45 replies to this topic

[Johnny D]

 

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is excited to announce that the organization’s premier Championship events, the Western and Eastern States Championships, will return to a single event format for the 2018 NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires. This event is scheduled to take place at the world famous Circuit of the Americas facility in Austin, Texas ‪on September 13-16, 2018‬. The Circuit of the Americas will host the 2018 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix just one month after the best NASA competitors from across the nation enjoy four days of intense competition at a track regarded by many as one of the most challenging in the country. ‬

 

“We’re thrilled to be taking the NASA Championships to Circuit of the Americas in 2018” said Jeremy Croiset, NASA Director of Business Development. “We’re giving our competitors the opportunity to compete on the same track, pit in the same garages, and fight for their chance to win a NASA Championship at the same facility that will host the biggest racing stars in the world from the Formula 1 championship just one month later. It just doesn’t get much cooler than that!”

 

“We’re proud to continue our commitment as the presenting sponsor of the NASA Championships,” said Marc Sanzenbacher, Sr. Manager Motorsports, Toyo Tires USA. “It is an opportunity for us to support grassroots racing, showcase our race-winning Proxes tires, and gather real-world data for our product development team. The return to a single event format in 2018 will bring the best amateur racers together for what is sure to be an exciting weekend of racing”

 

“We look forward to hosting NASA’s premier Championship event at our world class facility in 2018” said Eric Paradis, Vice President of Business Development, Circuit of the Americas. “The visit to our facility is one no one ever forgets and we expect that everyone will enjoy a truly memorable experience during the event that will last a lifetime”.

 

[Richard Astacio]

Prefer to go to COTA over Sonoma!!! I guess Cota it is next year!

[Tom Hampton]

WTH? Whose idea was it to cover up the #73 with the COTA tower? 

[Johnny D]

[Steve Scheifler]

Given the possible turnout, has there been any talk of NASA tightening the requirements to attend? They might very well end up with more SCCA crossovers meeting the minimum than NASA regulars. Increasing the season participation requirements could be a very profitable.

[Danica Davison]

If I have one recommendation for 2018, and really my only complaint from 2017, it would be to have a better broadcast. If they don't want to pay for a full camera crew, at least put a fixed camera on every corner. There were only Four cameras at Sebring for Seventeen corners.  They will have the extra entries to help pay for the extra cameras so I think it can be done very easily.

 

Also, it would help if the broadcasters had a guest join them for the SM race that actually knows Spec Miata and knows the drivers. I mean, it took them half the race before they noticed Drago came in the pits on the first lap!

 

Shoot, I would totally do that since I wont be racing it. You gotta give the people what they want!

[Steve Scheifler]

I’ll vote for you as color commentator!

Not only were they uninformed and slow, they didn’t seem to pay any attention to their monitors at all, too busy trying to be witty I suspect. I feel bad ragging on them in public but I think it was worse than ever this year.

[Steve Scheifler]

Is it likely that COTA has decent cameras around the track that could be tapped for a fee?

[Tom Hampton]

I vote that they hire SMMD for color commentator.

[Richard Astacio]

I vote that they hire SMMD for color commentator.

 

That would be entertaining for sure!!! 

[sentercut]

Given the possible turnout, has there been any talk of NASA tightening the requirements to attend? They might very well end up with more SCCA crossovers meeting the minimum than NASA regulars. Increasing the season participation requirements could be a very profitable.

 

SHSHSHSH, dang man.

[sentercut]

If I have one recommendation for 2018, and really my only complaint from 2017, it would be to have a better broadcast. If they don't want to pay for a full camera crew, at least put a fixed camera on every corner. There were only Four cameras at Sebring for Seventeen corners.  They will have the extra entries to help pay for the extra cameras so I think it can be done very easily.

 

Also, it would help if the broadcasters had a guest join them for the SM race that actually knows Spec Miata and knows the drivers. I mean, it took them half the race before they noticed Drago came in the pits on the first lap!

 

Shoot, I would totally do that since I wont be racing it. You gotta give the people what they want!

