2010 First Series Organization

[rgu]

Due to Bill Bonow’s new job commitment he can no longer act as coordinator for the CenDiv, NE and Great Lakes Formula First series. Butch Deer and I will be taking over the overall responsibility role. Both Butch and I pledge openness in all decisions and we will listen to all input from interested and invested parties.
We have some, but not all the schedules we need, so at this point so no decisions on races will be made until everything is finalized. We are also open to other formats but the five double race schedule we have used in the past has stood us in good stead. So your input is welcome and will be taken seriously. If you already know how to get in touch with Butch and me please do so. If you don’t just PM me at this site or use the Drivers Association e-mail below.
Lastly, we want to do everything we can to encourage the development of First Series across the county. We can see this happening right now in the SE division and on the west coast. Let us know what we can do to help.
Driver’s Association e-mail fst@rochester.rr.com

[teamclark]

Robert/Butch

As roles go this is one of those thankless ones. So upfront I wanted to say thanks for taking it on.

Rob

[rgu]

Thanks Rob

Can't speak for Butch but choosing alternative races looks easy. What is difficult is doing the grunt work just before each race. We are hoping to enlist some help in this department. Now if we can only get a CenDiv schedule maybe we can get our May race.

Our Goals

A race in May, June, July, August and September with at least three weeks between them. We also want NE, CenDiv and GL races.

[rgu]

Well FST racers, after much deliberation here is a proposal for next year. Please get back to us on your feelings. Use the fst e-mail below.
Four principles Butch and I wanted to see implemented in the schedule
First We wanted to have races in the Cendiv, GL and NE regions
Second We wanted five races, one a month, May to September. Best of seven or eight series are hard to find sponsors for.
Third We want one of our members to be in charge of each race. This can get us the most out of every race and enhance the ability to obtain a sponsor for every race.
Fourth all races if possible had to be Doubles
We did a quick “put together” for the 2010 season schedule. Look it over & we can start the discussion.
Rounds 1-2 May 15th and 16th Blackhawk Farms Cen Div
Rounds 3-4 June 26-27 Nelson Double NE
Rounds 5-6 July 24th and 25th Road America Double CenDiv
Rounds 7-8 August 14th and 15th Grattan Double
Rounds 9-10 Sept 4th and 5th Mid Ohio Double GL

November 5-6 Road Atlanta ARRC Bonus Championship Race

Butch and I want to finalize the schedule by New Year’s Day so we get on with the organization and sponsor finding work. So please get in touch with us on your feeling about this schedule. We both realize there are alternatives and we need to know your feelings ASAP.
The same point system and rules apply as in the past.
You must be in the Formula First Drivers Association to score points. You must agree to race by FST GCR rules, and you must use Hoosier R60A dry tires. In order to join the FST Driver’s Association E-mail all your contact information (phones, mailing address, e-mails) to fst@rochester.rr.com. Thee amy be a fee for joining the association in the future but currently there is no fee. Only those who have never scored a point in prior years need to join the FFDA at this point. New applicants will receive a confirmation.
Lastly we are considering establishing “bonus” races which are races where we think a goodly number of FST entries will occur. Let us know if we we should add a specific race.

[Bill Bonow]

Congratulations to RGU and Butch Deer for making lemonade out of lemons. I think this schedule looks excellent and makes the best of what they had to work with.

As the US FST series heads into its 6th year, I think this year will see the return of growth in FST entry numbers. New cars are being built and new drivers are joining the series. I think I'm going to miss racing more than I realize ......... Maybe New England needs to see an FST on a regular basis?

[Carl Middelegge]

I think this is an excellent schedule, although I wanted to go to Barber, they need to get another date as that is the same as the September Mid-Ohio and the Glen with a series race, I can still do so without it being a series race. The other nice thing as the dates are spread out by a month or more which will afford us racers to do some other events in our regions if we so desire.

Now if Mr. Nash can get a few more guys in cars up his way we might get do so a series race at Brainard in 2011.


