FA Parity

[dalz]

the CRB’s words... said they don’t consider aero, chassis, tire , brake, or driver ability for balance of performance....never used the word parity....

I didn't know that. Do they consider weight, especially if a car raced at a lower weight previously? Has a class ever been made up of multiple cars all adhering to a spec rule set? The new F-Xpired is uncharted ground. I'm just looking for low-cost improvements for the FM that could give it a fighting chance. A lower weight and a choice of Goodyear's available compounds would be a good start.

[jose gerardo]

I feel for the guy on the top chair of the SCCA for letting this fine organization of 75 years of Age going the way it is, Instead of being remembered for the guy who actually made it work he will be remembered as the guy who destroyed it all.

Maybe they should put all the closed wheel cars together and let a Miata try to compete with a GT car, they look the same to me.............

[Daryl DeArman]

Or one could interpret that as a single finger protest statement by the FB community

Agreed. I believe the reason(s) are multiple.

While SCCA cheerleaders and outsiders may believe that "merging" classes is not ""killing classes, I would expect that most people in any of the effected classes would, whether mergees or mergers, would embrace these moves as positive developments.

Clarify please.

[E1pix]

I've wanted to race in SCCA since I was three, over 50 years ago -- and am finally in a position to live the dream.

But with everything I've read here over a year, and what we've witnessed in person, I am 90% sure we won't even bother. "Disappointing" doesn't even come close.

[jose gerardo]

I've wanted to race in SCCA since I was three, over 50 years ago -- and am finally in a position to live the dream.But with everything I've read here over a year, and what we've witnessed in person, I am 90% sure we won't even bother. "Disappointing" doesn't even come close.

You can still buy a well prepared race car from one of the affected formulas at about .40-.60 cents on the Dollar and take it to the closest recetrack with Edge addicts or chintrack days and have a blast for the weekend for $1,000 bucks with FOUR hours of track time and NO POLITICS !!!

[E1pix]

Appreciate that Jose, but we want to *race* -- and in the Runoffs. Came really close to buying a Vee last year, but things got in the way -- and our last kart was *much* faster. Had our hearts set on FM in prior years.

By the way, we're old friends with the Craigos and hung out with you and JD at their party in Topeka in 2006.

Thanks for the thought.

[Thomas Copeland]

I feel for the guy on the top chair of the SCCA for letting this fine organization of 75 years of Age going the way it is, Instead of being remembered for the guy who actually made it work he will be remembered as the guy who destroyed it all.

Maybe they should put all the closed wheel cars together and let a Miata try to compete with a GT car, they look the same to me.............

It may not be the guy at the top doing it. He's probably just a paper pusher. I'd look just a little further down the food chain. You'll find your culprits there.

I have a feeling there are those that never wanted this class to exist in the first place and are now turning it into something it was never suppose to be.

[jose gerardo]

Appreciate that Jose, but we want to *race* -- and in the Runoffs. Came really close to buying a Vee last year, but things got in the way -- and our last kart was *much* faster. Had our hearts set on FM in prior years.

By the way, we're old friends with the Craigos and hung out with you and JD at their party in Topeka in 2006.

Thanks for the thought.

oh yes !, the beer pong years !!

[stonebridge20]

[QUOTE=Thomas Copeland

I have a feeling there are those that never wanted this class to exist in the first place and are now turning it into something it was never suppose to be.[/QUOTE]

To quote a BOD member just after FB became a class in a conversation we were having "The only reason we made FB a class is so we don't get sued by you know who, we really don't want this class"

[Thomas Copeland]

To quote a BOD member just after FB became a class in a conversation we were having "The only reason we made FB a class is so we don't get sued by you know who, we really don't want this class"

I've actually thought this was the case since about 2013 (maybe even sooner). I've suspected since then it was someone on either the BOD or the CRB, or maybe even multiple people on both or even higher up.

