CSRG invites Sports 2000 cars

[Mesamaui]

CSRG is inviting Sports 2000 cars to the Charity Challenge Vintage Car Races at Sonoma Raceway (Oct. 1-3) & to the Season Finale at Thunderhill (Nov. 6-7) as Guest Cars. If there are enough entries to warrant expanding our eligibility rules, we will probably do so. The cars must be pre-1988 & be in "as-they-left-the-factory" condition---no decals unless era appropriate. For details about the event, go to: https://www.charityracing.org/ For details, forms, procedures, etc., regarding CSRG, the Classic Sports Racing Group, go to: https://www.csrgracing.org/

Current SCCA licenses are accepted as well as current licenses from any vintage racing group that is a member of the VMC, the Vintage Motorsport Council.

Membership & entries can be done online at MotorsportReg ( https://csrg.motorsportreg.com/) or via snail mail.

Thank you

[Fred Michael]

CSRG is inviting Sports 2000 cars to the Charity Challenge Vintage Car Races at Sonoma Raceway (Oct. 1-3) & to the Season Finale at Thunderhill (Nov. 6-7) as Guest Cars. If there are enough entries to warrant expanding our eligibility rules, we will probably do so. The cars must be pre-1988 & be in "as-they-left-the-factory" condition---no decals unless era appropriate. For details about the event, go to: https://www.charityracing.org/ For details, forms, procedures, etc., regarding CSRG, the Classic Sports Racing Group, go to: https://www.csrgracing.org/

Current SCCA licenses are accepted as well as current licenses from any vintage racing group that is a member of the VMC, the Vintage Motorsport Council.

Membership & entries can be done online at MotorsportReg ( https://csrg.motorsportreg.com/) or via snail mail.

Thank you

There are no Sports 2000's that are in "as they left the factory" condition but it would be good to see a group of S2's running on the West Coast

[Rick Kirchner]

CSRG is one of those "the world stopped in 1972" clubs. Frankly I'm amazed they are letting S2s in.

The '88 cutoff seems weird too. I can't think of any technology changes at that point. Maybe the DB2 to DB5 switchover?

[Pi_guy]

There are no Sports 2000's that are in "as they left the factory" condition but it would be good to see a group of S2's running on the West Coast

That means you have to put the original grade 2 bolts and nuts back on.

[DanW]

CSRG is one of those "the world stopped in 1972" clubs. Frankly I'm amazed they are letting S2s in.

The '88 cutoff seems weird too. I can't think of any technology changes at that point. Maybe the DB2 to DB5 switchover?

Well, they started letting "Club Fords" in 2016 which evolved into the Crossflow Cup... That horse has left the barn.

[Rick Kirchner]

Well, they started letting "Club Fords" in 2016 which evolved into the Crossflow Cup... That horse has left the barn.

Yeah, but that was more than 15 years after VARA was running CF....

[DanW]

Yeah, but that was more than 15 years after VARA was running CF....

Understood.

Thankfully several members of the board finally convinced the membership that everyone was getting so old, their widows would need some new, younger members to buy their dead husbands' old race cars and parts packing the garages... That finally got them to move a bit.

[Rick Kirchner]

I'm always impressed by the collection of FBs and various sports racers that come out to their events.

[E1pix]

We happened upon Thunderhill in 2016 and shocked to see:
— Dan Marvin’s ex-Villeneuve March 76B
— The ex-Bobby Rahal March 76B
— The ex-Keke Rosberg Excita Chevron
— and mostly, past-client’s driver Bob Earl in Lauda’s ‘74 Ferrari 312B3!

[teamwisconsin]

Yeah, but that was more than 15 years after VARA was running CF....

Full disclaimer before you read this, I’m on the CSRG board.

I will admit that CSRG is traditionally one of the last clubs to let “newer” cars in. We also don’t usually have the problems making numbers for our events the way that a lot of other clubs do. So the issue of bumping the age cutoff up hasn’t been as big of a problem for us. We still have healthy fields of pre-72 cars. FWIW, we do have groups at our events that allow newer cars (production up to ‘89), but they aren’t as well attended as the earlier stuff. So look at it from our point of view. If your clients are happy running older, more traditional vintage cars, would you rush to let in all the newer stuff?