Carl

[rgu]

While the races to select from were not voluminous, May was the real problem. Its at a place far away from our newest members. I hope this is not discouraging. On the other hand Blackhawk has a practice day that will be very useful for dialing in a new car.

As for Barber and the Glen let us know your thoughts. The Glen sept race give you one day on the long course and one day on the short. Two track records could be up for grabs. Its also one of the largest regionals in the country. 325 cars last year and I think over 500 the year before.

[csatte02]

Looks like a good schedule for me, great job Rob and Butch! In the post you mentioned wanting someone in charge of each race. What are the normal things that need to be done?

[rgu]

What I was thinking about was what I did last year before Nelson Ledges

In February meet with the regional exec, race chair, comp board whoever you can and go over the fact that the race in question will be a FST championship race and more than likely the will be a good sized group perhaps coming from farther away than normal.

You would like to accomplish the following

Have a description of the FST series in the supps with the series logo.
Check and see if it’s feasible to have our own race group. This is clearly possible or impossible depending on the meeting.
Get the race announcer info on the series and the participants and the cars.
Make sure tech support knows what makes a FST unique. Often they think they are FV’s with a bigger motor
Make arrangement if possible to use the tracks podium with our banner. Otherwise we will bring our own podium.
If we have a race sponsor make sure that the sponsor is officially recognized.

Obviously you have to keep pushing for these goals every month after your first meeting to make sure that we get what we need.

On the Friday before the race meet with the Race Chair and assist with any last minute decisions. This is especially necessary if someone decides to put the lone spec racer ford in our group or other such no similar vehicle—you know what I mean. Get material to the race announcer and our rules to tech. During the race weekend see to it that all competitors are able to get info to anyone interested in FST.

Lastly get Copies of official results and a race narrative to the FST pointskeeper for posting

I forgot some things for sure but I’ll remember in time.

[dd46637]

There is a race available with an FST only race group at Gingerman.
July 10-11.
Yes it is at a national but the formatt would be the familiar Dbl. regional weekend with a practice and race on Sat. and a qualifying race on Sun. morning and a regular aftenoon race.
Same as the Grattan event in years past.

The track extension at turn 10 is supposed to be finished and approved by the end of May so we would be able to use that as well.

Dave
dd46637@yahoo.com

[rgu]

Dave,

I've gotten three comments in favor of Gingerman. We have to look at it again in a new light because I originally dismissed the idea because it wasn't a double. We'd like to hear from Jim Nash on this matter.

Will there be a test day?

Does the track let you in before 5:30pm?

[dd46637]

They always have a test day on Friday and on Friday evening. Last year it was $150 for all day 9-5. And $60 for the evening which in July will last from 6pm until dusk around 9pm.

The new extension should make the run to T11 about a1/2 mile long.

Dave

[Jim Nash]

Robert,

At first glance I thought the schedule looked great. It meets the solid criteria you and Butch were working from. Nice job. When I look at it from just my point of view I am not sure what I am going to do. Last year on the way back from MO it struck me how much time I was spending driving to do the series. Gratten 11 hours, NL about 14 and MO about 13 and that was before the ARRC (19 hours). I was thinking about limiting the long hauls to 2 plus the ARRC. I also want to support my regions first race in many years up at BIR so that lands right after NL and just before Gingerman if we were to add it. The Sprints is the same weekend as NL too which I some times crew at. There is nothing anyone can do about these personal conflicts.

That being said I hope to make at least 4 of the 5 races. It's tough to say which will get dropped. Heck I might have a change of heart and do them all. I would rather see the fields as large as they can be to help grow the class and miss a couple races than have all the races near me with smaller fields.

With any luck I'll get a couple local guys in Mission FSTs and we'll be more likely to have a series race at BIR next year!

Jim

[rgu]

Thanks for your feedback Jim and everyone who wrote me an e-mail. Butch and I will try to finalize this over the weekend.

[rgu]

Formula First Driver’s Association 2010 Central-Eastern Series

__________________________________________________ ________

Well FST racers, after much deliberation here is our series for 2010.