Certainly would explain a lot. It's not all black helicopters either. I've been around FB/F1000 since 2009 and there have been too many strange occurrences that have all the signs of people with power in the SCCA who have been secretly trying to undermine this class all long. I kept trying to tell myself it was just my imagination, but the circumstances of the last couple of years has shown it's not.

[RussMcB]

To quote a BOD member just after FB became a class in a conversation we were having "The only reason we made FB a class is so we don't get sued by you know who, we really don't want this class"

Is there a way I can find out who is "you know who"?

I assumed/thought FB/F1000 was a great class - Lots of performance for less cost. Wouldn't the SCCA want something like that?

[jose gerardo]

I didn't know that. Do they consider weight, especially if a car raced at a lower weight previously? Has a class ever been made up of multiple cars all adhering to a spec rule set? The new F-Xpired is uncharted ground. I'm just looking for low-cost improvements for the FM that could give it a fighting chance. A lower weight and a choice of Goodyear's available compounds would be a good start.

I can tell you one thing for sure, if I'm fighting for a corner I would rather be in the 1,400 Lbs carbon tub Atlantic than the 1,000 Lbs
Space frame FB, I have ALWAYS have to move or been pushed by FA's whenever we run together, so combining classes without
taking Weight, Horsepower, Aero, etc can lead to the possibility of very bad accidents and even fatalities and one of those lawsuits from the surviving family is all it would take to unravel the whole of SCCA, we already noted this to the CRB when they first came out with this idea of making a single class out of FA and FB's.

[jose gerardo]

Is there a way I can find out who is "you know who"?

I assumed/thought FB/F1000 was a great class - Lots of performance for less cost. Wouldn't the SCCA want something like that?

It is a great class , but the failure of SCCA of following up on the necessary rules and vigilance going forward made the class very hard to compete in as there is very little stewardship on the part of SCCA, I guess you could say the class was a victim of it's own success due to the openness of the class ( at one point there were more manufacturers involved making cars for this class than in any other class anywhere in the world). people were just trying anything they could get away with and most racers did not want to compete against guys who were clearly violating the rules but knew that there was very little chance to get caught, in six years of running in this class I have only been fuel sampled twice and our engine was only inspected once back in 2013 at the runoffs in over 60 events.

it's still a great class, the best I have run in in 20 years, but things have to change for it to be relevant, things like a spec engine, raise weight limit, and require FIA Chassis Homologation for safety, etc., otherwise they will continue to make very good track day cars that attract a LOT of attention and people come up to us telling us that it reminds them of the way F-1 use to sound, but I guess the BOD and CRB only watch Nascar.

[Stan Clayton]

To quote a BOD member just after FB became a class in a conversation we were having "The only reason we made FB a class is so we don't get sued by you know who, we really don't want this class"

My experience, as a CRB member and their formula class point person, was very different. My wife and I were driving on scenic California Highway 1 south of Santa Cruz one day in (IIRC) September 2006 when BoD (and ApexSpeed) member Mike Sauce called me to talk about Formula 1000. To paraphrase, not "quote", Mike noted that the BoD had already approved FB as a Regional class for 2007 with a 5-year plan to get to National status, but the BoD was canvasing the CRB to see what we thought about them approving the (again, IIRC) Super Touring, FB, and FE classes straight to National status based on the excitement and anticipation about the first two, and clear progress towards FE qualifying for National status. There was no mention of a defensive legal posture. After all, the Formula Renault case had been settled earlier that year. Lee Stohr had yet to unveil his new Formula 1000 car at the Runoffs the following month to tremendous excitement (and, IIRC, no less than 10 deposit checks for new cars). SportsCar and Grassroots Motorsports magazines were unabashedly advocating for the new formula class, and the members had banded together to whip together an initial set of proposed rules.

Now, a dozen years later, there are still people engaging in thinly veiled conspiracy theory about how SCCA and the CRB alternately 1) willfully ignored the class' needs, or 2) deliberately enacted intentionally destructive policies intended to damage the class, or 3) ex post facto unsubstantiated claims the Club never wanted the class in the first place. This all the while supporting other racing series that directly damaged FB's SCCA participation, resulting in its eventual descent into probation and merger with FA, which all of a sudden they complain about as well. What nonsense.

