Clustering Competition in OH/PA/NY

[Chris Elwell]

I've heard from a few different people that Regional participation in the OH/PA/NY area wasn't the greatest last season. I think it would be a good idea for FV drivers in the area to post up their schedules for this coming season, so we can all see what everyone is planning and then try to all attend the same races. We had a good amount of cars at the Nelson Ledges quad in October and it'd be nice to have that many on other weekends.

I think picking one weekend at Nelson Ledges, one at Mid-Ohio, one at Beaverun, one at Grattan or Gingerman and one at Watkins Glen would be a good start. We can even call it a "series" and give out our own awards such as beer. DC region has combined all open wheel cars into one group so I'm not planning on a Summit Point regional.

My potential Regional Schedule:
Watkins Glen May 25-26 Double
Grattan July 27-28 Double
Beaverun Aug 3-4 Single National
Mid-Ohio Aug 31-Sept 1 or Oct 5-6 Both Doubles
Nelson Ledges Oct 19-21 Quad

Post up your thoughts and schedules and we'll see what we can come up with.

Thanks,

Chris

[FVEE56]

Agree, the best way race. I always try to talk to my friends and family to get more cars to the events I go to. I hope we can get together at some well attended races.
Doubles and Quads are great. We need to get Pitman to race with us this year.

[Germg]

Are you guys coming to the 50th? It would be great to see you all there

jeremy

[Chris Elwell]

Yep we'll be there.

[fvee62]

Chris
I have also been turning a similar concept over in my mind since the Nelson Quad last year (scarily similar to what your idea is) and have recently been in discussion with a high profile Vee competitor who is also very much in favor of some kind of a series that would concentrate PA, NY and OH drivers schedules to increase fields and hopefully encourage new talent to get involved in Vee racing. We had agreed to independently contact certain region race organizers at Nelson, Beaverun and the Glen to see about our own group and had speculated the concept of a three race series.
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself on this thread, so I will e-mail you and we can toss around some ideas in more detail.
I think the time is right for us to get together and I personally am willing to get involved to make it a reality.
Greg Davis

[fvee62]

Chris,
I tried e-mailing you at the cge5009 address, but it failed. Do you have a new contact e-mail?
Greg

[Chris Elwell]

It's cqe5009, as in "q" not "g". And it's a gmail account. Thanks

[G.B.]

Chris
I have also been turning a similar concept over in my mind since the Nelson Quad last year (scarily similar to what your idea is) and have recently been in discussion with a high profile Vee competitor who is also very much in favor of some kind of a series that would concentrate PA, NY and OH drivers schedules to increase fields and hopefully encourage new talent to get involved in Vee racing. We had agreed to independently contact certain region race organizers at Nelson, Beaverun and the Glen to see about our own group and had speculated the concept of a three race series.
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself on this thread, so I will e-mail you and we can toss around some ideas in more detail.
I think the time is right for us to get together and I personally am willing to get involved to make it a reality.
Greg Davis

Greg,
This sounds interesting.

It could be called the PONY Championship or the PONY Club.

The Kryder series has run races at those three tracks. Wouldn’t that be the way to go as it already exists?

To get a dedicated race group you are probably going to be able to guarantee 10 cars to the race organizers and even then there will be the problem of what to do with the lone F500 and FF that turns up.
Guy.

[fvee62]

My basic concept for the series would be short - three races. Possibly the Cumberland Regional at Beaverun, the Fun One & finishing with the Nelson Quad. One of the attractions for this might be that unlike MARRS, NYSRRC, Kryder, etc., there are less races/commitment and that makes competing more feasible/affordable. Also it would not be concentrated around a specific track and this adds a bit of interest from that respect.
The over-riding theme would be to be as casual as possible, to promote the fun quotient, hold down costs wherever possible and promote participation - especially for young drivers to get into Vee's. Also, unlike the other series' this competition would be a more direct recognition from your fellow Vee drivers.
I envision having an awards ceremony after completion of the Saturday races at the Nelson Quad. That way the winners in the various categories (O.A. 2nd, 3rd, Rookie, etc.) would have direct, live recognition from their peers. Beats having your trophy sent in the mail. The Sunday race points would count towards the 2014 series.
If we go to the race regions as an organized series we also probably stand a better chance of getting our own race group and possibly other perks.
I have other ideas to flesh this out further, but this is it in a nutshell. What do you think Guy, would you be interested?

[sracing]

Great idea guys! (Sounds like something another entry level open wheel AC/VW class did. )

Larger fields, much more leverage with the track on scheduling your events, better availabilty of parts from other competitors, vendors, etc. Hope it works out.

[fvee62]

Jim,
Thanks for the encouraging words. This is all still very tentative, but I believe there is time to get all the ducks in a row by the fall and that also gives everyone plenty of time to prepare if desiring to compete. One goal would be to hopefully not have conflicting dates with the other series' to increase participation.

[grimes34]

Are you guys coming to the 50th? It would be great to see you all there

jeremy

Hi Jeremy,
Glad to see you are going to the 50th, I have been dusting off my vee for the event...
What will you be driving ?

Eugene.