New IT class revealed at National Convention

[TStiles]

There's nothing $ 500 about a $ 500 ChumpCar ... You can spend a pretty good chunk of change on a good ChumpCar effort

I can buy a decent IT car for what it costs to build a good ChumpCar

[rydermike]

There's nothing $ 500 about a $ 500 ChumpCar ... You can spend a pretty good chunk of change on a good ChumpCar effort

I can buy a decent IT car for what it costs to build a good ChumpCar

It's probably cheaper to buy an existing IT car than it costs to do a new build Chumpcar , Then the bonus of selling off the suspension components and using those funds for the cost of the 1st race.

And it might suprise some people how fast Chumpcars go , at the Chumpionship last labor dat at Iowa Speedway the race alternated between the road course and the oval for a total of 25 1/2 hours of racing with avg speeds on the oval being in the low 31 second range for much of the field .... just a tick under 100 mph avg

[tom91ita]

we should be running in our first LeMons event in April.

i give the region credit for getting outside the box. if they can fill up their own race group, that would be great.

one headache will be the licensing. but if we had our LeMons event late in the summer, this would be one way to get some more seat time or shake-down time for your car.

[Knestis]

From discussions elsewhere I don't *think* this is any kind of route to "alternate licensure." It's just a class.

K

[JeffYoung]

That may really keep the participation numbers down. It seems to me -- perception only -- that a large portion of Chump/Lemons drivers are not SCCA licensed, and do not want to go through the rigamarole and expense of getting one.

[dickita15]

I said at the convention and I will say here. The club racing department is pretty good at finding ways to make things happen if you are creative. I bet if some region wanted to try to do something like a lemons race there is some way to make it happen. Maybe it would be sanctioned as a school. Competitors would need membership and a physical but I bet the rest is doable if I thought about it long enough. Hell there are plenty of people smarter than me I bet Butch could figure a way in no time.
By the way, I am told MidDiv had a lemons class at schools and regionals last year.

[DavidM]

Do chump/lemons cars meet SCCA/IT safety requirements? If so, then I don't see a big difference between these cars and other IT cars. Couldn't they run in an existing IT class, though?

David

[Simon T.]

Do chump/lemons cars meet SCCA/IT safety requirements? If so, then I don't see a big difference between these cars and other IT cars. Couldn't they run in an existing IT class, though?

David

For the most part they do but they have glass removed I believe, many have more extensive gutting than IT, etc.

[Ron Earp]

I bet if some region wanted to try to do something like a lemons race there is some way to make it happen. Maybe it would be sanctioned as a school. Competitors would need membership and a physical but I bet the rest is doable if I thought about it long enough. Hell there are plenty of people smarter than me I bet Butch could figure a way in no time.

Sure enough. If the SCCA can toss the "we've always done it this way" I'm sure we could find better, faster, and more modern ways to teach folks to race and race safely. How old is the "two schools" model? And just because "it has always worked" doesn't mean there isn't a better way to do it.

[Charlie Broring]

I think ITJ is a a fine idea. It's good to see one of our regions trying to capitalized on the Chump/Lemons phenomenon to attract drivers from outside the club and provide it's members a new low-buck option. There certainly is room in the SCCA for a class less costly then IT and SM.

I know of another region where the SCCA members are running a Lemons clone endurance race independent of the National office sanctioning , so this isn't the first region to recognize the potential.

I recently asked the SCCA Chairman of the Board if the national office has been following the success of Lemons/Chump in attracting new road racers and if there was any interest in an SCCA getting involved in this sort of thing. He assured me that the interest was less then zero in Topeka. I was a bit surprise by this and it seemed like our club is missing an opportunity.

I think some of the best ideas in the SCCA emerge from the regions, I hope the ITJ class takes off out in Oregon, and then spreads eastward.

[red986s]

By the way, I am told MidDiv had a lemons class at schools and regionals last year.

They did. A couple "ITC" level and a couple "AS" level cars. No shark fins or stuffed animal heads were seen. Though one of the "AS" level cars, a mustang, looked like it was straight out the movie "Mad Max". It wasn't a big deal and everyone had a great weekend.

I think as long as you keep it at a reasonable level we snobby drivers wouldn't even notice a "crap car" in the mix.

[Spinnetti]

we should be running in our first LeMons event in April.

i give the region credit for getting outside the box. if they can fill up their own race group, that would be great.

one headache will be the licensing. but if we had our LeMons event late in the summer, this would be one way to get some more seat time or shake-down time for your car.

