Jim and all. I'll make a quick simple attempt to explain Jim's complaints. I'm on the BOD and our decisions were primarily financial.
To have a Super Tour at Road Atlanta, it just about has to be a three day event. That drives our costs up by a third. We did not think our entry would increase enough to cover the expense So, we went with non Super Tour event with more schedule flexibility. After the event, we felt we made the right decision.
Road Atlanta continues to increase in expense. And they are the ones who decided they did not want the test day even though they make way more off the test day than we do the race weekend. They only have to pay 10 workers, a wrecker and ambulance which they also contract for our events.
As far as I am aware, we were not offered a Super Tour event in 2018 nor did we ask for it. Again, we don't believe we get the extra entry. Just look at COTA this weekend. They only have 283 entries, the same that was at Sebring in January. Now, personally, I can't see why anyone would want to run COTA and pay $300 more for a second gear track vs Road Atlanta or Sebring. And maybe some folks agree because the SM number there is less than Sebring.
Anyhow, with the Runoffs coming to VIR next year, interest on the right coast will again peak and all will be good. We, Atlanta Region, will do our best to assure a test day next year by trying to conduct it ourselves. Last time we tried that, the track blocked us. Hope you guys will continue to support us. After all, Road Atlanta still provides some great races and is one of bucket list tracks.
And this is my personal answer and is not from the BOD. I know many of you well and think I owe it to you to step forward when you ask questions or have concerns. After all, without you, there are no races and we officials have no one to play with on weekends!