When the board approved Club Fords (pre Crossflow Cup) we would routinely get 25+ car fields of historic/pre-72 FF’s without any CF’s, so I understood the logic behind their reticence. I am the youngest member on the board by probably 20 years. I’m also self-employed in the industry of club and vintage racing, having a prep shop located at Sears Point. I have always argued that if people want to race a more modern version of vintage car, there are places for them to do that. We don’t need to be that club. We need to respect what our members want. As as mechanic, my clients race with HMSA, SVRA, VARA, SOVREN, HSR, SCCA, NASA, the Rolex Reunion, etc etc. I spend between 18-30 weekends a year at races so I see a lot of how other clubs operate and run their events.

I didn’t feel that there were that many Sports 2’s left on the west coast, seems like they all went back east or back to the UK. But the board is trying to be more open to a specific group of cars of a later date. And the wording on “as they left the factory” is a glossy way of saying we as a club would rather they weren’t slathered in data, late model shocks, modern stickers, etc. Its not a requirement, more a polite request that if folks want to come race with us they might be willing to step back in time a bit in regards to the development level of their cars. If I were to paraphrase, the mission of our club is to allow folks to experience cars of another era in modern times in a friendly environment. Not to take what was and rewrite it as what it could be today. We asked the same thing if the Club Fords and it resulted in a flourishing group of cars.

Hope that sheds a little light on this whole deal and please if you have a Sports 2000, come and join us.

[David Ferguson]

I was going to forward this invitation to the west coast S2 group, but I will tell you that none of the cars would meet the criterea, either too new ('89,'92, 2000), wrong decals, or common modifications (like wheels you can't even get any more).

These cars are still very simple, and would fit in sounds and appearance wise at the vintage event. But nearly all the the older 70s-early 80s), less competitive cars (tigas, apaches, etc) have mainly gone back to England as low-cost S2s about 20 years ago.

[Rick Kirchner]

Ethan - what was the logic on the cutoff date?

I guess bay area $$ is what keeps it going. Elsewhere you are lucky to see just a couple of those cars at an event.

Livery? It seems like the big sponsors - Valvoline, Mobil, Red-line, tires, etc haven't changed their livery significantly since the 80s. Seems like virtually everyone below that level else had his own business on the car.

You could always bring back the ACRL with tribute cars.

[teamwisconsin]

Rick-
I’m not sure about the posted cutoff date on the year. The late 80’s are the clubs cutoff for atlantics (pre-87/no DB4’s) so perhaps that was a typo. And the point on livery isn’t that someone shouldn't have a Redline or a Goodyear sticker on their car, it’s just that I think as a club we prefer not to have current logos on there. It wouldn’t look right for a civil war reenactment to be done with WW2 uniforms, this is in the same vein. At this point, club is just putting Sports 2’s out there to see who might want to show up. If they get a handful of 89/90 Lola’s and a half dozen Carbirs that express interest, then they would likely adjust rules or regs accordingly.

[problemchild]

Don't you love it when modern decals and current logos are restricted within a rule set.

Or when racing is compared to a civil war reenactment.

Not sure whether I am laughing or crying, but it sure is a fascinating perspective!

[Rick Kirchner]

Don't you love it when modern decals and current logos are restricted within a rule set.

Or when racing is compared to a civil war reenactment.

Not sure whether I am laughing or crying, but it sure is a fascinating perspective!

One of these days a wealthy customer will want to do it, and you'll gladly flop over and take their money. Just like bias tires...

[problemchild]

One of these days a wealthy customer will want to do it, and you'll gladly flop over and take their money. Just like bias tires...

Don't really understand the bias reference, as I committed to running whatever the FC spec tire choice was, before it was chosen. And I am the one doing the buying.

Posts like this are useful, because people can discover what is going on on the other side of the fence. Some will be ready to scale that fence and others will be more content where they are.

[Mesamaui]

As of right now there are 2 Lola 492’s and 1 Tiga 84 listed on the entry for the Sonoma Race of a total of 12 cars in Group 7
It looks like a great run group for Sports 2000 Cars