Rounds 1-2 May 15th and 16th Blackhawk Farms Cen Div
Rounds 3-4 June 26-27 Nelson Double NE
Rounds 5-6 July 24th and 25th Road America Double CenDiv
Rounds 7-8 August 14th and 15th Grattan Double
Rounds 9-10 Sept 4th and 5th Mid Ohio Double GL

November 5-6 Road Atlanta ARRC Bonus Championship Race

Butch and I would like to thank all who volunteered their opinions and even their time to this process. We really tried to pursue the greatest good for the greatest number in coming up with this series’ events. We can’t please everyone and but we feel that at least two of these venues have the potential for extremely large fields and the rest will also be very strong.

At this point we shall be turning our attention to developing sponsors and our individual event managers and we will make announcements whenever we achieve something notable.

See you at the track

[Bill Bonow]

Congrats to Robert & Butch for putting together a great schedule for 2010. The 2010 season will be 9 years since the conception of FST (2001 June Sprints) and the 6th season of the US Formula First Regional Championship Series (we've lasted longer than Shelby Can Am Series!).

There looks to be many new drivers joining the ranks this year and the series should once again prove to be a low cost, fun and very competitive. My pre-season forcast is that we could see our first 20 car grid at either Grattan or Nelson.

Here is some shots of 16 cars at Nelson in 2009:
http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/show...40&postcount=8

The only down side for me is that I will not be racing due to new work commitments. However, I would like to annouce the Dave "Woody" Woodmancy will take over my Evolution and drive it in the 2010 US FST series. Many of you know Woody as a very skilled FV, FF, FC (and even Waterford Neon Series) pilot. I'd bet he will be running at the pointy end of the grid in short order. I'm sure I'll be around for a few races, just not driving.

Looks to be a great 2010 for Formula First.

[csatte02]

You just could not have let someone who was a little slower drive it Bill! Dave is just going to take over where you left off, Dammitt! Welcome back to VW's Dave and good luck!

[rgu]

Butch and I are getting ready to send out press releases for the 2010 US FST championship. We need your help. If your region is in or adjacent to the areas where our races will be, I’d like an e-mail contact for your regional publication. You can send me a pm or contact Butch or me at fst@rochester.rr.com.
In addition the default name for the series is the “US” series unless we obtain a sponsor who would want to rename the series. For those of you in other parts of the country ---if you start a series we will rename ours in a heartbeat to something appropriate to a multi-series environment.
R

[rgu]

Butch and I have been working diligently sending out press releases letters, pictures whatever we can to promote our series with potential sponsors but we still need more regional contacts. I asked for these a few weeks ago and I’ve gotten exactly two responses. So please look at your regional publication and shoot me an e-mail contact. I’d like a name and an e-mail for the best quality correspondence. Also some technologically advanced regions are now doing their own forums. I’d appreciate this info too.

[WASP]

The Indy Region has a monthly publication caled Clutch Chatter. What type of info do you want published? I'm sure they would welcome news on the F1st program. I would be glad to help as a go between or whatever you need.

Steve D.

[rgu]

Thanks Steve---check your e-mail.

[rgu]

With regard to our progress with the series, things are really coming together. We are pretty sure about our series sponsor for this year and at least three sponsors have some interest in being event sponsors and three others are committed in principle but thinking about what they want to do.

I feel we can have the best regional non pro series in the country if a few more chips fall in the right places. I’ve never been more optimistic.

Butch and I, when ready, will make our official announcement to the members of the FST Drivers Association. If you haven’t signed up please do so by send your contact info to fst@rochester.rr.com if you do you’ll be getting an e-mail in about a week of so. Official announcements and series applications will be posted on www.formula-first.org .

For those who don’t have a car there are rental rides available and feel free to contact us about conversions and purchase opportunities.

[lawyerbob]

Any word on the governance issue Robert?

[rgu]

Yup

I'll be sending it out to you today Bob

[rgu]

Guys

Today I sent everyone for whom I had an e-mail detailing our primary sponsorship. A number of these e-mails bounced. Send me your e-mail if you did not receive this vital message that is is in you best interest.

fst@rochester.rr.com