So, how'd you like it Tom? I'm ready to win one of these things... just need better pit work and flag free drivers!

[wepsbee]

So I checked the rules:
1.4: Claiming Race: At the end of the competition, the Organizers--and nobody else, you lazy, better-car-wantin' bastids--may elect to purchase any vehicle from its owner(s) for $500. In other words, don't spend a lot on a cheater, cause if you do, you ain't gonna own it much longer.
1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time: In addition to accidents and other unfortunate boo-boos, one car may be selected by blind ballot of all teams for immediate removal and total destruction. It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You'll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it's toast. Them's the breaks. Don't bring it if you ain't OK with losing it.
So I spend $1500 or more putting in a roll cage and I could lose it all just for fun!!!!

[jimbbski]

1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time: In addition to accidents and other unfortunate boo-boos, one car may be selected by blind ballot of all teams for immediate removal and total destruction. It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You'll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it's toast. Them's the breaks. Don't bring it if you ain't OK with losing it.
So I spend $1500 or more putting in a roll cage and I could lose it all just for fun!!!!

I think this rule is put there to keep racers from cheating, not that they would.

I ran my frist Lemons race on April 19 & 20 at Gingerman and even though our car had problems and I had problems with the car I had fun and plan on running another race in Oct. at Autobahn.

While a few cars have been crushedin the past, mostly in the first few years of Lemons, I haven't heard of any being crushed lately. The actions of those teams that caused their cars to be crushed were noted by the other teams and those actions were not repeated by other teams at future races.

You can read up on most of this by going to the Lemons website and reading past forum postings.

[tom91ita]

I think this rule is put there to keep racers from cheating, not that they would.

I ran my frist Lemons race on April 19 & 20 at Gingerman and even though our car had problems and I had problems with the car I had fun and plan on running another race in Oct. at Autobahn.

While a few cars have been crushedin the past, mostly in the first few years of Lemons, I haven't heard of any being crushed lately. The actions of those teams that caused their cars to be crushed were noted by the other teams and those actions were not repeated by other teams at future races.

You can read up on most of this by going to the Lemons website and reading past forum postings.

what car were you in?

i was with the "Team Gutty" CRX Lee team. Jabaays had prepped the car.

EDIT: we are planning on the June event at AutoBahn/Joliet, IL

Originally Posted by Doc Bro
So what happens when a guy with a $500 investment (little skin in the game) pulls a total bonehead move and takes out a 60K racecar? Oh well....that's racing???

I think it's a poor idea......sounds purely revenue-centric to me....

The good news is this will pave the way for figure-8 racing, school bus racing, demo derbies, monster trucks, corn dogs and funnel cakes......

R

would the $60K driver feel better about being taken out by a $3500 car? bonehead moves are not limited to those that have an inexpensive car. i figured the most valuable part of the cars i have driven was the driver.

[Robbie]

So I checked the rules:
1.4: Claiming Race: At the end of the competition, the Organizers--and nobody else, you lazy, better-car-wantin' bastids--may elect to purchase any vehicle from its owner(s) for $500. In other words, don't spend a lot on a cheater, cause if you do, you ain't gonna own it much longer.
1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time: In addition to accidents and other unfortunate boo-boos, one car may be selected by blind ballot of all teams for immediate removal and total destruction. It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You'll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it's toast. Them's the breaks. Don't bring it if you ain't OK with losing it.
So I spend $1500 or more putting in a roll cage and I could lose it all just for fun!!!!

This tells me you've never been to a Lemons race. There have only been two cars claimed....ever. One was a Mercedes S600 that was a car that can never be registered, but the claim was never taken up. The other was a Camaro from Pratt and Miller with a race motor in it.

Most super cheated cars just get an insane number of penalty laps added. There hasn't been a car destroyed by the People's Curse in years.

Don't drive like an asshole and your car will survive.

[tom91ita]

So, how'd you like it Tom? I'm ready to win one of these things... just need better pit work and flag free drivers!

we had a ball!

for three guys, this was their first time W2W. i did not go at all last year and for $550 plus my fuel there, i got out this year.

and we are getting together probably the same group for Autobahn in June.

K, give up your car to folks to prep it. that was Lee's entry fee. he found that old ITC car for $500 and sold some parts off it and that is our car now. others put in some cash and others sweat equity to prep the car.

no cars were claimed or destroyed at Gingerman and from what i hear, that is there mostly as a "scare" factor to keep folks relatively honest.

oh, and 1 of the 3 newbs wants to build a sister 1st gen crx into an ITB car and go scca.