IT V8 Isn't it time?

[Cobrar05]

butch

i have been working the regional agenda for 3 years now or longer. the main obsticle that i run into is the reality that its very hard to inform racers that the class exists when its not a GCR class.

i may have two or three nasa st2 or pta class corvettes coming to the arrc, but the reality is that it doesnt sell as a "real" class.

by next season you will no longer be competition director and who knows where the class goes . meanwhile i have a limited budget and ford racing paying a $1000 for a nasa regional American Iron champion and paying 5 places deep.

i just think that a proper V8 IT class would make growing the class a lot more valid.

World Challenge: STO is for WC GT cars. WC GTS cars are very much more street stock than either a GT or TC class WC car.

[benspeed]

To chime in with Butch, GTA is one of the best classes ever. Very fast cars that are solid, light and reliable, super safe and inexpensive to run. I would never have gone back to IT if GTA took off in the Northeast but at the end of 2 1/2 seasons with hardly anybody to race (except at Summit) I had to go ITR and get back in the Improved Touring game where the fields are much larger.

The subject of class consolidation is something that needs serious focus yet the club has introduced ST... we are not moving toward consolidation but away...however well intentioned to have a home for former pro cars going into club racing....but the rules were changed such that ST no longer appears to be the home for the former pro cars anymore...at least not in STU.

The direction of where the club wants to go with classes seems to vascilate and I predict will be the issue that allows other clubs to grow and prosper at the expense of SCCA...

[Cobrar05]

gta is a fun class. i like watching them more than sharing the track with them. lets just put it that way. i am sure its exciting to race.

[benspeed]

LOL - can't blame you there Rob! :-)

I just posted on another thread that I don't like running ITR in big bore

[seckerich]

The other problem you run into Rob is the seam welding and a few other things that go past the level of IT and are not somewhere IT needs to go. We have enough rules creep as is and that goes down the road to body in white builds to run at the pointy end. As I stated before it is not a problem to ask regions to allow NASA classes to be allowed to run a race weekend. I could still most likely get these classes added to the CMS race if you thought some drivers would come make it worth while.

Unlike the 25 plus ECR cars I got promised for years.

[lateapex911]

Objection, your honor! Calls for inferences from anecdotal evidence...

K

EDIT - To expand on my smartie-pants post, Tom mentions not running the fastest tires available. Etc., etc., etc.

Hear you Kirk....
Guilty as charged.

[Butch Kummer]

butch

i have been working the regional agenda for 3 years now or longer. the main obsticle that i run into is the reality that its very hard to inform racers that the class exists when its not a GCR class.

i may have two or three nasa st2 or pta class corvettes coming to the arrc, but the reality is that it doesnt sell as a "real" class.

Rob,

ITO first became a SARRC class for the 2009 season, but until this year (your first on the ITO Advisory Committee) it was very much a "run whatcha brung but make sure it's on DOT tires" class. That "ITE-like" quality is what you felt was limiting the growth of the class by discouraging the CMC, AI, and GTS folks so, at the AC's request, it was changed for 2011.

The SEDiv GTA rules are in the same place as the ITO rules. Does that mean GTA is not a "real" class because it's not in the GCR?

ITO is approved for SARRC and ECR, we've restricted the rules to keep the "over the limit" cars out, and there's an existing supply of cars currently running other series (don't forget the FFC cars - they are still part of ITO as well). Your challenge is to (1)make those people aware that ITO gives them a place to play competitively with SCCA and (2) let me know how I/we can make our events more attractive to that market.

by next season you will no longer be competition director and who knows where the class goes .

It's true I announced at the 2010 ARRC by GRM that this year would be my last as Competition Director for Atlanta Region. I have since reconsidered that decision. I no longer have the patience to deal with the political wranglings of being on the AR BoD (which is why I also withdrew my name for consideration for the CRB ), so I will no longer be the Asst. RE for Atlanta Region. I will, however, offer to continue as Competition Director dependant on who the new RE is (Tere Pulliam is adamant she is stepping down after this year). But since ITO is a divisional class I have little or no influence over it's future regardless of my position in Atlanta Region.

And you STILL haven't said why you don't like GTA drivers! If it's because we have some very intense racing I have no response to that (the intense racing is one of the things that attracts me to the class). If it's because you think we're a bunch of inconsiderate wankers that hit everything but the Pace Car then we need to talk more.

[Robbie]

*

* Last point. The biggest class in world challenge this season is the new GTS class. Mustangs, Camaros, Caymans, M3's. The cars are readily available and are inexpensive to sprint race. At the NASA level these cars are coming to the track in droves. NASA race weekends can be very disappointing with track time getting squeezed and races getting shorter and shorter.

They're only inexpensive if you're used to budgeting for an Indycar.

[ITEGT]

So what kind of HP limitations are you suggesting?

[JIgou]

As an aside, you guys DO know that AS is running different (and, according to a pretty quick AS driver I've spoken with, MUCH better) engine rules now, right?

I'll confess, the class is still pretty far down the list of "dream classes Jarrod would like to race in", but...

[Cobrar05]

butch: good news that you remain.
gta: the racing is pretty wild. its great to do and great to watch. its nerve racking to get caught up in. so...its my favorite race at the arrc. at rrr when i am in the run group they scare the crap out of me.

hp restrictions: power to weight ratios around 9 to 1, give or take. very similar to wc gts and grand am gs.

as engine rules. the new rules are the same rules modified. you can run a 350/351 with aluminum heads at a weight penalty if you want to.

[Ron Earp]

as engine rules. the new rules are the same rules modified. you can run a 350/351 with aluminum heads at a weight penalty if you want to.

So I get a lighter and better flowing head (maybe, depends on porting rules) but I get some weight to go with that? No thanks.

[JIgou]

From what I've been told, the reliability is WORLDS better on engines built to the new rules....and they're faster.