Yeah, I totally agree. It would be awesome to have a SM guy in the booth calling the race instead of what is done at this point. Even the runoffs announcers only know about 20% of the field. Not that the bottom 75% get any air time, but it would be awesome if some one colorful, articulate, and dare i say humorous be commentating and could give an accurate real time race call. Hell I would book your travel. If NASA or SCCA wanted to attract attention to each class, they should do this on a regular basis, especially for the championships and advertise it. Just my .02 

[Johnny D]

This years the drivers were asked to fill out a one page form on us and how you say your name, how long you been racing, past champs, wins, good stories, etc.

 

So if the announcers F'd it up, they aren't reading the forms or the driver didn't fill out the form.

 

And they may not be at the track and looking at a little screen.

 

But I do think think SMMD (whoever that is) is a good idea.

 

J~

[BNaumann]

Did James put "The Godfather of Spec Miata" on his bio or did they come up with that on their own? 😀

[Steve Scheifler]

Can we maybe not go for humorous? That’s part of the problem with many amateur announcers, they think they are on drivetime radio and end up being not the least bit funny to most people.

[Tom Hampton]

Can we maybe not go for humorous? That’s part of the problem with many amateur announcers, they think they are on drivetime radio and end up being not the least bit funny to most people.

The problem isn't the lack of humor---its a lack of commitment.  Either be funny, or be good---Don't try to be both.  SMMD would be an absolute fudging train wreck---but, it would be funny as hell.

 

EDIT: Damn family-friendly filter.  I did NOT type "fudging".  Other forums let me cuss. 

[Jim Drago]

Did James put "The Godfather of Spec Miata" on his bio or did they come up with that on their own?

Something tells me someone else filled out my profile for me and submitted it. I never filled one out

[LarryKing]

 

Did James put "The Godfather of Spec Miata" on his bio or did they come up with that on their own?

 

Don't ask questions if you don't want to end up in a car crusher in Memphis

[Danica Davison]

It really wouldn't even need to be comical. My goal here isn't to bash them publicly either, because they really just don't know Spec Miata which is why having someone join them would be better. I think they are entertaining, but i think it would help viewers for ALL classes to have an "expert" join in if possible.  I would say the exact same thing for the SCCA too. At the Runoffs, they had Tom O'Gorman (Tomo) join them for some of the Prod sessions and the STL races, and it made it better not just because he is an entertaining/marketable guy, but that he knows more about the specific cars/classes/drivers. I am sure it is very difficult to talk about people in 28 different classes, and someone like Tomo, or Randy Pobst, or others have really helped the broadcast before.  I am not saying that I would even be good at it, because I might suck lol, but I would offer to give it a shot if nobody else more notable was brought in, to make the commentary better about SM for us and our viewers.  I am not planning on racing but I might fly out there just to hangout since I am sure a lot more people will go to COTA than Sonoma ... plus I haven't been there.

 

 Here is what I think would make the broadcast more enjoyable:

 

1. Knowing how Spec Miata racing is different from other classes. For example, not freaking out every lap when Ross and Selin were separated by 0.050 seconds because they were bump drafting down the front straight.
2. Having the inside information about the competitors:  Their tendencies, teammates, race history, and other information about them.
3. Being able to explain why something just happened on track and being able to somewhat accurately predict what will happen in the next few laps.
4. More cameras. I get that having a full crew is expensive. But at least put more of the stationary cameras around. They cant be that expensive.  The carousel wasn't covered which there is always cars going off there and squeezing back in line which is exciting. Turn 13 through the entrance of 17 wasn't covered.  Turn 15-16 is always exciting to stand there and watch because you really see the cars full loaded up in the exit of 15 and sliding. Entrance to Turn 17 is exciting because a lot of passing on both the inside and outside is done there will multiple different lines that work.

 

Just my thoughts

[MPR22]

Something tells me someone else filled out my profile for me and submitted it. I never filled one out

Probably that Spec Miata Man Drama guy.