2024 "Select" Races

[John LaRue]

You may recall that at the end of the year a survey was emailed to competitors who had raced in FC (SCCA) in the recent past. The idea was cluster participation at a select group of races so as to create strong grids during the season. As we are all aware, there are a good number of FC cars racing, they are just spread out over multiple events.

The results of the survey are in and the four events with the highest anticipated attendance have been chosen.

Road Atlanta Super Tour: March 8-10
Pittsburgh Majors: April 27-28 (great facility and track)
Mid Ohio Super Tour: May 17-19 (new pavement)
June Sprints: June 21-23

There is a strong chance we get favorable run groupings at each (FA/FC) but we need to make some commitments so the Regions can finalize their events. If you have not finalized your plans for this year, I cannot recommend enough to try and make these races. Let’s be honest, large fields and quality track time is what we all really wanted for Christmas!!

Please make your intentions known here on APEX and send me a note via email as well!!

jlarueATjohnblarueDOTcom

See you at the track!!

John

[Speed Sport Engineering]

You may recall that at the end of the year a survey was emailed to competitors who had raced in FC (SCCA) in the recent past. The idea was cluster participation at a select group of races so as to create strong grids during the season. As we are all aware, there are a good number of FC cars racing, they are just spread out over multiple events.

The results of the survey are in and the four events with the highest anticipated attendance have been chosen.

Road Atlanta Super Tour: March 8-10
Pittsburgh Majors: April 27-28 (great facility and track)
Mid Ohio Super Tour: May 17-19 (new pavement)
June Sprints: June 21-23

There is a strong chance we get favorable run groupings at each (FA/FC) but we need to make some commitments so the Regions can finalize their events. If you have not finalized your plans for this year, I cannot recommend enough to try and make these races. Let’s be honest, large fields and quality track time is what we all really wanted for Christmas!!

Please make your intentions known here on APEX and send me a note via email as well!!

jlarueATjohnblarueDOTcom

See you at the track!!

John

If we get good groupings, I will plan on attending Pitt, Mid-Ohio, and the Sprints.

Michael Varacins

[BrianT1]

Can you provide the numbers for each event from the survey? I think anything between10-20 for each event is a good turnout. Having those numbers could sway someone on the fence to go where a larger group is running versus a local race with only themselves.

Brian

[problemchild]

This group continues to make decisions which lead to self-inflicted negative outcomes. Statistics are good. Survey results are good. But sometimes you need to apply common sense.

With track availability so difficult now, it is unfortunately necessary that some dates conflict between organizers. This is the case with PIRC SCCA and M-O FRP. Both have the potential to be the best races of the season for either group. But they are on the same weekend, barely 200 miles away from each other. As a car owner, I would like to be selling both races. As a driver, I would want to support both events. As a prep shop owner, I can only support one, which would be M-O based on my other business.

The SCCA people making these decisions should have found a substitute event to "select" rather than the PIRC event. The obvious choice would be Watkins Glen on June 1-2. I am sure there are other valid options.

This is one of two bizarre decisions made by the SCCA people who claim to be trying to help the FC class survive.
Please check out this fine document from 2023. https://cdn.connectsites.net/user_fi...pdf?1671563935
The SCCA administration people complained that this process was too complicated and time-wasting. No $hit Sherlock. But instead of replacing it with a simplified process such as "SCCA Pro Racing provision: Drivers in specific classes, as defined in GCR 3.7.4.A.1.a, must do a minimum of one SCCA Majors event." they chose to eliminate the Pro racing provision all together.

If you are trying to help a class survive, you need to make the best events available to people who own those cars, or who would like to join the class. Like the decade long delay in allowing the Mazda USF cars in, decisions like this, only hurt the people that we need to be helping. Nothing ever seems to change. It is just unfortunate!

[f500racer]

I will be attending the Mid Ohio majors event and possibly the Sprints.

As Mid Ohio is also 6 miles from my house, I will be selecting the Mid Ohio FRP over Pitt Race SCCA.

JNS

2005 VD Zetec

[Hartley]

This group continues to make decisions which lead to self-inflicted negative outcomes. Statistics are good. Survey results are good. But sometimes you need to apply common sense.

With track availability so difficult now, it is unfortunately necessary that some dates conflict between organizers. This is the case with PIRC SCCA and M-O FRP. Both have the potential to be the best races of the season for either group. But they are on the same weekend, barely 200 miles away from each other. As a car owner, I would like to be selling both races. As a driver, I would want to support both events. As a prep shop owner, I can only support one, which would be M-O based on my other business.

The SCCA people making these decisions should have found a substitute event to "select" rather than the PIRC event. The obvious choice would be Watkins Glen on June 1-2. I am sure there are other valid options.

This is one of two bizarre decisions made by the SCCA people who claim to be trying to help the FC class survive.
Please check out this fine document from 2023. https://cdn.connectsites.net/user_fi...pdf?1671563935
The SCCA administration people complained that this process was too complicated and time-wasting. No $hit Sherlock. But instead of replacing it with a simplified process such as "SCCA Pro Racing provision: Drivers in specific classes, as defined in GCR 3.7.4.A.1.a, must do a minimum of one SCCA Majors event." they chose to eliminate the Pro racing provision all together.

If you are trying to help a class survive, you need to make the best events available to people who own those cars, or who would like to join the class. Like the decade long delay in allowing the Mazda USF cars in, decisions like this, only hurt the people that we need to be helping. Nothing ever seems to change. It is just unfortunate!