[stonebridge20]

My experience, as a CRB member and their formula class point person, was very different. My wife and I were driving on scenic California Highway 1 south of Santa Cruz one day in (IIRC) September 2006 when BoD (and ApexSpeed) member Mike Sauce called me to talk about Formula 1000. To paraphrase, not "quote", Mike noted that the BoD had already approved FB as a Regional class for 2007 with a 5-year plan to get to National status, but the BoD was canvasing the CRB to see what we thought about them approving the (again, IIRC) Super Touring, FB, and FE classes straight to National status based on the excitement and anticipation about the first two, and clear progress towards FE qualifying for National status. There was no mention of a defensive legal posture. After all, the Formula Renault case had been settled earlier that year. Lee Stohr had yet to unveil his new Formula 1000 car at the Runoffs the following month to tremendous excitement (and, IIRC, no less than 10 deposit checks for new cars). SportsCar and Grassroots Motorsports magazines were unabashedly advocating for the new formula class, and the members had banded together to whip together an initial set of proposed rules.

Now, a dozen years later, there are still people engaging in thinly veiled conspiracy theory about how SCCA and the CRB alternately 1) willfully ignored the class' needs, or 2) deliberately enacted intentionally destructive policies intended to damage the class, or 3) ex post facto unsubstantiated claims the Club never wanted the class in the first place. This all the while supporting other racing series that directly damaged FB's SCCA participation, resulting in its eventual descent into probation and merger with FA, which all of a sudden they complain about as well. What nonsense.

Sorry Stan. I was wrong about the time frame. It wasn't "Just after FB became a class" The words are directly from a lengthy 2009 email conversation with a BOD member about a completely different class that I have saved in a file. 2009, you can figure out what class and file that was.

[Stan Clayton]

Fair enough, Mike. Thank you for the clarification.

[Jnovak]

As a former f1000 car owner, builder, tuner etc. I have several comments.
1. Loved the Class
2. Still love it
3. Imo the class took a wrong turn when they decided to not use engine air inlet restrictors. This decision dramatically increased the cost to race at the front of the pack.
4. This increase in cost reduced the folks willing to get into the class!
5. Look at the number of competitors!


Just an old farts opinion

[problemchild]

As a former f1000 car owner, builder, tuner etc. I have several comments.
1. Loved the Class
2. Still love it
3. Imo the class took a wrong turn when they decided to not use engine air inlet restrictors. This decision dramatically increased the cost to race at the front of the pack.
4. This increase in cost reduced the folks willing to get into the class!
5. Look at the number of competitors!


Just an old farts opinion

From the people in the class that I heard from ....
Change to:

3. The biggest wrong turn was the 2 year period when SCCA worked on inlet restrictors that nobody wanted, then abandoned.
4. This period of indecision broke all the momentum and growth that the class had achieved to that point, and left interested folks on hold and unwilling to get into the class.
5. Any chance of recovery after the restrictor fiasco, was abruptly halted by SCCA's gamesmanship with car counts, and proposals to kill the class by absolving into FA.
6. Class racers went looking for other places to race.

[John Nesbitt]

..
3. Imo the class took a wrong turn when they decided to not use engine air inlet restrictors. This decision dramatically increased the cost to race at the front of the pack.
4. This increase in cost reduced the folks willing to get into the class!

..

..

3. The biggest wrong turn was the 2 year period when SCCA worked on inlet restrictors that nobody wanted, then abandoned.
4. This period of indecision broke all the momentum and growth that the class had achieved to that point, and left interested folks on hold and unwilling to get into the class.
...

For every opinion, there is an equal and opposite opinion. Welcome to the SCCA.

....

