Not to be insensitive to your plight, but lighten up George. This is
supposed to be just for fun.
I to have been along for the FP-AP-FP shuffle, and to be honest, it
wasn't that bad. Sure none of the FP cars could catch the Babbs Elan, but
that wasn't the SEB's fault. I hate to admit it, but the FP ranks are kind
of soft these days, and they have been in a decline since Craig Nagler sold
his old RX7 in about 94. After he pulled out, the Fergusons and Andy York
eventually wandered away and the door was open for a new crop of people near
the top.
Next we got bumped to AP and the Babbs break a couple off in us. Big
deal! I don't remember them beating us by anymore than Nagler ever did. Next
we lost Barry Schoenberg(er? I can never remember how to spell his name) and
John Banks. Just when it looks like the meek are about to inherit the class,
Greg Fordahl shows up in the RSR and Craig is back with the BMW. Not too
surprisingly they finished 1st and second by a sizable margin. (mainly
Greg... I honestly don't believe Nagler's car is uncatchable by any means)
I will admit, I was not too thrilled about the RSR landing in our class,
simply because it was built to a level that was never before imagined for a
production car in solo. I believe the SEB was trying to do the right thing
when they classed it in AP, but they had no way of knowing just how fast
that car could be when driven by a top flight driver like Greg.
I agree that we need to work on making the Prepared classes a fun
place to be (hell I'm still having fun), but can't we follow the example set
by our friends in CP. They promote the fun and camaraderie of the sport and
do their best to keep the bitching an moaning to minimum. I can't remember
reading a negative thing about CP in the past few years. As a group they
have worked with Howard and the PAC to tune their subset of the rules to
their way of thinking. All I can remember coming out of AP is a bunch of
complaining. I'll admit that I signed Peter Fehn's petition to break FP out
again, but only after I saw the Babb's signatures at the top of the list. We
need to stop the unpleasantness and start working on the FUN.
I think the new AP has the potential to be a good shot in the arm for
the Prepared classes of the future (I doubt John Kelly will agree with
that). It begins to break the archaic ties to road racing which I believe we
should have broken years ago. (Now Rocky is probably getting mad at me) The
fact of the matter (okay, it's just my opinion)is the crossover between the
two is probably too small to measure. Assuming AP grows into a healthy
class, I would expect to see some of the allowances provided there, spread
to the other Prepared classes. This could help bring about the missing
linear progression from SP. I don't want to ignite that old debate again,
but I think that would be a good thing for Prepared
The SEB and PAC has nothing to gain by plundering our classes, they are
just a bunch of people trying to help the sport grow and trying to work out
the wrinkles left behind from our transition to a consolidated Prepared
rulebook. They aren't out "rape and ravish", so try not to bite there heads
off when they do something that you disagree with.
I support you in your quest to help straighten out the rules to improve
the Prepared classes, but I hope that you do it without turning it into a
witch hunt. Your mail sounds like an angry man on a mission to try expose
the horrific attrocities of a government gone horribly astray. Try and keep
a smile on your face and lets see if we can attract some new blood to these
classes because it looks like so much fun!
Tom
FP 280Z
-----Original Message-----
From: George Ryan <quad4fiero@webzone.net>
To: NEOKLA-SoloII@egroups.com <NEOKLA-SoloII@egroups.com>;
DuncanSCCA@aol.com <DuncanSCCA@aol.com>; Bwinters4@compuserve.com
<Bwinters4@compuserve.com>; Sam & Greg Schamberg <samandgreg@uswest.net>;
Rob Pickrell <brnrubr@midusa.net>; Joe Cunningham <joetul@webzone.net>
Cc: autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>; FieroRacingList
<FieroRacingList@egroups.com>
Date: Friday, June 23, 2000 7:17 PM
Subject: The Rape of Prepared Catagories (was:Trying to catch the spotlight)
>Thanks to Rob Pickerell and Howard Duncan, the problem with the
>July Fastrack Tech Bulletin I wrote about under the above title has
>been addressed and made right.
>
>There will be a Tech Bulletin out to clarify that the 4 cylinder cars
>from GT2 (2.3 - the quad 4, and 2.7 - the Super Duty) will remain in
>FP at the Solo II weight. As such, I have retained my membership in
>the club, and when my car is back together ( again - - I truly
>embarrased myself in Ft Worth) will continue to compete - - in FP - -
>at the Solo II weight.
>
>Had there been a solicitation for member input, or a hint of what the
>PAC had in mind, then I am sure the oversight could have been
>addressed. But, being a democratic club, the Boards ruled, we had no
>input, no say, no opinion, we were just told it will happen a matter of
>a few days after the published Tech Bulletin mandating this class change
>hit the streets. I don't think there was enough time to order a new letter
>from Solotime before it was effective!!
>
>What about the affected member that has competed for 5 or 6 months,
amassing
>points at a regional/divisional level - - with no warning he has
>to erase and start over? I, for example, would not have had enough
>events left to earn points in AP for a trophy, and had not run enough
>to get one in FP.
>
>Yes, I am still with you as a member. But I will not get involved with
>any of the club functions, i.e. SSS (although I have already met my
>minimum requirements to renew next year by working Safety at a
>National Tour event and 2 local events). I have resigned from the
>Board of Director position with NeOkla, and all of the Solo
>committments I have made have been delegated to others.
>
>The energies I have put into supporting and working for the club in
>the past are going to be re-directed toward trying to right the many
>wrongs done to this catagory by the current PAC and SEB, so that
>it once again can be a healthy and fun place to compete.
>
>I will be doing a couple articles in upcoming publications about the
>havoc that is being created in the Prepared classes, using excerpts
>from letters of support that I have received in response to my initial
>letter to Team.net.
>
>The club has a real problem with the Prepared classes, and the
>current PAC is only muddying the waters with their recommendations.
>The SEB is not helping by endorsing these items without questioning
>their neccessity and validity.
>
>Mine is not the only horror story in the Prepared catagory, I think you
>will see a decrease in participation overall (except for CP and BP- the
>Detroit iron has remained unscathed while the other classes have been
>raped and ravished).
>
>I am soliciting input from other Prepared catagory (only) drivers/builders
>with their stories, thoughts, and feelings regarding the current state of
>affairs within this community. It used to be such a fun, friendly place to
>be. Now all I hear in the pits is griping, bitchin', and moaning about the
>rules, and classing structure.
>
>So here is your chance to speak your mind. Please feel free to respond
>to me privately, if not comfortable using this forum.
>
>G
>
>
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