Attn. West Coast FC Drivers

[El Guapo]

This will be a double race weekend. Prize money will be $1000 for 1st, $700 for 2nd, $500 for 3rd, $300 for 4th, $200 for 5th and $100 for 6th each day. Any SCCA legal FC may enter. To be eligible for points and money you must use the series spec Pirelli DM compound radial slick tire (one set per car for all qualifying and race sessions). To sign up, go to www.pacificf2000.com and look for the link on the right that says "Auto Club Speedway". Below is the email I sent to all our regular drivers.


Racers,
Most of you are used to getting these emails from me before an event. This one is a little different, and will require action by you whether you are currently racing or not. Therefore, please read this whole thing. First, the sign up link is now posted for our final event of the year Oct. 28 and 29 at Auto Club Speedway. Please go to https://nam02.safelinks.protection.o...%3D&reserved=0 and look on the right side of the page for the link. Do NOT sign up through the Cal Club registration site (two of you already have). In the next few days, our registrations will be merged with theirs so the entries will be visible on both sites. If you want a garage space, please contact Ceci at Cal Club (https://nam02.safelinks.protection.o...%3D&reserved=0). I have had too many issues with doing the garages myself. If you have never been to Auto Club Speedway, or feel like you need a bit more testing time there, there is a Speedventures event there Oct. 7 & 8. For more details or to sign up go to https://nam02.safelinks.protection.o...%3D&reserved=0. There will be no Friday test day prior to our event. There is a big music event in Ontario on the same weekend featuring Afrojack, Angerfist and Tiesto among many more. This means that hotels are already booking up. You are advised to make reservations soon, before all the rooms are gone. At Laguna Seca, I was asked if we would be having grid/trophy girls again. My girlfriend is currently interviewing applicants for these positions! Also, we will once again have enhanced purse money with $1000 to win each day, and paying all the way down to 6th place.
I am currently composing a letter to petition the SCCA to make the Pirelli DM radial slick the spec tire for the 2018 Runoffs. If I can affix a list of drivers and/or other interested parties to the letter it would probably carry more weight. Rather than just a list of names, a list which has each person's SCCA member number would no doubt be more credible (and verifiable). If you agree with this measure that would probably save everyone a small fortune in testing and buying less durable tires, please email me your name and member number as soon as you can. This is not a shot in the dark. Brad Baytos has already spoken to John LaRue, who indicated willingness to consider doing this. John asked us to formalize the request in letter form. I appreciate everyone's help with this.
The arrangements for our awards banquet are not yet complete, but your entry fee for the October race will include one ticket. Once everything is finalized, I will send out a seperate email with all the details.
With only 4 points seperating the top two, and quite a few other battles for points (some within 1 point), and all the special stuff we are doing for this race, Auto Club Speedway should be epic! See you at the track!
Peter West
Pacific F2000

If you have questions please email me at pacificf2000@hotmail.com.

[MotorCade]

Very much opposed to a spec tire for FC. Particularly if that tire is a radial. Was already making plans for Sonoma, but they can count my cars out if they do this. This rule will further sideline the older chassis just as a number of us have been pushing very hard to get them out of retirement.

It is very much not cheaper to have to test and develop a new setup for a single event. FC is formula, not spec. Go race FE if you'd prefer a spec tire.

Grrrr. This was brought up at Indy, the group consensus was "what? Spec tire? Why?" This benefits the tire company and not the racers. Let the manufacturers make the best tire they can, and let us choose which we want.

[El Guapo]

Fair enough point Motorcade. There are different points of view, however. If the Pacific F2000 series drivers wish to go to the runoffs (most of them do), then we can forget about the deal we already have in place with Pirelli. Instead, we can all commit to developing a new tire with no subsidy from the tire manufacturer. I have tried to promote the older cars by running a separate class for these cars. I am in a situation now where I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't. Every one of our drivers will have to spend considerable amounts of money to develop a new tire with no help from the tire maker (which we now enjoy from Pirelli). All these guys that were at Indy who were opposed to my proposal were from where? West coast? I doubt it. The balance of power has been on the East coast for many years because of the location of the Runoffs. I am not unsympathetic to your point of view Motorcade, but I am trying to think of the benefit of the larger pool of drivers.

Regards,
EG

[MotorCade]

Sorry if I came off strong but I definitely don't like the idea for SCCA. For your own series, if it helps...great! But we're about to be in a spot where we'll have one spec tire for FRP, one for Pacific, and an open tire for SCCA. This doesn't seem optimal to me.

[MotorCade]

Also wanted to add that I think it's great you've got a spot for the older cars to play. If I was out your way, perhaps I'd feel differently.

[El Guapo]

Motorcade, do yo have any interest in running in the National (Pinto) class with Pacific F2000 next year? Three double header race weekends. Prize money, nice trophies, drawings for products from series sponsors, etc.

EG

[El Guapo]

Oh wait! I now see you are too far away. Pity.

EG

[MotorCade]

If I was still in CA, the answer would be a resounding yes.

[Kazis31]

Peter really knows that he is doing.
And with 40 plus years of behind wheel open wheel race car racing
he also knows and understands drivers point of view.
I doubt there is anyone else here in West Coast that could
have achieved what he did in last few years for F2000 and pinto guys.

my 0.02.cents

[MotorCade]

Peter really knows that he is doing.
And with 40 plus years of behind wheel open wheel race car racing
he also knows and understands drivers point of view.
I doubt there is anyone else here in West Coast that could
have achieved what he did in last few years for F2000 and pinto guys.

my 0.02.cents

Very clear, I agree. I'm just not sold on a spec tire for our region or series.

[John LaRue]

This post was just brought to my attention and after reading through it I want to make sure some things are clarified. A few weeks ago I was asked by Baytos about the possibility of utilizing the Pirelli tire as a spec tire for the Runoffs in 2018 and agreed to inquire of the CRB to see if this was possibility. As I suspected, there is no process within the GCR to establish a one-off rule for Runoffs.

A proposal for a spec tire for FC would need to follow the same protocol that was utilized for FF. That would entail the submission of a formal letter from the membership requesting that a spec tire be adopted for the class. That letter would be directed to the FSRAC which would consider the idea and make a recommendation to the CRB. The CRB would likely put the issue out to the membership for input and, depending upon the response, make a recommendation to the BOD. If the recommendation from the CRB is positive the BOD would likely issue a RFQ to the tire companies and then engage in testing before a final decision would be rendered. As you can see, this is a time consuming process and is not something that is done on the fly.

FYI there is a push by the BOD for strict adherence to the rule year - what is meant by that is there should be minimal rule changes that occur after January 1. This roughly means that recommendations need to be submitted to the BOD by November. Please keep this in mind when considering your submissions.

John

[rsmart]

I like the idea of making the 2018 runoffs attractive to Pacific F2000 participants. I want to attend as well (from Texas). My current car is an RF94 Pinto. If I have to run Pirelli DM (or any other spec tire) I will do so, understanding that radials are not the ideal tire for this chassis. I would ask that we have a consistent rule set for the entire country for all of 2018 so that everyone (especially me) will have time to adapt their cars as much as possible to the spec tire. I will be happy to say the same to the CRB/BOD in the form of a request. So that they have the broadest possible indication of where the FC community stands on this issue, I hope you will all submit your own request whether you agree with my position on this issue or not. Link to CRB request form below:

https://www.crbscca.com/

Hope to see you in Sonoma!