5. Any chance of recovery after the restrictor fiasco, was abruptly halted by SCCA's gamesmanship with car counts, and proposals to kill the class by absolving into FA.
6. Class racers went looking for other places to race.

This is historical revisionism. The merger of FA and FB came at the end of the years-long decline in both classes.

And one of the (big) nails in the coffin was the move to "other places". Folks have an absolutely perfect right to do so, but they should not complain when SCCA responds to the actual entries at SCCA events.

[problemchild]

This is historical revisionism. The merger of FA and FB came at the end of the years-long decline in both classes.

And one of the (big) nails in the coffin was the move to "other places". Folks have an absolutely perfect right to do so, but they should not complain when SCCA responds to the actual entries at SCCA events.

Talk about delusional revisionism! As has been pointed out numerous times in this thread, the move to "other places" was resisted for many years, only happened for the 2019 season, and in response to Stan's proposal to kill FB. I find it fascinating that John and the other SCCA cheerleaders never make any reference to what is best for the participants of each class they are trying to kill ...... only how SCCA needs to reduce the number of classes. It is as if the participants of each class were the ones who have spent 3 decades disregarding their own guidelines and creating new classes, which now need to be terminated to fix all SCCA's problems.

Pointing out that "Killing classes will be just subtraction by subtraction, without any form of addition or growth" will be historical revisionism.

[John Nesbitt]

Talk about delusional revisionism! As has been pointed out numerous times in this thread, the move to "other places" was resisted for many years, and only happened for the 2019 season, and in response to Stan's proposal to kill FB. I find it fascinating that John and the other SCCA cheerleaders never make any reference to what is best for the participants of each class they are trying to kill ...... only how SCCA needs to reduce the number of classes. It is as if the participants of each class were the ones who have spent 3 decades disregarding their own guidelines and creating new classes. Killing classes will be subtraction by subtraction, without any form of addition or growth.

Let's have a reality-based discussion. You claim that the January 2019 proposal killed FB. Look at Majors participation over the years.

2019 - 23 entries
2018 - 39
2017 - 101
2016 - 74
2015 - 101
2014 - 115
2013 - 96


FB participation went from mid-field among all Majors classes in 2013 to dead last in 2018. The CRB proposal this January was in response to the existing facts.

As I wrote, people have a perfect right to enter their cars wherever they want. I am not carrying SCCA's water. I simply point out that SCCA is making a rational response to the market facts.

You can argue whether FB would do better to revert to Regional status, and forego the Runoffs, or be combined with FA, and retain Runoffs possibility. But you cannot argue that FB entries did not die off before the CRB acted.

[Zcurves]

John,

You are correct, 2018 numbers weren’t great. The F1000 series left Majors events for many reasons, which I won’t get into. Combine that with increased entry fees and a decrease in quality track time, we chose regional venues. Had SCCA taken those participation numbers into account, they would have surely seen that the class was not dead. As everyone knows, they chose to look at data to which supported their desired outcome.

[bill gillespie]

FB will run together with FA in the 2020 FRP series. Will FB be scored as an FA, or will FB be scored as a separate entity with stock engines ???

[problemchild]

Let's have a reality-based discussion. You claim that the January 2019 proposal killed FB.

John, you do not listen to me anymore than you listen to the racers in the classes you are trying to kill.

Clearly, the restrictor fiasco, led by an ex FB racer with his personal agenda, was the turning point in the class health. Prospective class racers were on hold for an extended period while SCCA pursued this option that was supported by few in the class. I was at the track in 2016-2017 listening to FB racers complaining to each other about this issue. The class never recovered. The SCCA gamesmanship with 2018 car counts (Majors and Regionals) just provided distorted data to further destabilize the class (which you are now using to justify your perception of factual context). Stan's proposal to kill FB was just the cherry on the top!

It is no wonder that the majority of the racers in this class refuse to engage in dialogue with SCCA at this point. Nobody is listening.

[Zcurves]

FB will run together with FA in the 2020 FRP series. Will FB be scored as an FA, or will FB be scored as a separate entity with stock engines ???

