Classes and race groups for 2008

I know of 2 guys that want to make it to the IT Fest that didn't make it last year. It's just a matter of one of them overcoming the cost of a new car first

Most businesses loss money the first 3 years. Don't freak on breaking even on your first year. That's amazing and I know quite a few people that will make it a priority this year or next.

first of all, don't try to read too much into what me or (i think) most are saying.

we appreciate your efforts and that you are asking for feedback and ideas.

it is easy for us to say "hey you did not lose money last year, etc...." but your region has significant responsibilities to your local club members and we understand.

but how soon can you open up registration for this event?

that will tell the tale pretty quick. although i do not like committing funds early for an event (NASA Nationals comes to mind!), i would not mind putting down a $25 or so paypal commitment as of tonight to indicate that i am serious about having this on my schedule.

my priorities for 2008 are:

IT Festival
ARRC
$2008 GRM Challenge
HP National race(s)
West Michigan Honda Meet

but the chronological order is:

HP race
HP race
WMHM
IT Fest.
$2008 GRM
ARRC

so there are two races and a track day prior to the IT Festival that could put the car in jeopardy and cause me to miss the race and you to lose an entry fee.

but opening up registration sooner rather than later will give you an indication of how many are coming. especially if you could register and pay some down and pay the rest later.

and if we in the IT community are wanting to grow this race/event, we need to consider the potential price/revenue impact of having it as a restricted regional and ask if we are willing to increase entry fees 5 or 10% to make it happen.

and if we accept a share of the risk, we might expect to a share of the revenue. for instance, increase fees 5% from a nominal $300 to $315 and then if the region gets X entries over the break-even point, the $15 is refunded.

there may be more than one way to skin this cat and i am trying to get the cat out of the box on this one.

tom, who is glad he has on his SFI <strike>certified</strike> labeled driver's suit

Tom,

Entry fees can only be collected once the sanction number is issued. Usually that happens around the end of May. BTW, your the exception in that most drivers don't want to jinx their ride by putting the money in early and then having to scratch due to a mishap.

Tim,

Thanks for the 2 cents. Its greatly appreciated.


Todd

I think the ARRCs don't submit the request for funding until the event, I think.

Perhaps, to guage iinterest, you should have a poll? Heck, I'll do it for you. Od course, this isn't the only avenue into the IT racers brain, but, you might get a good idea compared to last year.

One good point is that if you open it up to other classes, changing it in the future would be difficult. (kind of like the IT rules ) I think....no, I KNOW that there will be many more IT cars this year.

In your meeting, could you also bring up the idea of using split starts for the races? At Mid Ohio, I found it more challenging to pass a car that had higher HP but a slower overall car than many other tracks I've raced at. This causes more forced passes (I know I did one and had contact with an ITS car in lap one).
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I absolutely loved the event... I know that my father wants to bring his ITS car out next year and we also want to bring back the Audi's (with fresh motors) but it will be up to the finances when the time comes... Our rig is a bit expnsive to get out to Ohio

As for the split starts, I would like to see it in the supps that you will have them. I know that I have said it plenty of times before, but it will be a deciding factor if the finances are tight but doable. I did not enjoy the first 5 laps of the races because of the backmarker ITS cars, it was just about the worst racing I have ever had to deal with.

One other thing that I would ladd the most value (IMO) and would ove to see (I am sure others would also like) is two or three 10 minute hardship sessions on Sunday morning. All cars, all classes lumped together, simply to test repairs from saturdays enduring race!!!

Other than that the only thing I can suggest is keeping everything the same. Despite the one issue of split starts it was one of my favorite events in the past 8 years!!!

Raymond "No more , time to save up the mula !!!" Blethen

Please dont make any significant changes just yet. I'm thinking you'll see a nice rise in entries this year, and if things go like last year that will continue.

ITR simply has to prove its going to bring the numbers before it can be given any special consideration. I agree with sticking it in the big bore group for now, and if cars start showing up maybe make some moves in the future.

Formula Cars? I dunno. It'd kinda suck to change the format to add a group for them and then have 10 total entries show up.

I know I was unable to make it last year and this year I will be going. I think you really need to see what this year brings before you make too many changes.

Split starts are a great idea. Allows things to spread out a bit before the fast cars in the "slow" class catch the slow cars in the "fast" class.

I sat in Madness last year and watched the ITB front runners trying to deal with a particularly poor handling ITS car and it was pretty painful to watch. That one driver was pretty much single handedly screwing up the ITB race.
They all eventually got by him, but he DID effect the race. Unfortunately many people aren't as aware and considerate as they should be out there.
Thats just sort of a fact of life, so formatting the races to minimize the effect of those folks is always a good thing in my opinion.

I sat in Madness last year and watched the ITB front runners trying to deal with a particularly poor handling ITS car and it was pretty painful to watch. [/b]

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It was pretty ugly.

(Scott, you need to fix your signature......)

Group 4.... SM, SSM

Todd Cholmondeley
Cincinnati Race Chairman
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Todd, smack those SM guys around too, they should be overfilling that race group!

Todd, smack those SM guys around too, they should be overfilling that race group!
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I don't think its going to be a problem.

ITR simply has to prove its going to bring the numbers before it can be given any special consideration. I agree with sticking it in the big bore group for now, and if cars start showing up maybe make some moves in the future.
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I think the ITE cars should run with ITB.

First of all, thanks for all of your work to put on this event!! Last year was a blast

Second, leave out the Formula Cars! IMO, they are not all that much fun to spectate, they don't really intermingle with the IT car guys, and they do not even fit the concept of the event.

If you need more entries, the American Sedan (AS) sound good... they are basically higher horsepower IT cars! They are enjoyable to watch, for the most part, and would fit in naturally with TCC, ITR, ITE (i.e. NO extra run group). Also, SRF seems to fit the "SPEC" part of the concept, so there doesn't seem to be any issue there, of course only in my opinion...

We'll be back with (2) ITA cars for next year!