St. Louis Region Regional/National/IT Tour March 28 & 29

[FireballPhil]

Paul, I personally enjoyed working with the SE guys for the dual points race at NSS in '07. I was able to win the MidAm GTL championship. The reason why it didn't happen the next year was that NSS wanted to change the date and that date was on top of an HPT date and I was not going to conflict with them like that. As of right now, we here in Memphis are having an extremely difficult time building the worker pool. I don't expect that we will have any races at all this year unless we can come up with a worker miracle of some sort. I would very much like to work with NSS again. BTW, Bill D. sold his car last fall and I don't know what he is going to do now. My whole intent was to the eastern part of the Midiv another place to race that wasn't such a far tow. The attendance was somewhat low but I believe that we could have built on it. If my car is ready I will be there this June also.

[buldogge]

Any chance of doing a joint venture at Memphis instead of Nashville? If Phil could draw from a SE worker pool as well perhaps it could work. Also, it would make for some nice competition with the SE guys. Randy and AL Murdock usually come to Memphis...would be nice to have some thicker fields.

ps...Travis and Gary...I agree 100%...In fact, I have decided (much like the last few years) not to take part in an attendance championship. While I am signed up for GIR (8 miles/practice/home track/etc.) I will not attend any MiDiv races (away from GIR) that do not have at least a few ITS entries. Unfortunately, that makes me part of the problem in the end...its a cyclical issue.

[pballance]

Paul, I personally enjoyed working with the SE guys for the dual points race at NSS in '07. I was able to win the MidAm GTL championship. The reason why it didn't happen the next year was that NSS wanted to change the date and that date was on top of an HPT date and I was not going to conflict with them like that. As of right now, we here in Memphis are having an extremely difficult time building the worker pool. I don't expect that we will have any races at all this year unless we can come up with a worker miracle of some sort. I would very much like to work with NSS again. BTW, Bill D. sold his car last fall and I don't know what he is going to do now. My whole intent was to the eastern part of the Midiv another place to race that wasn't such a far tow. The attendance was somewhat low but I believe that we could have built on it. If my car is ready I will be there this June also.

Phil, I will talk with the Race Chair and RE's in the next few days. I am traveling today but will follow up. Do you know if there is a conflicting Middiv race on June 27-28? BTW this year NSS includes a test day on Friday and they have improved the curbing since the last combined race there. Transition from the front straight can still be rough if you go too deep.

Memphis is high on my list of places to race this year.

[tnord]

Memphis is high on my list of places to race this year.

i have to ask.....why? proximity?

[IPRESS]

Here is my opinion (which everybody has):
Memphis is a fun track and usually doesn't see a lot of car-nage. If you pay attention to entry into "Grant's Tomb" you are ok and the rest of the track has runoff area. So in the grand scheme of things it is what I call a pretty safe venue. It is not RAtlanta or RAmerica..or even Texas World, but it does have some good things going for it.
1. It is pretty easy to get up to decent speed in a short time.
2. The paddock area is paved and close to everything.
3. The officals are some of the friendliest in club racing.
4. Always great BBQ is served at the worker / racer party.
5. Easy access to and from roads out of town without being right on a freeway.
6. From Grant's Tomb down the dragstrip thru the Carrousel to the Ms is a fun series of straights and turns. The 90s offer a late brake zone, and the guys who nail the Tomb entry usually win.
7. Tech is done pretty well and I don't remember a bunch of controversy coming up.
8. BBQ is very good (OH Sorry for the repeat)
9. Registration is very fast compared to some SCCA venues.
10. Running a bunch of different lines thru the Carrousel is possible, and very likely so you get some racy racing going on there. (Huge amount of runoff so folks will go hard thru that section of the track and it is fun.)

No Memphis is not Laguna Seca, but it is a place that you can usually have a fun / EASY weekend and come away with very little body work needed. It's a good 8 hour tow, but I go just about every time they race if I can. (I think it is the BBQ that traps me!)

[pballance]

i have to ask.....why? proximity?

Yup, you hit the nail on the head. Roughly 3.5 hours for me. Sure, its not a RA, MO, Barber, <insert track> but it is close by and until I develop the driver and car some more, cheap seat time is more important than difficult challenging tracks. I have heard nothing but good things about Memphis and the people and have had some fun with some of them on track.

For me close cheap seat time is more important than chasing a series points win. That may change with time but I can be at these tracks in 2- 4 hours. NSS, Memphis, Barber, and RA. 2.5 hours more gives me Gateway, 8 hours gives me RR, CMP, and MO. Not being critical but in Sediv there are so many tracks and events that chasing points is as much an endurance series as anything else. Show up, finish and do resonably well since there is PLENTY of fast guys in ITS around Sediv.

I also believe that if region "A" hosting a race wants drivers from Region "B" to attend the race the region "A" drivers should attend races at Region "B's" track, even if that means crossing divisional lines. Yeah, I could drive HSR, SVRA, or Nasa and never travel farther than Barber or RA and have plenty of seat time. I choose to race SCCA and if I can hit close races and Time trials then I will.

Mac and Travis, I will supply the beverage when I make it to Memphis. Mac, I have heard good things about you from Spike. Both of his sons completed the Roebling school in your old car and it never skipped a beat. They live about 2 miles from me.