"Entry Level" implies to me that there's something specific about a class/category that makes it:

- cheaper,
- easier,
- and/or faster

...for someone with lesser experience to "get involved" as compared to all other classes, as opposed to "be competitive". That's not really the case with Improved Touring (any more?) Question: what makes IT moreso "entry level" than, say:

- Showroom Stock
- Spec Miata
- Touring
- Formula Vee
- Formula 500
- Formula Ford

Is there some other definition of "entry level" that makes IT stick out compared to the others? In actuality, the thing that seems to pigeon-hole the category into this entry level mindset is the fact that it's a Regional class; well, all the ones I listed above are also Regional classes too, just not "-only"...that, coupled to the fact that "this is the way it's always been".

For someone coming in with no preconceived notions, there's really nothing that makes IT stick out as more entry level than pretty much any other category; if you take out the "expense" part of it then ALL categories are "entry level" (yup, even Formula Continental and GT-1; there's nothing to keep a newbie from showing up at a school with a brandy new $100K formula car...). In point of fact, the classes that MLYTLE mentioned, Spec Miata especially, are far more attrtactive to the inexperienced driver in terms of minimum requirements to compete and ablity to have a competitive car.

ITR just pulls this even farther out of the mainstream ideals.

Note: not an intended slight of ITR in any way, simply a way of opening minds. We've stuck ourselves in this pigeon hole that doesn't really exist (any more?)