104 replies to this topic

[john mueller]

Since we're way off topic here...I think Kate Upton is gorgeous. Let's talk about that for a year and a half.

 

What? did you say something??

 

[Jim Drago]

SCCA is a club, The "money" Hoosier paid SCCA was the contingency program, they did not "pay" the SCCA and they are not the Official tire of SCCA. I have no idea how much Toyo pays Jerry, but I think it is VERY fair to say that is part of the decision making process, it would be if I was Jerry. That is not to say or imply they "bought anything. Also not to say that the Toyo is a bad tire, or perhaps even a better spec tire for the class.
I would like to clarify a little. SCCA obviously ran the Toyos, when the contract was up they sent out a driver survey. The Hoosier was chosen for no other reason than it most closely mirrored what the SCCA drivers "said" they wanted in a spec tire. One thing I have learned from my time on the CRB is that sometimes the best thing we can do is to protect drivers from themselves.
The SCCA would like nothing more than to just go open tires in SM and alleviate all the conspiracy theorists and comments like the one above about the money etc. The only reason we continue to stay on Spec tire in the SCCA is because it is what the drivers want and guys like me saying it is what is best for the class.

Open Tires..
Open tires would be great for me personally. I would never have to buy another tire again, but it would be terrible for the class. The gap between haves and haves and have nots would grow. Competitors will find themselves in different camps and one tire will inevitably be a little better than the other. If you happen to be loyal to brand X and brand Y is the tire for the year, you are basically screwed. I oppose it personally and as a CRB member.

I would love both clubs to be on the same tire, SMAC and John worked hard to get back on the same rules package, would be nice to be on the same tire as well. Only time will tell.

[Rob Burgoon]

I'm not saying SCCA picked the wrong tire, however a survey is an imperfect method to glean what racers want/need.

 

It's not as simple as seeing that lots of people hate shaving tires and want trackside support.

 

Speaking for myself, trackside support can go off a cliff if I spend $5 less on each tire.  I'm fine with shaving if it saves me $25 on each tire.

 

I'm fine with shaving AND no support AND paying $50 more if the truly competitive life if the tire is twice as long.

 

 

The difficulty is figuring out the right questions to ask to tease out what each demographic in the class wants/needs and how badly and what compromises to make.

[Bruce Wilson]

Over the years, it seems that SM was destined to be on Hoosiers.  There was a groundswell of support that grew over the years, and we got what we asked for.  The complaints from some front runners was that they never knew which session the Toyos were going to "come in" and that differed from track to track, making it even more of a crapshoot. 

 

On toyos, I remember when we would qualify on stickers (because they would be awesome for 3 laps), then we would put them away for a month and then use them for a few races.  It was more complicated back then.  So now we have a tire that is fast and predictable and finding out it may be more expensive to be competitive.

 

It's great to see people get really passionate about their sport and tires has always been one of those polarizing subjects for us. They are a very big part of the game we play, especially up front, where skills pretty much surpass the limits of the car, and there are only a few things that make a big difference -- tires do.

 

But for this rule or future tire selections, we really should be looking first and foremost to the needs of the many.  The Hoosier issue, real or perceived, may or may not be a big deal to the mid packers, so whatever we do should not penalize or make it more expensive for them.  We've asked for input in Oregon region and have yet to hear any complaints from the mid pack.  It's always great to hear the perspective of Drago, Mike, Dave and other class leaders, but it would really be great to hear the perspective of the mid pack guys.  Is it a big deal or just one of those "you guys decide whatever"?

[Keith Novak]

I'll weigh in instead of just being sarcastic. 

 

I'm bonnified mid pack or at the back of the pointy end depending on the pack.  Racing in that company, I've used sticker Hoosiers, properly cured Hoosiers, beautiful condition RA-1s, RA-1s with just maybe enough tread to last the race, and my full tread 5 y.o. 888 rains that I dug out of retirement for an enduro.  I end up competing against the very same people mid pack wheither they're on Hoosiers or Toyos (although I think I'm the only one who resorted to 888s).  Sometimes I'm running them down.  Sometimes they're running me down and that can vary at different points of a race.

 

Since I started racing (the year of the dreaded 888s) everybody has complained about the class tires and wanted to use a different one.  Just like the complaints never really changed much about the tires, neither did the fast lap times.  We changed tires so many times that to allow people to run what they had, we always had a mixed bag of tires mid pack.  The front runners made a gentlemans agreement on what to run.  Along with the "I was down on power" excuse, tires seem to be right up there with why one mid packer went faster and another slower.  My conclusion has been that 2 seconds of mistakes per lap in 10ths here and several 10ths there is a much bigger factor than either power or tires.  My excuse when I don't do so well is that it was driver related.

 

I have swallowed the bitter pill and realized that whether I'm on sticker Hoosiers or junk tires I found behind the shed, my line and the movement of my right foot is a much bigger factor to where I'm fast or not.  I'd like to all be on the same tire so people complaining about the tires will shut up and race.  I'd prefer to not mark the tires because in order to actually cure them and get more sessions on them, sometimes I plan my weekend around what session I'm going to put that 1st cycle on the Hoosiers and bed a set of brake pads.  People will still complain they didn't have the best tires that weekend.  I'll do my best not to roll my eyes and continue torquing lug nuts.