Since I mentioned my idea of the ARRC being a case study: When I was considering going to the ARRC in '05, I was very intimidated by the thought. I kept thinking I totally be out of my league. The thought of me showing up with my rusty car on a tow dolly next to some of those huge rigs. Let's just say I made numerous excuses of why I couldn't go .....[/b]
Hmmm. well, what if.........what if you'd been racing around New England, and you had done pretty well, scored some good finishes, and you looked at your points accumulation and saw you were in the eschelon that got a Runoffs invite?? You'd be less intimidated, I'd think.* ..

and the only reason I did was because Melissa convinced me that one day I would look back and regret it. [/b]
You have a great wife........ .... nice choice.

...At that same time without the money, it is not possible to obtain a nearly optimum racing package (driver and racecar).

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Agreed, my point was that it's not JUST about money...it's all relative.

* The upside to earning a spot at the Runoffs, as opposed to just showing up at the ARRCs is that you earned it, and you know you should be there. The downside is the need to follow the system that takes you to different tracks all over the area, and that can get $$. The silver lining to the travel aspect is that the guys who don't care to follow the National "tour" just stay near home and race, and they don't lose sleep when the fast guys are no shows because they only race where they have to to make the show. On the other hand, that has a downside too...less competition at some races. The joy of the ARRCs is the fact that you just show up. We'd have to have like 62 cars before we start worrying about qualifying for the IT_ race!