SCCA Majors Schedule 2014

[Amon]

Here it is:

Eastern Conference
Jan. 3-5: Sebring International Raceway
Jan. 10-12: Palm Beach International Raceway
March 21-23: Road Atlanta
TBD April: VIRginia International Raceway
TBD May/June: New Jersey Motorsports Park
July 4-6: Watkins Glen International
Aug. 1-3: Summit Point Motorsports Park

Mid-States Conference
TBD Feb./March: Circuit of the Americas
April 5-6: Hallett Motor Racing Circuit
May 24-25: Pueblo Motorsports Park
July 5-6: High Plains Raceway
Aug. 30-31: Heartland Park Topeka (Conference Finale)
- One additional event from Southwest Division will be added to the calendar.

Northern Conference
May 2-4: Blackhawk Farms
TBD May/June: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
TBD June: Road America, Chicago Region June Sprints
July 12-13: GingerMan Raceway
July 26-27: Road America
Aug. 23-24: Grattan Raceway

Western Conference
Jan. 17-19: Auto Club Speedway
TBD March: Inde Motorsports Ranch
April 25-27: Buttonwillow Raceway Park
May 24-25: Pacific Raceway
July 4-6: Portland International Raceway (Conference Finale)
- One additional event from San Francisco Region will be added to the calendar.

I noticed that Road America gets two dates only 5-6 weeks apart, and MIS is dropped from the schedule. That seems a bit too much rewards for one track while excluding several others.

Mark

[Steve Davis]

...
- One additional event from San Francisco Region will be added to the calendar.

Anyone wanta bet on the venue for that 'event to be added' ??

Steve, FV80

[Amon]

Steve,

I'm stumped............

Mark

[Hardingfv32]

Anyone wanta bet on the venue for that 'event to be added' ??

If you are thinking Laguna... What is the motivation for the SFR? They can get about 200 Regional entries and add that to what ever National guys want to come to a Regional. Can not understate the importance of Regional racing in the SFR.

Frankly it is odd that they have not declared something at this point. Their dates at Laguna and Sears are well established. A Major at Sears is probably out because of the Portland Major.

It was just announced the the Laguna is loosing the MotoGP date, so maybe they think they can land that date.

Brian

[jhenn4716]

What is the motivation for the SFR? They can get about 200 Regional entries and add that to what ever National guys want to come to a Regional. Can not understate the importance of Regional racing in the SFR.

Well considering there is no more Regional or National racing the turnout is unknown

[SStadel]

Finally a return to the "old CenDiv". Looking forward to a nice 12 races over 6 weekends schedule!

[Hardingfv32]

Well considering there is no more Regional or National racing the turnout is unknown

So what is the name for an SCCA event that all the old Regional only classes now run in?

The point is a Major event precludes the Regional spec only classes from running. These Regional spec only classes are where the big revenues are found in the SFR. Turnout for the 'all classes' events should not be affected.

Brian

[dalz]

MIS grew on me. Bummer.

Will both RA rounds be the standard double for all classes?

Grattan is a quality test of man and machine.

[Tiago Santos]

That might be me out of qualifying for Laguna :/ I was hoping thunderhill would make
it along with Seattle and Portland.. I won't be able to make the other two California races due to work, and Inde is waaaaay too far to get to as the first race of the season for me.

Hope it works out better for other people though!

edit: still have my fingers crossed that Thunderhill is the surprise Majors event. Along with many other things that would allow me to qualify

[Brian.Novak]

Grattan!!!! Yessssss.

I kinda liked MIS too, plus it was close. Don't really like going out to RA twice since the RunOffs aren't going to be there.

[Bruce]

SF Region never announces it's schedule until the annual banquet. This year it is being held on Nov. 9th Saturday.

[Michael Lensen]

What is the license requirement for a Majors race.

[mousecatcher]

http://www.scca.com/clubracing/news.cfm?cid=51606

TBD Feb./March: Circuit of the Americas

Thought the word was SCCA wasn't going to be invited back to COTA. It'll be interesting!

[JRMarchand]

Michigan has some really good tracks, glad Grattan is back, sad about the lost efforts at MIS and super excited if GingerMan finally gets repaved in the spring.

[Hardingfv32]

Thought the word was SCCA wasn't going to be invited back to COTA.

Or is it... SCCA does not want back without some changes on the part of track management?

Brian

[Tiago Santos]

What is the license requirement for a Majors race.

Michael, I think the license requirements might change soon (I hear there's an announcement coming soon?) but currently you need a National SCCA license to run a Majors event. Unlike Regional events, they do not accept non-SCCA licenses..

