4 replies to this topic

[Randy Thieme]

Schedule is up. Eight races total. Another end of season triple. Only one single which is the March opener. All PIR, nothing at ORP.

[William Bonsell]

Too bad Oregon and NWR don't get together and jointly put on events at Pacific as well as The Ridge in Shelton. A full season at one track sounds pretty boring to me especially given the close proximity of other venues. How great would a championship season of 8-10 races be if spread over three tracks. And for all the Seattle guys to continually make the trek to Portland to run a SM championship season, seems inherently unfair. Seems since both regions have some financial issues, merging the two into one SCCA region encompassing Oregon and Washington sure makes sense to me.

Bill-

[Bruce Wilson]

There was talk about a combined event at the ridge. I'm sure we'll here more about that once the track is sanctioned.

Combining regions makes sense to me.

[Jim Boemler]

I've forwarded your thoughts to the NWR Board, Bill. It appears that the idea of joint events has been floated before, with no interest from the Oregon leaders. That lack of interest probably makes folks up here less interested in combining regions, despite some potential benefits.

BTW, NWR has a couple of dates penciled in at the Ridge next year, but it does depend on getting the track approved by then, so whether it actually happens is somewhat out of our hands.

[William Bonsell]

There was talk about a combined event at the ridge. I'm sure we'll here more about that once the track is sanctioned.

Combining regions makes sense to me.

I'm pretty new around here so don't really know the history of both regions. While the Northwest region runs an extremely successful auto cross season, the road racing leaves a lot to be desired. I can't help but think that a combined Oregon/NWR road racing calendar utilizing at least three tracks (a 4th if ORP is included) would be a win win for both regions and ensure more participation. Maybe Oregon and NWR could just get together and co-sanction road racing only. You could then have a Pacific Northwest Championship season consisting of 8-10 races utilizing 3 or 4 tracks. I can't help but believe the SM grids would grow. May not be possible for 2012, but I would think this could be worked out for the 2013 season.

I also know there is already a tentative race date at The Ridge for mid summer with Conference. I will be heading out there Sunday for a Porsche tour and open house to see this new track up close. Should be fun.

Bill-