a lot of things i agree with here, a lot of things i'm steadfastly against. i'll try and formulate a calm response.

1) survival of the fittest is absolutely the policy that should be followed.
1a) i only support the "top 24 classes at the runoffs" to include IT IF we do away with the entire regional/national distinction

2) regions should put on the races with the most profitable structure they can, regardless of national/regional status. nationals are an afterthought because there aren't as many national competitors in prod/FV/F500/CSR as there are in IT/SM. whose fault is it that a low number of national competitors show up, the event organizers or the drivers? i'm not sure that it's either, but it's absolutely NOT the event organizer's.
2a) SM gets their own group and SSC/SSB/T3/etc gets combined for purely logistical reasons. there are 30-50 SMs at a race and 20 total of the other 3. i find it absurdly arrogant for anyone to think that they deserve their own run group because they&#39;re a "national" class. give me a break. <_<

3) national racing is treated as the "premier" amatuer SCCA series. you guys get the runoffs, the TV coverage, the prime run groups, the longer races, the longer qualifying sessions, and a practice session regional drivers don&#39;t. how much more do you want to be coddled?
3a) i&#39;ve got news for you, in some instances, the national "races" are just a side show. in MiDiv, other than SM, most national races resemble a lapping day than a race. less actual racing happening and far lower car counts than the regional guys. if the regional guys are the ones financially supporting the event, how can you argue that they shouldn&#39;t be given some consideration (besides the benefits the national guys get i mentioned in #3).

4) "the next big thing" happens because there is currently a void in the existing class structure. SM happened because there was no spec sedan racing in SCCA. FSCCA happened because there was no spec formula car. F1000 happened because Atlantics are dying, and FC cars are getting very old. IIRC, FC&#39;s can all be easily converted to F1000. the new touring classes happened because of mfg support, prepared happened because well.....i&#39;m not really sure. perhaps to try and replace the slowing prod classes. new classes every so often isn&#39;t a bad thing, but new classes without eliminating old ones is.

i&#39;m tired, i&#39;m done for now.