While technically you need to have run 4 Regional races to qualify for a National license, the license director has the freedom to take into account your experience and give you a waiver. The license director for our SCCA division seems like a pretty helpful fellow and I doubt you'd have any trouble getting a National license given your long and successful career!

edit: just thought I'd add that it's very unlikely the upcoming changes will make it any harder to get a license. If anything I expect the opposite!

[jhenn4716]

So what is the name for an SCCA event that all the old Regional only classes now run in?

The point is a Major event precludes the Regional spec only classes from running. These Regional spec only classes are where the big revenues are found in the SFR. Turnout for the 'all classes' events should not be affected.

Brian

There will be Divisional racing and Majors racing. Previous Regional only classes could only run a Divisional race.

According to an article in Sports Car, there will be 2 licenses next year. Novice and Full Competition. Following that it could be assumed that anyone will a full competition license can run any Divisional or Major race.

[RussMcB]

What do you think about the Saturday races being limited to 20 minutes? That seems pretty short, even it it's all green.

[Dave Gomberg]

What do you think about the Saturday races being limited to 20 minutes? That seems pretty short, even it it's all green.

Depending on the track and the class, that won't be much less than for a 45 mile race. For example, at Summit Point (2.0 miles), the FA/CSR lap records are under 1:07. So for a 23 lap race, green to checker would be about 25 minutes.

Dave

[Steve Demeter]

I loved Terry's comment about consistent feedback from competitors wanting race groups with compatible classes to insure a good racing experience.

I have heard competitors saying that since 1978 and our national staff just now acts like it is a revelation.

$700 entry fees and only a 20 minute race on Saturday seems kind of steep.

At least this year you got 2 full races.
And 4 qualifying sessions.

I guess that the minimum track time requirements that have been standard for years are out the window now.

Gotta love it

[RussMcB]

Depending on the track and the class, that won't be much less than for a 45 mile race. For example, at Summit Point (2.0 miles), the FA/CSR lap records are under 1:07. So for a 23 lap race, green to checker would be about 25 minutes.

Dave

Interesting that you chose FA/CSR for your example instead of B Spec/HP.

[Matt King]

Interesting that you chose FA/CSR for your example instead of B Spec/HP.

At Road America in a FV or SM, you would be looking at about 7 laps, or 28 miles in a 20-min race.

[SwanTechEnt]

What do you think about the Saturday races being limited to 20 minutes? That seems pretty short, even it it's all green.

I'm personally not thrilled about this new weekend format. Short race Saturday, Sunday morning warm up, then full length event Sunday afternoon with grid being set by your overall fastest time of the weekend. To me that sounds like less track time for the same (if not more) entry fee.

What was the grouping like in the Northern, Southern, and Eastern conferences? I have heard a couple of times where all the formula cars (Vee to Mazda/1000 ect.) were grouped together, which I would understand the want of "compatible classes". I'm guessing there must have been some other groups that were like this? In the western conference the grouping was pretty dang good in my opinion. I understand participation has a big role in it, but we had pretty small fields and kept the same groups (Pacific Raceway in WA we ran with 7 Vees and 2 Fords all weekend [if this is not considered small then forgive my ignorance!]). Would anyone know if there is anyway to opt out of this format and keep this years if the drivers in the conference prefer that?

Would like to hear other peoples opinions

[Michael Lensen]

Thanks Tiago.

[problemchild]

What do you think about the Saturday races being limited to 20 minutes? That seems pretty short, even it it's all green.

Many regional formats have shorter races. It requires a slightly different mindset, but most of the action happens in the first few laps and last lap, so the outcome is usually the same. In Ontario, they run three 20min races on a weekend.

[GAC]

They posted in the letter that they want a consistent format for all Majors events, which I agree with. I am thankful they eliminated the "qualifying race," which some events had and was really just part of a very long final with a break in the middle. The only option for the schedule is two or three days, which is determined by how many cars they anticipate at the event. I would have to say for job reasons that it is important to keep most weekends to two days on non-holiday weekends. The June Sprints was an exception, but now it looks like most Majors will be that way. RA had a national on the second date before; with Nationals going away, they had to decide which ones to turn into Majors, which to turn into regionals, and which to drop altogether. The first BHF and the second RA were the two CENDIV Nationals that became Majors. We also lost the Gateway Major that was a Norrthern/Mid crossover last year. I am disappointed to see it go, as it is my second closest track and had the second highest turnout in FF to the Sprints of any race I did besides the Runoffs.

[Amon]

Greg,

Most Double Regionals held at Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges have races that are 13-15
laps,(28-35 miles), however we aren't charged anywhere close to the $550.00 (M-O Majors Fee 05/13) to $700.00 entry fee that was mentioned earlier. I don't blame others for questioning the cost vs. track time allotted because it's expensive to race and adding large entry fee's on top of other costs really puts the squeeze on drivers.



