STL : National ?

[dhardison]

One last plea.... Please write to your BoD rep supporting STL as a National class for 2012.

Greg

Email sent to our area 4 director in support of STL as a National class.

.....about building a full STL car, only... and only if it goes national.

x2

[Greg Amy]

.....about building a full STL car, only... and only if it goes national.

x2

x3. This is exactly what I'm hearing from others, which is why I'm not worried about the whole "double dippers" argument; I see it as a red herring. It's just a "gut feel" from talking to others, but I get the impression that this class will explode once it goes National, but absent National status it will remain, really, just as a place for double dippers.

I'm actually pretty dismayed to see the "2.5 rule" go away; I think the concept is actually a good thing for the Club overall, forcing our leaders to accept a pre-determined, non-political result (if we only had the cojones to follow through). The only problem I see with it is that it doesn't allow Regional Only classes to compete for that rule on the same playing field.

I have actually suggested to the CRB and some BoD members that all classes* be given "National Status", and the 2.5 rule be used to decide who goes to the Runoffs**.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

GA


* Unfortunately, this does not include Improved Touring. I say this NOT because I don't want to see IT go National -- I've actually been a passive supporter of that idea(l) from the start - but because various factions, both within IT and without, do not want IT National, period. My arguments for "all classes" are limited to those that wish to have National status but do not purely due to participation numbers.

** For STL specifically, I suggested that this class could be used used as the initial entry for this idea: make it National, let it run the National program without a guarantee for a Runoffs berth, and for the first year or two of eligibility the top STL competitors could be invited to the Runoffs as grid fillers for STU as an exhibition class. No guarantee you'll get a berth, but if there's some spots left over in the STU group - which will have its own group in 2012 - then STL guys can show up. From there on STL would be on-par with the rest of the organization, succeeding or failing purely on its participation numbers.

This same idea could be used for any other class/category looking to go National. Don't know if that got any traction...

[Butch Kummer]

A month ago I sent a note to the entire BoD stating my support for STL getting National status and received a response from the Chairman saying (and I paraphrase), "The BoD is VERY reluctant to add any new National classes at this time."

I've said this before, but as a race organizer I don't care nearly as much about number of classes as I do the number of run groups. If somebody comes to me saying they want a Spec Yugo class (see ITT) I'm all for it if they have at least two buddies that are willing to race as well.

I hear all the time about "we keep adding classes so everyone gets a trophy" but I don't buy that. If you really look at the various classes (beyond lap times) you'll see very different philosophies behind each one. FE, FC, and FM all run similar lap times and are all open-wheel cars, but (a) they achieve them in different ways and (b) they appeal to different types of customers. If we combine those three into one class we run the very real risk of having half the entries we currently have because folks find different outlets for their passion.

Bottom line - STL gives those that want to run their IT cars at the Run-Ons a chance to do so plus gets rid of some of the "gotchas" that might be keeping people out of IT today. Getting more people on the race track is never a bad thing...

[JohnRW]

** For STL specifically, I suggested that this class could be used used as the initial entry for this idea: make it National, let it run the National program without a guarantee for a Runoffs berth, and for the first year or two of eligibility the top STL competitors could be invited to the Runoffs as grid fillers for STU as an exhibition class. No guarantee you'll get a berth, but if there's some spots left over in the STU group - which will have its own group in 2012 - then STL guys can show up. From there on STL would be on-par with the rest of the organization, succeeding or failing purely on its participation numbers.

[Greg Amy]

Just call me Claire...

(Honestly, I didn't know that in advance. Really...)

Full release:
http://www.scca.com/news/index.cfm?cid=50891

On edit:
Ok, no more excuses. Get back to the garage and start building some STL cars!

[JeffYoung]

Congrats guys. Good work.

[TStiles]

There goes my kids inheritance

[Prof. Chaos]

While STL becoming a National class is very cool, I can't help but wonder why this wasn't done from the get go. In my case, the ITA car I was going to build into an STL car got sold to fund an STU build -- I didn't see any point in going from a Regional class (ITA) to another Regional class (STL). Had STL been National from the beginning, I would have never sold the ITA car and I would have run the 2011 season in STL instead of STU in an IT car.

So this makes it 29 classes at the 2012 Runoffs?

[Ron Earp]

So this makes it 29 classes at the 2012 Runoffs?

Jeebus.

[Greg Amy]

So this makes it 29 classes at the 2012 Runoffs?

Haven't counted them but...a conditional "no". As I understand it, with the dispensing of the 2.5 rule the BoD has given the CRB authority to make the decision on who can go the Runoffs. I am not privvy to any specifics, but I'm inferring that the CRB will take that authority and ensure that the Runoffs has a reasonable number of groups (for maximum track time) as well as a reasonable number of classes/entries to best use those groups.

<Greg's completely unqualified opinion>
This will probably mean that a lot of groups will be combined; read: smaller entry numbers will likely be combined into same groups, a la STL with STU for 2012. Really lower-entry classes will possibly retain their "National" status but not be invited to the Runoffs at all (so fewer classes overall). If, how, when, where this will be done I'm sure is under discussion.
</Greg's completely unqualified opinion>

What it means for STL, specifically, for 2012 is that we can compete as STL during the year, and I think we can crown Divisional STL champions, but when we go to the Runoffs in September we will be entered as STU cars. As such, we will not have a STL National champion until 2013, though I will plan on spearheading some informal effort to visually identify all cars in the STU group that mutually agree to prep to the lesser STL rules (versus wider mods of STU) and we'll have our own "informal" champion (likely crowned with lots of beer.)

For 2013 we go for it.

I encourage IT and SM competitors to continue to enter STL and STU as double-dippers, and when you're ready to build a full-up STU and/or STL car, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Now, since I'm kinda feeling like the dog that somehow finally caught the postal truck and suddenly realizes he actually doesn't know what to do with it, I think I'll go into the garage and rub my car.

GA