OK...I'll chime in briefly (and Doug will get a more lengthy private reply to the email he sent me). The goal was to get each closed wheel group to within 33-37 cars. Last year ITA averaged approx. 20 cars, ITS about 10, and we expect 3-5 ITR cars this year. That puts this run group into that sweet spot.
IT-7 averaged about seven and I have been alerted to at least three cars on the way. That would be 30 if ITA continued to run w/ IT-7. You could then give us ITR to put us into that sweet spot, but then where does ITS go? With SRX7/SS? That puts them over the sweet spot and creates more performance inequities than in the proposed groupings.
I understand that Doug and others don't like the idea of splitting ITA and IT-7. The fact of the matter is that these are two separate and distinct classes. It was requested that IT-7 run w/ ITA for its maiden season but other than nostalgia there is really no other precedence for keeping them together ad infinitum. As I told one of IT-7's main proponents at least year's banquet, I had hoped that we held off a year before started up the class. It was my hope that the changes in min. weights and other steps taken by the ITAC to create more competition in ITA would remove the need for the class. In fact, I'm willing to bet that after 2007 you'll see that the front-running IT-7 cars are running similar lap times to the front-running ITA cars. We got close at the end of the season as some of the rust was removed. As I mentioned in an update to the ITA & IT7 drivers a few weeks ago, we would have a lot more "pull" if we had a class of 30+ cars. Now that we're 20 and 7, we don't have and influence.
And although I have enjoyed actually seeing the green flag fly at Summit the past two seasons, I actually enjoyed running with ITS my first season two seasons. They're a great, accomodating bunch with lots of on-track experience and excellent race-craft. I never saw an issue where they inserted themselves in our races or we in theirs. As was mentioned to the ITA/IT-7 drivers, there was a problem with our drivers inserting themselves into the ITB leaders' race at the last '06 MARRS event, in as much as those drivers searched me out post-race. Although it is nice to have cars around you on track, even if they're not in the same class, you must remember that you are racing the cars in your class.
It's OK to fear change and I give a lot of credence to the opinions of all of the ITA/IT-7 drivers. When someone like AJ has raced in this grouping previously and he's worried it does give me pause, but the WDCR competition committee was faced with coming up with groupings that did not disenfranchise entire classes--forcing those drivers to stay home, making sure that we had less on-track density to allow for growth in all classes (esp. new ones like IT-7 and ITR), ensuring as much safety as is possible for an inherently dangerous sport, and bettering what has been a poor situation for the majority of the 275-300 drivers we average at each MARRS event.
Gregg Ginsberg
'96 Civic EX -- MARRS ITA #72
WDCR-SCCA Rookie of the Year 2003
MARRS ITA/T3 Drivers rep
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