115 replies to this topic

[Danny Steyn]

Vintage and Racing do not belong in the same sentence!!!

[38bfast]

Vintage racing is going to freak out when all the NA SM become elibable soon.

[Tom Sager]

Tom,

Actually, the newer better ASedan was about 6th in participation numbers last season and was 3rd or 4th in Runoffs entries with 36.  In the good old days, when we never got above16th in National participation.  There might be 40 Runoffs entries and at the end of the race there would be 20 finishers and 20 smoking holes around the track.  It is cheaper to run in ASedan now than it was in the old days, in real dollars.   

We did away with all the crappy stock brakes, T-5 transmissions, etc. and gave everyone steel cranks, which meant the Mustangs didn't have to have three motors to run a season.  

So, to answer your question, No, it didn't.

wheel

Glad to hear the class is on the uptick. AS back in the late 90's was my favorite race to watch.  In recent years and in our area my only memories are Andy McD lapping the rest of the field of a few cars aside from the Sprints and the Runoffs.  

[Jim Drago]

Glad to hear the class is on the uptick. AS back in the late 90's was my favorite race to watch.  In recent years and in our area my only memories are Andy McD lapping the rest of the field of a few cars aside from the Sprints and the Runoffs.

I do enjoy watching Andy wheel that big sled of a car though! Fun to watch, I usually make a point to watch, if for nothing else, I like watching Andy.

[wheel]

I love watching Andy drive.  Unfortunately, it is almost always from behind.  Following him through the Kink is a religious experience.

 

wheel

[Tom Sager]

Vintage racing is going to freak out when all the NA SM become elibable soon.

Yes, given their own race group or banned.  No middle ground there.  

[Jim Creighton]

It will be interesting to see participation in AS at the 2014 Runoffs. Only 43 of the 327 total entries in 2013 for the class were from RM, SoPac & NoPac.Those 43 entries were for 10 different drivers. Even SW only had 22 entries. So, a lot of drivers are going to have to travel 1/2 way across country for the Runoffs. However, 2015 at Daytona should bring them out. I'd think that Daytona would be a fun track in AS. Last year, there were 7 AS entries at Sebring, but only 4 so far this year.

 

Anyone want to start a pool on how many SM entries at 2015 Daytona Runoffs? You may actually may have to qualify to make the race field.

[Danny Steyn]

Jim, as much as I hate to say it, with over 70 Spec Miata drivers at Sebring next week, I predict the there will have to be TWO SPEC MIATA RUN GROUPS at the NASA National Championships at Road Atlanta this year. 

 

I have no doubt that there are MANY SCCA Spec Miata drivers that will not make the trek to Laguna Seca due to costs and time, but will definitely make the NASA Road Atlanta race. In fact that is pretty much all I hear about these days.

 

And yes, 2015 Runoffs at Daytona will have to have serious qualifying parameters to make the race, or you will have to have two run groups there too.

 

Best (and worst) thing about Daytona, you can be in 10th place on the last lap and still win the race, its gonna be wild!!!!!

[Jim Creighton]

Atlanta Region is already discussing ways to make the 2014 ARRC a special event for all. That may be another full field for SM. The 2014 winners medallion may carry some extra special meaning.

 

In addition to being the ARRC, the four day race will be on Halloween and I know some extra awards will be planned around Halloween. We are considering inviting the locals to bring their kids to trick or treat and watch some qualifying. Should be a fun Championship event.

[Jim Drago]

I wonder what race will be bigger? The  ARRC or NASA Championships? I will try and do the ARRC again if at all possible, but doubt I can make the NASA champs with the extra time,budget,tires and races needed to run the event.  I have a much better chance winning NASA Champs at Road Atlanta, but IMO, the "National Championship" will be held at Laguna, so that is where we are headed! .  NASA now has two Co National Champions or an " Eastern States Champion and a Western States Champion"  great idea by NASA as both races will be well attended, but IMO, it slightly diminishes the title, regardless of who attends.  Just my     

[Adax]

 

Best (and worst) thing about Daytona, you can be in 10th place on the last lap and still win the race, its gonna be wild!!!!!

 

Since we're already pretty far OT and speaking of Daytona, check out this shifter kart bump drafting. Think SCCA stewards would turn a blind eye to this?

 

[Todd Lamb]

Jim - I hope you guys are planning far enough ahead to NOT have the ARRC conflict with the 13hrs?

[Brian Ghidinelli]

I'm thinking for equal or less $$$ than a new SM build I could race a man's car.

 

https://www.facebook.com/SpecMustang

 

And I think I have the perfect class for those tired old 99s

 

http://goaheadtaketh...nd-preparation/

 

Not to muddy any waters here - but my trusted resource says donors are still in the 15-20k range and a basic build would be 45k if you do the work yourself or 60k for a shop build.  Definitely a neat class but still quite a ways off from SM.

 

I'm excited by the Spec E46 BMW class... cars there should be in the 35k range if you build yourself and will be a lot of fun to drive.

[Brandon]

As others have noted, this was a request by the CRB of the membership regarding "what's next for SM?" and not "Hey! How should we get the NC's into SM?"

There is no agenda by the CRB (from my perspective), merely 'future envisioning' of what their largest-participant class will look like in X-number of years.

 

if you've read the 01/2014 FastTrack BoD minutes, you'll also notice they've formed a planing committee named "Vision 2020" which seems to me like a logical source/reinforcement of their question.

 

Now, getting to the meat of the inquiry, we have all sorts of options which I think some will find good/bad/ugly depending upon your current situation (NA1.6, NA1.8, NB...)

I have some ideas in mind I'd like to share with folks privately before I submit anything to the CRB but I'll be sure to post here what I do end up submitting.

[mhiggins10]

As someone who just bangs around regional races in a mid-pack (at BEST) car, I really enjoy SM for two main reasons: the camaraderie and the cost.  While some complain about sticker tires and "tech shed legal bearing grease" and whatnot, I don't know of another class where you can get in, have fun and always have someone to run with in a large, competitive class for (potentially well) south of $9,000 to start.

 

While I understand these are older cars (I have a 1.6) and the CRB is looking at the future, perhaps the vision is best addressed by tinkering with the MX5 rule set and allowing SMs to run with them and come in over time, rather than the other way around.  Why mess with what clearly works well? Let the other guys change.

 

Just figured I'd add my $.02 from the back of the pack...

[wheel]

As with all opinions expressed on this site (and others) the only comments that count are the ones that come in through www.crbscca.com.  If you have an opinion about this topic, be sure and post a short letter to the site, so that the SMAC and the CRB can hear your opinion.  Also, as has been mentioned, the CRB has no preconception about this topic and no agenda except to find out what the SM racers want for the future.  

thanks,

wheel