66 replies to this topic

[Jim Drago]

Not sure what happened to this event....Seems like it has been on a downward slide the last few years and for whatever reasons has not been in the supertour schedule. The dates have been falling on bad weekends as well and now this event is reduced to a 2 day and three session weekend   This is probably my favorite track, sad to see this.  I missed last year after I planned my vacation around the event they rescheduled the event and that took me out. This year, just not sure it I feel like driving 14.5 hrs round trip for three sessions  or 110 minutes on track    

Looks like the ARRC for me this year and no "majors" The regional is a much better event at this point

Jim

 

http://www.atlantasc...ps-schedule.pdf

[MPR22]

100% agree with Jim. This is a premiere track in North America and should be a HST event that’s well attended.

[Danica Davison]

Yeah ... it used to be one of the biggest events of the schedule. Now, it is so poorly attended, even Spencer Rutherford has a great shot at winning ...

[Caveman-kwebb99]

Yeah ... it used to be one of the biggest events of the schedule. Now, it is so poorly attended, even Spencer Rutherford has a great shot at winning ...

Yeah ... it used to be one of the biggest events of the schedule. Now, it is so poorly attended, even Spencer Rutherford has a great shot at winning ...

Spence should be a lock just put Blake in the wall in t1 on lap 1... Nobody else could beat him after that.

[Danica Davison]

Spence should be a lock just put Blake in the wall in t1 on lap 1... Nobody else could beat him after that.

 

"My car shut off on the last lap ... but I would have won the 2018 Road Atlanta Majors if it wasn't for that."

 

- Spencer Rutherford, Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 10:15 A.M. EST

[Jim Drago]

Cota is $895 and 5 sessions and pays the super tour fees ( $179 per session) 

Nola Supertour and 4 sessions, cost is $570 and pays the super tour fees ( 142.50 per session)

Road Atlanta is $595 for three sessions and no supertour fees ($198.33 per session)

 

Not sure how that can be justified..  The money is not the factor for me, but the reluctance of the Atlanta region to be involved with the Super tour program is small thinking IMO and while the amount paid by the Atlanta region may be less not be associated with the super tour, so are their entries.. by far. They are suffering. So much so that this event is more expensive the COTA which is BY FAR a more expensive place to put an event on and you cant even remotely compare the two facilities. I love this place, but some changes need to happen down there.

 

Jim

[lillyweld]

Good topic! I have Road Atlanta on my list for the year, but I too am twisting in the wind over which weekend to attend.I would normally target a majors weekend because of the people on the track, but this schedule has me thinking ARRC or a regional. Among other things, I have never been on that track, so I would really like some seat time via practice sessions before I venture out with the majors crowd.

[Danica Davison]

"My car shut off on the last lap ... but I would have won the 2018 Road Atlanta Majors if it wasn't for that."
 
- Spencer Rutherford, Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 10:15 A.M. EST

 

The win goes to the 2nd and only other place Spec Miata in the race: Dick Pistacio

[Johnny D]

There's always Jim Drago's Road Atlanta Event of the Century that nobody want to miss.

 

[Bench Racer]

That video ^ is Eldora Speedway parking lots.  The parking lots are actually cut hay and corn fields.

[FTodaro]

Good topic! I have Road Atlanta on my list for the year, but I too am twisting in the wind over which weekend to attend.I would normally target a majors weekend because of the people on the track, but this schedule has me thinking ARRC or a regional. Among other things, I have never been on that track, so I would really like some seat time via practice sessions before I venture out with the majors crowd.

My first time at Atlanta was the second stint in an 8 hr enduro, Yes you want a little practice before you race.

 

To Jim's point, i am not sure that the Region is in the driver seat if they get Super Tour status. I think National makes that call or the sponsor.

 

Having said that they could still have the same schedule if they wanted, unless the track rented the track out under them, but i doubt that.

[Spencer Rutherford]

Who needs practice? I can’t remember the last time I had fun in practice. I know I’m probably the outlier here, but I like racing and the Atlanta majors offers 60% more race time over the ARRC event.

[High Chair]

Spence should be a lock just put Blake in the wall in t1 on lap 1... Nobody else could beat him after that.

No need.. Blake will rip the transmission out on lap 3 and then tell us all how he had them covered.

[Danica Davison]

No need.. Blake will rip the transmission out on lap 3 and then tell us all how he had them covered.

 

Damn! That just happened!

[Jim Creighton]

Jim and all. I'll make a quick simple attempt to explain Jim's complaints. I'm on the BOD and our decisions were primarily financial.

