Atlanta Region Pro-IT Problems

[Tom Donnelly]

Ok, this past weekend at the Road Atlanta Pro-IT post race impound, it was announced that there just might not be a Pro-IT at the next event. Or ever.

They were asking for feedback on increasing car counts.

I personally like the Pro-IT's and the car counts for other than SM are getting really thin.

Why? I dunno. We get the car counts back up and there's more money involved. And we were told there's a chance for increased sponsor money if the counts went up.

Is anybody else going to miss the Pro-IT?

And if so, how can we prevent its demise?

[JeffYoung]

Ok, this past weekend at the Road Atlanta Pro-IT post race impound, it was announced that there just might not be a Pro-IT at the next event. Or ever.

They were asking for feedback on increasing car counts.

I personally like the Pro-IT's and the car counts for other than SM are getting really thin.

Why? I dunno. We get the car counts back up and there's more money involved. And we were told there's a chance for increased sponsor money if the counts went up.

Is anybody else going to miss the Pro-IT?

And if so, how can we prevent its demise?

I think it is a victim of poor choice for Atlanta race weekends more than anything (not knocking Atlanta region, I know they are boxed in). Atlanta used to have "traditional" SARRC/PRO-IT dates in what, May and Labor Day? And those attracted big fields from all over the SEDiv. Now, as those dates have moved around, and the "big" regional weekend at RA is in the middle of July, the attractiveness of a long tow has declined.

I doubt PRO-IT can survive without a large traveling SARRC contingent. That is how the pro series in NC and SC make it work.

One thing I raised a few years ago was to try to combine PRO-IT with the pro series (only one at the time) over this way in NC. Maybe what would help get people to tow.

[Tom Donnelly]

There was talk about merging the series as well.
And questions about preferences between Charlotte and CMP.

I looked at that as raising some hope.

July is not the best time to be in Atlanta either.

[JeffYoung]

I know something of those issues/discussions, not a lot, but what I know wasn't good. Neither of the three series really wanted to budge on a few key issues important to them to make it happen.

I really think though the key to making PRO-IT work is finding an attractive date for the two RA SARRC/regional events. Right now, it's tough for anyone who races routinely in NCR or SCR, or FLA, to make the trip, which is a shame.

The Labor Day event was ideal. I know that is not possible anymore, but it is a shame it is gone.

[CRallo]

In my eyes, ProIT works if paired with a bigger event not "just" a SCCA National. Or if paired with a regional...

[chuck baader]

I think a lot of the problem this year, and the reason I'm not running, is that the SARRC schedule is so screwed up this year. I have no desire to run with the nationals crowd as most of the people I know and hang with are SARRC runners. The Majors definitely f'ed that up this year, for me anyway.

[SPiFF]

This has been said for many years. IT is dead in the Atlanta region. I am sure it is more complex then we can articulate here, but in my opinion the problems are:

1) No core fast IT group in ATL today. Used the be strong in ITS with the BMWs and Z cars and OPM bring out the ITA force back in the hay day. Enough locals for a good race by themselves and people would come from all around to race them. IT center has moved to NC these days.

2) ATL region continues to put on the wrong kinds of races and the wrong times. This has been said many times but geezers refuse to change (or for reasons we don't see cannot change.)

Because of #1, people need to tow. No1 will tow for a single ProIT put in as time filler into some National race weekend jammed between a SARRC/ECR at VIR and a double SARRC at CMP. Nobody is going to tow in May to some "Rational/ProIT" jammed between the double SARRC/MARRS and a double SARRC/CCPS race weekend CMP. The "Road Africa GP" weekend in July is all SARRC and doesn't have much conflicts, yet still not well attended. Not sure why honestly. Nobody is going to tow to the ARRC when it has degenerated into a single race for every alphabet soup SCCA class in the GCR with the Goblins and 13-hour just a few weeks before.