Newbie de-lurking here. I've not posted much if any on this forum, but I thought I might have something to add to this discussion. As to my background, I'm a 10 year SCCA member and Chumpcar racer who's crossing over to SCCA club racing. I earned my novice permit a year ago driving a Chumpcar. This year I plan to run some Regionals in SM and ITA.

A few thoughts:
Cost: Chumpcars are not at all cheap to build for new racers. The rules for roll cages and most safety gear are very similar to SCCA. The cost is the same. (e.g. The cage in our chump miata cost us $3k at a local race shop.) There's a lot of new/fresh parts to buy to make the cars track worthy. Remember, we're building these things to be driven hard for 24 straight hours. Breaking down in the first hour makes for an expensive un-fun weekend. Hubs, wheel bearings, cooling systems, etc. have to be in excellent mechanical condition. The braking systems are generally re-built with stock parts and racing pads. Probably 50% of the cars at a Chump race will be set up for video, data, and/or radio communication. The only thing they're not doing is spending money on (very many) high performance parts or true race engine builds. Where individuals save money is by sharing the costs of building, transporting, etc. and by not having to purchase Hoosiers. Dunlop Star Specs are close to being the "spec" tire for Chumpcar. We've flogged a set for 14 hours. They look like they could have gone well past 18. Typical Lat G numbers are 1.1-1.15.

Speed: Looking at some NASA Spec Miata results from the short course at BIR shows fast lap times of 1:56.476 and 1:57.319 for first and second places respectively. The three quickest drivers on my chump team have logged lap times in the low 1:59-2:01 range. Our 1.6 Miata is an upper mid-pack car. We'll typically be passed by some high-powered Hondas, BMW 325's, and that darn V8 Lexus. (How fast is a B-Spec again?)

Crashing/rough driving: We have about 24 Chumpcar race hours on our car with zero incidents of contact. Remember every Chumpcar is at least 3/4's borrowed from the other team members. Would you really want to be the one to explain to your 3+ team mates why you bent their race car? The endurance format generally allows for patience in making a pass too.

SCCA tech: Been there, done that...with a Chumpcar. There are nuances between the rule sets that cause problems. Very few if any would be full-on safety issues. Chumpcar allows things like anti-lock brakes and removing the dash. The basic GCR does not. The "neat and clean" and missing body work rules also come into play. Unlike SCCA, there are no minimum weights in Chumpcar. Chump requires all windows except the windshield to be removed or replaced with Lexan. A person building a dual usage car would pretty much need to plan for it from the start.

SCCA Licensing: When I ask other Chump drivers if they'd consider giving SCCA a try, the licensing issue is typically one of the first reasons/excuses given for not doing so. Their perception is that it's a big expensive ordeal. At my Region's annual driver's meeting, I asked if SCCA's new "mentoring" licensing program could utilize observed participation in a Chump race as a basis for issuing a novice permit. Seat time is typically the second reason they use for not crossing over to SCCA.

I don't think Oregon, or any other region, will have much luck attracting the existing crapcan racecars simply by offering a class for them. The licensing, tech, and shared car ownership will be stumbling blocks to any driver who wants to give SCCA a try with his/her team's car. With that said, these “chumps” are out there turning wrenches, building caged race cars, and learning racecraft. SCCA needs to find a way to make them feel welcome because many have the perception that they would not be.

Other Regions besides Oregon have classes similar to ITJ. Perhaps some some cross-region/cross division communication on the interweb could be used to develop a "standard" SCCA-friendly rule set for them. Knowing that the class was available in multiple regions would make it more attractive to individuals looking for less expensive racing. Something similar was done several years ago amongst the autocrossers who wanted a Street Touring class for their sports cars. They formed a Yahoo group to discuss it and hammered out a rule set. It was voted on and accepted by some larger regions, but never implemented due to the National office producing their own version of the class (appearing in April!) These days, something like a forum thread and google docs could help facilitate the process.

Chumpcar is not perfect. A lot of people aren't into the "themes." Many don't like digging through Craigslist everyday to try and prove or re-prove that a version of their $1500 donor car could have been bought for $500. Chumpcar drops the ball in making entry lists available to the world, publishing results, or even being on the radar for contingency. Race starts involve the cars circling the track randomly spread out until the green flag is flown. Some tracks are "dumbed down" for the novice drivers. An example would be using the "bend" before the "kink" at Road America.

The trick is to make SCCA club racing appear even cooler, more fun, and easily accessible.

Apologies for such a long post.
-Chris