Quote Originally Posted by MMiskoe View Post
Why does this have anything to do w/ participation numbers? In some ways it can be easier to be the slower car - you simply drive your car, your race, your line. Let those guys pass you, they bear the brunt of responsibility.

I always assumed that ITR was slow to pick up due to the cost of building these cars is high and the class got started just as we had a huge change in disposable income across the country. All participation numbers fell. Hell, spec miata would not have been so popular had it been launched in 2007.
It may or may not be a cause, but if it is, I could think that losing track time may be a consideration. I just looked at the lap times at Summit Point for GT1 and ITR. The GT1 record is just under 1:11 while the ITR record is over 1:23. That's a big gap, and means that the ITR folks have the potential to lose a lap per race. Now, I don't think that's the cause, because plenty of other classes have to deal with that when they're the slow class in the run group. I think it's probably more a function of the economy. I'd look at the overall ITR participation numbers around the country for the past 5-6 years.

As far as those MRLS lap times, it's a 5.5 second gap between STU and ITR. But I'm not sure how much stock I'd place in those. If you look at Josh's time, it's from early on in the timeline of ITR, not to mention that it's actually slower than the ITS record. I suspect the reason that it's stood for so long, is that there aren't many full-tilt ITR cars in that area.