You make some good points Greg especially about the USF2000 cars which I sold mine when they were not allowed to play with the FCs. but this negativism has to stop! Damned if you do and damned if you don’t! LaRue is responding to requests for better run groups that have been requested for good reason by mostly FC drivers that have been affected by the poor run group mixes we have currently. The good reasons are many but mostly antecdotal. I shall illustrate a few that I know of but I am pretty sure I am only scratching the surface. I left SCCA for a year and raced at FRP after attending the disastrous major races at VIR in 2022. I was witness to the 7 car pile up of mostly if not all FE2 cars on the first turn of the first lap of the feature race. So not even one full lap of green flag racing. The sprint race was not much better. We finished the race behind the pace car while they cleaned up the track. We as a group begged the Chief Steward before the race to get the run group changed. No time to give us a separate run group he said even though there was a solid 1.5 hours of day light after racing stopped for the weekend. The temperature was in the low 40s and it appears these inexperienced drivers cannot or will not give the conditions any consideration. It is balls to the wall and roll the dice. Maybe it’s because these people are jumping into this class before they have had any time in open wheel cars. I think there should be penalties or suspensions for repeat offenders. I was also punted off the track by an FE2 in qualifying. In short these 2 classes do not mix well due to hp and handling differences. Last year in 2023 at Sebring Tim Minor was lucky to survive when he was T boned after a spin in turn 17 by ahhh you guessed it an FE2. The driver ignored or did not see the waved yellow flag and hit Tim at very high speed. Fast forward to Sebring last weekend. Bob Wright was hit from behind at high speed while testing of all things!! Geez has no one gotten the word to these people that we are not racing when we are testing and to give a little room to each other. Bobs weekend was ruined before it even started. He was hit so hard that his bell housing was destroyed and his floor was buckled. When he asked the young driver what happened he responded that ‘heck it was a bit slippery’. Do you think?! The temps were in the low 50s and almost the entire weekend had light rain showers. I don’t think the track ever dried out. After the VIR fiasco ie. my race weekend costs that were measured in several $1000s per racing lap I decided to take a break from SCCA racing. After spending $8000 on renting a race car and instructor the previous weekend at a track day to tune up for the runoffs then $3-4 grand on the majors weekend I had enough. My plan was to do the runoffs. So I decided to race the rest of the year in FRP. I had a blast, made a lot of new friends and never had contact with another car in 5 races. FRP penalizes you for causing black flags so it makes you a little more careful, not a bad idea. There are always going to be conflicts between track events. It sucks when 2 tracks that are in close proximity are on the same weekend but dems the breaks, pick one and get on with it. The reason Watkins Glen was not one of the ‘4 select tracks’ is obvious to me unless I am missing something. The survey asked drivers as a group which tracks are you most likely to attend? Obviously the Glen was not high on the list because it is an eastern track. The 4 top picks were far more central although not for me towing from Florida! So if car counts are down does it not make sense to pool our resources and try to go to the same tracks to improve car counts? The tracks that do not draw FCs and have low FC attendance probably don’t give a damn if no FCs show up because they will still have a Kazillion Miata’s, SRFs and tin tops. So at least someone at SCCA is trying to make things better so let’s try to respect that effort and maybe things will begin to improve. I will commit to Road Atlanta, and Road America and will do both the Majors race and the FRP race because I love the Road America track and they are back to back weekends and I want a tune up for the Runoffs! If all goes well and I have the time I will consider MO or PIRC also great tracks that I enjoy!!

[John LaRue]

Greg -

FWIW I don't like the Pitt/Mid-Ohio conflict either however there wasn't anything that could be done regarding the conflict of dates, that horse was out of the barn and isn't something that I have any say in regardless. The survey indicated that Pitt one of the four events that the respondents wanted so that is why it is on the list.. I did propose using the Mid-Ohio FRP event to those who were helpful in putting this together but there was concern about the higher entry fee. (I get it - there is more track time, etc...I like FRP)

Also, Bob and I tried to coordinate dates on at least one event so we could run the formula and prototype classes together but the effort was too late - hopefully we can do that in 2025 as it would be good for everyone. There are enough cars racing but if we continue to divide the entries everyone is going to lose.

Finally, I do really appreciate your insight and logic; I take it as constructive criticism. I again though would ask that you put those skills and experience to work in helping us make things better by volunteering for a committee or to help coordinate these events. John

[John LaRue]

Can you provide the numbers for each event from the survey? I think anything between10-20 for each event is a good turnout. Having those numbers could sway someone on the fence to go where a larger group is running versus a local race with only themselves.

Brian

The Likely or Extremely Likely to Attend numbers are:

Road Atlanta - 8
Pittsburgh - 9
Mid-Ohio - 10
June Sprints - 14

[CScharnow]

I've been meaning to post something about these events but real life keeps getting in the way (who'd have known I would be so far behind after I went racing for 2 weeks to start the year?). Thankfully, John beat me to it.

If it isn't obvious enough, the fact we even have this opportunity is amazing. Our specific group of mixed class racing has been a problem for over 20 years. So many people have left or moved on that we lost the numbers to command anything different.

Well, now we have the chance to significantly increase the quality of our track time. I agree there are some things that are far less than ideal, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth and whine about what could be. It is what it is at this point.

I wouldn't expect people to make every race (I won't) but I would implore everyone to do the best they can to support this effort. If you're going to be racing any way, why wouldn't you want to do it with good competition and even better track time?

It's shaping up to be a great year.