F1000 is scored as F1000 in FRP. The rules package was frozen to the 2018 package, before the Frankenmotor fiasco. We won’t run exclusively with FA in FRP. In some cases we will be paired with F2000.

[problemchild]

It is interesting how the word fiasco keeps coming up when referencing SCCA involvement.

[bill gillespie]

F1000 is scored as F1000 in FRP. The rules package was frozen to the 2018 package, before the Frankenmotor fiasco. We won’t run exclusively with FA in FRP. In some cases we will be paired with F2000.

Tim,
Is the Aprilia engine likely to appear in the SCCA/FA/FB version of the car in 2020 ? Haven’t heard anything about it since the COTA debut..,,

[Zcurves]

Bill,

I’ve not heard of anyone with a Griip car planning to run NorthAmF1000 with FRP in 2020. It was mentioned before the season this year but never happened. You know how it is, commitments mean nothing in the off-season. I’d love to see how it compares to the well established manufacturers. It’s possible that whatever they sold have become track day cars.????????*?? I saw one for sale on bringatrailer and the dealer in Austin mentioned in the comments that health issues have prevented him from campaigning the car as originally planned.

Regarding Aprilia and even BMW, I’m sure they’ll show up in existing cars at Majors events. They’re going to need all the ponies they can muster to compete with the 016. Engineering a V4 to fit in our cars may be difficult however. The Griip subframe was designed around a shaft driven Aprilia, so retrofitting an existing car would require extraordinary skill and resources.

[reidhazelton]

Let's have a reality-based discussion.

Oh c'mon John. Some people don't do that here. Just launch insults, that's how this thing works.

For background in that reality based discussion, the restrictor issue came about for good reason. A ZX10R made 10-15 more HP than the standard gixxer. At the same time, everyone knew when someone figured out the BMW that would do to the ZX10r what the ZX10r did to the gixxer. It was realized that given the rapid advancement in bike engine technology, we would have a class that had to change engines every 3-5 years. That's why SCCA investigated restrictors - asking Jay Novak to do so on Jay Novak's dime. Let's remember that.

The restrictor issue only failed because a very, very small group of people lead by one main antagonist called nearly all BoD and CRB members (and some FSRAC members) and threatened to sue. At the time, there was already a sharp decline in numbers and the small group of extremely vocal car owners won out. Squeaky wheel got the grease. Somehow they screamed enough to convince people that 15hp wasn't a noticeable advantage.

No surprise, the next year the participation went off a cliff when people realized they had to go for the Kawi if they wanted a chance at the front.

[Thomas Copeland]

From the people in the class that I heard from ....
Change to:

3. The biggest wrong turn was the 2 year period when SCCA worked on inlet restrictors that nobody wanted, then abandoned.
4. This period of indecision broke all the momentum and growth that the class had achieved to that point, and left interested folks on hold and unwilling to get into the class.
5. Any chance of recovery after the restrictor fiasco, was abruptly halted by SCCA's gamesmanship with car counts, and proposals to kill the class by absolving into FA.
6. Class racers went looking for other places to race.

This is the closest to the truth than anything else I've seen. In fact it's spot on.

I can remember just before the COTA race we had no less than 13 active manufacturers! More than even Formula One had. More than any other racing class or series on the planet had at the time. The class was on a trajectory of almost straight up growth. But it was the constant never ending BS battles with the CRB/BOD that killed the momentum of this class.

That restrictor nonsense coming right on the heals of the air shifter battle. It was damn exhausting to be constantly be in one battle after another with members of the CRB/BOD and their never ending meddling. They were determined to ram down our throats their stupid useless agenda items. Look today, the threat of those effing restrictors are back. The sad truth is that there are people on both those boards that are petty, vindictive, and just plain mean-spirited and they will never leave F1000 alone.

[Thomas Copeland]

Oh c'mon John. Some people don't do that here. Just launch insults, that's how this thing works.