Mark

[Chris Elwell]

What happened to the Majors weekends where only the top 10 classes are invited? With this new format, it's going to be more groups and less track time, so essentially the same as a National weekend was. Except it costs more and one has to take another day off work.

[GAC]

Greg,

Most Double Regionals held at Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges have races that are 13-15
laps,(28-35 miles), however we aren't charged anywhere close to the $550.00 (M-O Majors Fee 05/13) to $700.00 entry fee that was mentioned earlier. I don't blame others for questioning the cost vs. track time allotted because it's expensive to race and adding large entry fee's on top of other costs really puts the squeeze on drivers.



Mark

Why was this addressed to me?

[Amon]

GAC:

Greg Rice......


Mark

[problemchild]

Greg,

Most Double Regionals held at Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges have races that are 13-15
laps,(28-35 miles), however we aren't charged anywhere close to the $550.00 (M-O Majors Fee 05/13) to $700.00 entry fee that was mentioned earlier. I don't blame others for questioning the cost vs. track time allotted because it's expensive to race and adding large entry fee's on top of other costs really puts the squeeze on drivers.



Mark

I understand and agree that there is a question of value. I was commenting on the discussion about running shorter races, which in itself, is quite manageable. The understanding is that there will be more races or less cost.

SCCA's problem has always been that the different parts of the country had different racing needs, and required different operational approaches. Standardizing a format to handle 70 or 400 entry events is just plain crazy. Different track policies, track lengthes, climates, class sizes, etc. Do they never learn?

[R.DeVoe]

But have nationals been removed from the 2014 calendar?

This year, we saw regionals, nationals, majors, the super tour, and the runoffs.

Also, if they charge more than last year for the Majors, i think you'll see participation decrease across the board. Personally, I'd rather participate in 2 regionals at 2 different tracks than one majors event. But then again, I have no intention of going to the runoffs. I'm just here for the plastic trophies!

[Tiago Santos]

Nationals are gone and that's exactly the intention! If you don't care about the runoffs, there should be more Regional events to attend (which are cheaper, etc).

I think the new format will work out well if they do manage to split the classes into decent groups. For some classes in some areas it might not be a great improvement (FF and FV had a good grouping in the West) but I'm sure there were other classes that would have loved to be split from something else. Damn it's 6.30am and I'm having a hard time getting my point across, sorry.

[BWC54]

Nationals are gone and that's exactly the intention! If you don't care about the runoffs, there should be more Regional events to attend (which are cheaper, etc).

I think the new format will work out well if they do manage to split the classes into decent groups. For some classes in some areas it might not be a great improvement (FF and FV had a good grouping in the West)

In SoWDiv for the Regionals they are now grouping FF and FV with SRF. That really sucks.

[Steve Davis]

All of the Eastern Conference races .. and COTA, grouped FV, F5, and FF. Worked out about as well as we could hope for these days. IIRC, Vee was the largest class at all events except possibly COTA - it was close between FF and FV.

Steve, FV80

[Hardingfv32]

What is the SCCA business model for 2014? The Runoffs use to fund part of National's yearly budget. How is that being compensated for? Any factual information about projected surcharges to the Major entry fees?

Brian

[butch deer]

What happened to the Majors weekends where only the top 10 classes are invited? With this new format, it's going to be more groups and less track time, so essentially the same as a National weekend was. Except it costs more and one has to take another day off work.

Looks to me like Majors are no just another name for the old nationals. This program has kicked theS___ out of the old regional schedule. Those of us that choose a non runoffs class have very little choice of race dates. I hope there will be more divisionals this comming season than there were regionals in 2013. I liked the Majors/ divisional program when it was first announced. What it has become not so much.

[Josh Pitt]

In SoWDiv for the Regionals they are now grouping FF and FV with SRF. That really sucks.

organizers need to understand that when you get right down to it, the run grouping are the product that you are selling.

the above is an example of run grouping that show either ignorance or just plain lack of caring for safety.
racing is a wonderful product to offer to you customers, but the run group that racer purchases track time in like this is not good for any of the customers.

my openwheeler will NEVER be run in a group with SRF based soley on safety, and my obligations off the track. most all of us are not proffesional racers, so safety is a big concern.

if this is the solution to run groups like this, then quite simply "the powers that be"(usually stewards) have been out of racing too long to see what they are asking of their "customers".

I boycoted any event that offers poor run groups as its product.

[mike g.]

I like the cendiv calendar.

I hate the less track time with the shorter race, for more $$.

Did anyone figure out if they actually are dropping classes this year?

[dalz]

Michigan has some really good tracks, glad Grattan is back, sad about the lost efforts at MIS and super excited if GingerMan finally gets repaved in the spring.

What's wrong with Gingerman's surface? I don't like tracks that could double as dance floors. I like a little...texture.