for your consideration......Jinx

[Butch Kummer]

Split starts are allowed by the Supps and I'm a fan of them at this event. It's up to the Chief Steward and I'm sure she (Sue Roethel) will want to see the actual turn-outs and qualifying times before making a final decision, but I will lobby heavily in favor of them in most groups.

[CaptainWho]

Chief Steward ... (Sue Roethel)[/b]

OK, boys, you don't want to get called to the tower during the ARRC this year ... Sue will roast your hide if you earned it. She's one of my SCCA heroes.

[924Guy]

Butch.....
Any type of "split start" in that ITB, ITC, ITT, SRX group?
At least split the "B" group from the rest so we (ITC)
can have a real race not cluttered in the middle.
Thanks for your consideration......Jinx
[/b]

Agreed, I'd definitely support this...

[jmark]

There are a good number of ITS cars running at VIR this weekend. Not sure why they are not doing the ARRC. Maybe I can talk Greg I. into running the ITS Z.

[Butch Kummer]

The RFA has been approved, and the schedule on both DLB and the ARRC website should be updated by this evening. Once that's done in both places, I will send out an e-mail to all drivers affected (old Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, & 10) to let them know as well. Group 4 is affected least, but at least they'll be glad to know their sessions are less cluttered.

BK