For background, the restrictor issue came about for good reason. A ZX10R made 10-15 more HP than the standard gixxer. At the same time, everyone knew when someone figured out the BMW that would do to the ZX10r what the ZX10r did to the gixxer. It was realized that given the rapid advancement in bike engine technology, we would have a class that had to change engines every 3-5 years. That's why SCCA investigated restrictors - well, Jay Novak did on Jay Novak's dime. Let's remember that.

The restrictor issue only failed because a very, very small group of people lead by one main antagonist called nearly all BoD and CRB members (and some FSRAC members) and threatened to sue. At the time, there was already a sharp decline in numbers and the small group of extremely vocal car owners won out. Squeaky wheel got the grease. Somehow they screamed enough to convince people that 15hp wasn't a noticeable advantage.

No surprise, the next year the participation went off a cliff when people realized they had to go for the Kawi if they wanted a chance at the front.

This is complete utter BS. I was there, and this is BS.

[reidhazelton]

This is complete utter BS. I was there, and this is BS.

Uh, so was I.

[Thomas Copeland]

Uh, so was I.

Ok cool. Let's go have a beer. I think I need one now . We just won't be able to agreed on how it went down.

[Zcurves]

Reid,

I agree that there was not a consensus amongst owners, but the group against was larger than you think. I was against them when I was running the 09-12 Suzuki because it would have penalized an equal engine to the 07-08. Implementing the restrictors would have also necessitated dyno time to tune for maximum efficiency, which would have increased cost.

It should be noted that Alex, Nicho, and Jeremy are doing pretty well with 07-08 Suzukis.

[reidhazelton]

Reid,

I agree that there was not a consensus amongst owners, but the group against was larger than you think. I was against them when I was running the 09-12 Suzuki because it would have penalized an equal or inferior engine to the 07-08. Implementing the restrictors would have also necessitated dyno time to tune for maximum efficiency, which would have increased cost.

It should be noted that Alex, Nicho, and Jeremy are doing pretty well with 07-08 Suzukis.

Thank you for your first hand account (no snark there). On the committee, that was known at the time and it was deemed more cost effective to implement a restrictor than to leave as-is and require people to switch engines and redesign some cars to accommodate that. Jay had and was willing to make public all the needed changes and dyno information. It was so long ago my memory is a little fuzzy, but I don't recall it being that big of a change.

I bet if one of those three mentioned had fifteen additional horsepower they would beat the other two.

[Zcurves]

Jay wouldn’t have been able to help with the 09-12, because I was one of only 2 people running that model.

I bet if one of those three mentioned had fifteen additional horsepower they would win.

They win regardless because they have talent and excellent preparation. The 25# penalty balances out the additional hp in my opinion. I ran against Kawis in 2017 and 2018 and never felt like I was underpowered, only outdriven.

[Purple Frog]

Here is a fact. The GCR for the history of the Club has been a rule book to control the National (Major) classes and their competition leading up to and including the Runoffs. Those National classes have always been determined by participation.

Divisions/Regions have always had flexibility to have their own classes based on participation in their respective territories. e.g. The SEDIV had a very active CFC class in the late 90's early 2000s. Cars quit showing up. the class was eliminated from the SEDIV rule set. Simple.

That said there is nothing new here. Many of us that have been around 50 years have seen classes come and go. A class with good participation does not get axed.

Having personally been part of the original group of members that created the first rule set for FB to be submitted to the CRB for acceptance, I have witnessed the class history.

To paraphrase a great 20th century poet, Jimmy Buffet, "Some people say its the SCCA's fault, but we know... its our own damn fault."

Bitch about entry fees, but they don't seem to dampen SM attendance. Just saying.

The original rule set had a sentence that allowed the SCCA to institute restrictors. IMHO, that should have been done on the get go. But, then active owners howled against restrictors, because like all true racers they wanted to go faster. What resulted? A perception of "the engine of the month". Even today you speak of BMW and Aprilla engines. Also, engines started being "built", at an added expense.

