1)Yes, I admit I do not cross over to NASA, That has more to do with NASA policies.
2)But like others you have a vested interest for keeping RA-1's in the region ie your Nasa involvement. That should as I stated before not influence the decision on tires. You have not raced with SFR this year even with the same tire so should we keep the RA-1 just because someone that races NASA my come over and race with us. Not a factor in my judgment.
3)You mentioned the R-888 in the other thread. That was an example of the sky was falling mentality that is going on now. Hoosiers are a know quantity not a new tire many regions back East have successfully run them for years.
4)Toyo tried to dump the RA-1 once before who says they want again.
5)As for costs Hoosiers will be cheaper in the long run. Shaving costs are up to $17 per tire now and no guarantee they will not rise more. Special shaves that some front runners use will be eliminated which will level the field for the budget racers.
6)Allow a overlap at the start of the season. This should give everyone a chance to cycle some Hoosiers and the budget guys to run out their current tires. As for NASA vs. SCCA Through July 25 there has been 91 different drivers in SMT/SSM in SFR and only 49 in NASA.
7)We need to do what is right for SFR without regards for any potential NASA crossover.
Dennis
I have broken up your post to respond accordingly...
1) I understand your issues with NASA as I had many of the same. This however is not a NASA vs SCCA thread. This has to do with SM racers and where they can/will race.
2)Yes I have a vested interest. I want to keep my (and others) options open. I want to do what is best for the class in a time when grids are shrinking. Seperation and exclusivity do niether organization any good and the class WILL suffer for it.
3)The R888's did cause the sky to fall. They were not the tire we were told they were and within a year the club left them to go back to the RA1. I know only a very few number of people that have spent a large amount of time on the hoosiers and several have gone to over brands since then. If you think just because people have raced on Hoosiers back east that there will be no problems I think you need to check your purple kool-aid.
4)Can anyone please point to where this information that the RA1 will be discountinued in the US?
5)This is a point where our opinions split. I do not think the overal tire cost will go up or down by any great amount. If running Hoosier you will have to buy rains and they will sit. The rain is a true rain tire (I believe) not intermediate so it will be great in very wet conditions and worn out immediately in anything less. The Hoosiers will not have a significantly greater number of "fast" heat cycles than a short shaved set of Toyos (This only matters towards the front of the grid). The unanswered question for the budget racer is how far off will the hoosier fall as it heat cycles out and how many heat cycles will that take in comarison to the Toyo? Or stated another way how much slower is a 12 heat cycle Hoosier vs and Toyo compared to peak?
As for leveling the playing field, this is a fantacy. The playing field is very level. Tire shaves are not what allow the people at the pointy end of the grid to be there. The fast drivers will still be up front and the mid pack drivers will still be in the mid pack. Those that have the abilities to adapt quickly to the new tires will be further up the grid for a short while but a new tire will not re-shuffle the grid.
6)Overlap is fine if you have absolutely no opinion as to where you finish. Not a common trait in people that race cars. As to who has more racers, who cares. The question I would ask is how many names are on both lists?
7)As far as that goes, I will tell you that you would be welcomed to a NASA event with open arms. Seems that the reverse is not so true.....