As Steve points out, I originally posed ITO/ITU to the Atlanta Region Board to provide a place within SCCA for "production-based" cars to play other than SPO/SPU. Not only were some of those cars (like the TCC Corvettes or the fuel-injected pony cars, for example) not competitive in SPO, they also are not LEGAL in SPO because they do not have GT/Prod level safety equipment or had fuel injection. And because they have no chance of winning in SPO against the tube-framed monsters that populate that class, they were not willing to make the required changes just to "have a place to get some track time", particularly since they could run NASA, BMWCCA, PCA, or other events just as they are.
Was it about dollars? Damn straight it was! In my attempt to maintain or increase car count I'll consider almost any option to bring more people (and their entry fees) to the race track each weekend. In this case, it was about appealing to a group of existing racers by giving them another opportunity to compete with what they already have. Per the GCR we're allowed to start 67 cars per run group at Road Atlanta, and my goal is to get as close to that as possible for all seven groups that we run. If you want to have the track by yourself, SEDIV has a very strong Track Trials program that does not allow passing during competition runs.
As far as Mr. Bodle's concern about being grouped with the Big Noise cars rather than the Big IT cars, he needs to get used to the idea of racing wherever the ASedans are racing. And right now, except for the Enduros, that will be with the Big Noise cars in Atlanta Region.
Butch Kummer
Former SCCA Director of Club Racing (July 2012 - Sept 2014)
2006, 2007, 2010 SARRC GTA Champion
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