Instead of being a slightly faster FC, that was less expensive to operate, the class became ultra-hightech. Guys like the early founders fell to wayside. Piper and VD chassis went to retirement and new cars became technical works of art. It no longer was an economical solution to rising FC costs, it was more expensive than FC.

With the great speed increases, the population that had the skill set to be at the pointy end of the grid was reduced, both because of lack of driver skill, and lack of needed engineering skills. Even guys that won national championships abandoned the class. Loss of the founding members, then loss of pack leaders, meant the class loss its base. A house with no foundation will not stand long.

Then came fire. So many engines exploding and setting cars on fire did not help sell the class. I've heard all the stories of "I ran my E-bay engine 3 years..." But, i also witnessed a lot of fires. (even this year)

So you have the perfect storm.

The formula classes losing their power in the Club is because they are not participating. FA FB FC FM are classes for all their own reasons quit showing up. look at the FSRAC ... you can see all the formula guys resigned over the last 3 years, so those classes have no one to speak for them. If there is no participation at the track, and no participation on the rules committees, what can you expect?

As always, YMMV

[Daryl DeArman]

The "solution" I proposed many years ago was the 5 year moratorium on new model year engines. Back then folks argued the GSXR K7/K8 motors were all that were going to be needed to win for many years to come. I was basing my opinion on the success of a series I ran back in the 90's that used MC powered cars and dealing with the escalating HP wars.

The argument has always been "they can't get much better than they are now", that was said when they were making 100HP/L, it was said when they made 150HP/L and people are saying it with 200HP/L.

Some argued for restrictors to balance new engines to k7/k8 power levels.

IMO restrictors just result in politicking and bickering about who needs more/who deserves less. Combine that with expensive dyno tuning and inability/lack of desire to properly scrutinize engines for compliance. No thanks.

The solution may very well have been no newer than 2013 MY engines until 2018 season. Then no newer than 2018 until 2023. Can't say what would have happened, but it certainly appears that doing nothing wasn't the solution.

[problemchild]

This is the closest to the truth than anything else I've seen. In fact it's spot on.

I can remember just before the COTA race we had no less than 13 active manufacturers! More than even Formula One had. More than any other racing class or series on the planet had at the time. The class was on a trajectory of almost straight up growth. But it was the constant never ending BS battles with the CRB/BOD that killed the momentum of this class.

That restrictor nonsense coming right on the heals of the air shifter battle. It was damn exhausting to be constantly be in one battle after another with members of the CRB/BOD and their never ending meddling. They were determined to ram down our throats their stupid useless agenda items. Look today, the threat of those effing restrictors are back. The sad truth is that there are people on both those boards that are petty, vindictive, and just plain mean-spirited and they will never leave F1000 alone.

As PF pointed out there were a lot of challenges for the class. Unfortunately, SCCA made a series of decisions that took it out of the hands of the FB community. It was just the usual arrogance and incompetence. I don't know whether the class would have recovered, but the Majors/Regionals car count charade, and Stan's kill proposal, are aggressive actions that are clearly not facilitating any effort to help undo past wrongs. Discussing parity within the FA class is just humerus!.

[Zcurves]

Ultimately Frog’s correct. Participation has decreased, but which came first the chicken or the egg? While participation numbers were down, FB wasn’t dying. I can name 10 owners on the east coast who stopped showing up. Their main reasons were more personal, financial, or health related. I prefer to believe the class has ebbs and flows. Those 10 owners will eventually bring them out again or get tired of looking at them. These cars are too expensive to be garage art. Maybe the current or eventual owners will breathe new life into them.

At least one new car is being built as we speak.
Participation is growing again, albeit slowly and not in Club racing.
Cars are making their way East.
There is no more politicking or bureaucracy.
The rules are stable.
The track time is abundant and of high quality.
No more alphabet soup.
FRP listens to our input and makes us feel welcome.
And if drivers want to compete exclusively against other F1000s, it’s the only gig in town.