 

To have a Super Tour at Road Atlanta, it just about has to be a three day event. That drives our costs up by a third. We did not think our entry would increase enough to cover the expense So, we went with non Super Tour event with more schedule flexibility. After the event, we felt we made the right decision.

 

Road Atlanta continues to increase in expense. And they are the ones who decided they did not want the test day even though they make way more off the test day than we do the race weekend. They only have to pay 10 workers, a wrecker and ambulance which they also contract for our events. 

 

As far as I am aware, we were not offered a Super Tour event in 2018 nor did we ask for it. Again, we don't believe we get the extra entry. Just look at COTA this weekend. They only have 283 entries, the same that was at Sebring in January. Now, personally, I can't see why anyone would want to run COTA and pay $300 more for a second gear track vs Road Atlanta or Sebring. And maybe some folks agree because the SM number there is less than Sebring.

 

Anyhow, with the Runoffs coming to VIR next year, interest on the right coast will again peak and all will be good. We,  Atlanta Region, will do our best to assure a test day next year by trying to conduct it ourselves. Last time we tried that, the track blocked us. Hope you guys will continue to support us. After all, Road Atlanta still provides some great races and is one of bucket list tracks.

 

And this is my personal answer and is not from the BOD. I know many of you well and think I owe it to you to step forward when you ask questions or have concerns. After all, without you, there are no races and we officials have no one to play with on weekends!

[Danny Steyn]

Jim

thanks for giving us an insight into the considerations that affect your decisions.

much appreciated

[MPR22]

Jim and all. I'll make a quick simple attempt to explain Jim's complaints. I'm on the BOD and our decisions were primarily financial.
 
To have a Super Tour at Road Atlanta, it just about has to be a three day event. That drives our costs up by a third. We did not think our entry would increase enough to cover the expense So, we went with non Super Tour event with more schedule flexibility. After the event, we felt we made the right decision.
 
Road Atlanta continues to increase in expense. And they are the ones who decided they did not want the test day even though they make way more off the test day than we do the race weekend. They only have to pay 10 workers, a wrecker and ambulance which they also contract for our events. 
 
As far as I am aware, we were not offered a Super Tour event in 2018 nor did we ask for it. Again, we don't believe we get the extra entry. Just look at COTA this weekend. They only have 283 entries, the same that was at Sebring in January. Now, personally, I can't see why anyone would want to run COTA and pay $300 more for a second gear track vs Road Atlanta or Sebring. And maybe some folks agree because the SM number there is less than Sebring.
 
Anyhow, with the Runoffs coming to VIR next year, interest on the right coast will again peak and all will be good. We,  Atlanta Region, will do our best to assure a test day next year by trying to conduct it ourselves. Last time we tried that, the track blocked us. Hope you guys will continue to support us. After all, Road Atlanta still provides some great races and is one of bucket list tracks.
 
And this is my personal answer and is not from the BOD. I know many of you well and thing nk I owe it to you to step forward when you ask questions or have concerns. After all, without you, there are no races and we officials have no one to play with on weekends!

If Toyo wasn’t offering 80k for the COTA win in September the SM number this weekend would have been quite a bit lower.

[ctnewman]

I heard a rumor this weekend that Road Atlanta had an opportunity to do a high-dollar corporate event on that Friday and basically said screw the SCCA. Don’t know if it’s true or not, but it’ll be easy enough to find out.

CN

[Jim Drago]

I heard a rumor this weekend that Road Atlanta had an opportunity to do a high-dollar corporate event on that Friday and basically said screw the SCCA. Don’t know if it’s true or not, but it’ll be easy enough to find out.

CN

ferrari club is there Friday.. so sounds accurate

[SaulSpeedwell]

Not sure what happened to this event....Seems like it has been on a downward slide the last few years and for whatever reasons has not been in the supertour schedule. The dates have been falling on bad weekends as well and now this event is reduced to a 2 day and three session weekend   This is probably my favorite track, sad to see this.  I missed last year after I planned my vacation around the event they rescheduled the event and that took me out. This year, just not sure it I feel like driving 14.5 hrs round trip for three sessions  or 110 minutes on track    

Looks like the ARRC for me this year and no "majors" The regional is a much better event at this point

Jim

 

http://www.atlantasc...ps-schedule.pdf

 

90+ entries the last 4 years for the "ChampCar" (formerly "ChumpCar") 14 hour endurance race held there the first weekend in February.  Went for my 4th year this past weekend.   

 

I believe there were only two FCYs, no black flag alls or red flags.  Very fun event.  E30s/E36s are the largest contingent, followed by Miatas, followed by Hondas.  The faster cars lap between 1:39 and 1:44. Fully clean laps are rare.