Hear Hear! Right on, Jeff.
'Cept I'm not really sure about the demo derby thing in Prep. :-)
Now karts carrying a pig, that I wanna see!
Thing is, seriously now, classes seem to go in cycles. Popularity waxes and
wanes through the years.
My class, DP, had 23 cars in 1988, had 10 cars in '94, 27 last year, 22
this year.
BSP has been "weak" for years, as few as 12 cars in the big 25th anniversary
year of 1997, 42 this year.
BP had 5 cars in 88. Was it worth keeping? 15-16 the past three years.
AM had just 10 last year. Can't imagine a nationals without AM. For whatever
reason, the Phantom could not make it, Bowland is driving other stuff while
a new car is a-building. 18 this year (even with SAE entries down).
If there IS a class with a problem, IMHO the answer is not to kill it, the
answer is to realign the classes. If somehow we decide we can do what we
need to do, fairly and equitably, with say eight stock classes, then you can
kill off HS or SS. Not just because *S had low numbers this year. They may
well be up next year.
DP (also EP) is seeing resurgence with newer riceburners coming into the
class, just as they also are coming into Production in road racing and
resurrecting that category.
Did we need to split FSP off from DSP? Their times were very competitive
this year. Last year DSP had 39. This year it had 23 and FSP had 39. Would
things have really been better with one 62-car class? IMHO, not an I-stock.
I'd kinda like to see SP go away to be replaced with a set of ST classes,
but I don't really see that happening unless a lot of SP drivers just decide
they'd rather embrace the ST prep philosophy.
Do we have too many classes? Or do we just have a LOT of classes because
they all meet their own niches and provide a place to play for people we
want to see come into our sport? I'm not in favor of I-Stock or Me-Mod, but
I do not really see any of our current classes falling in that category.
Having 1000 cars instead of 600 means we are able to support 60 classes, not
that we should have fewer but larger classes. A 10- or 15-car class is not
I-Stock. It is still more cars in your class than you see at any other time
of the year.
Ultimately, people vote for this or that class with their wallet. I see some
that are more popular than others. Thus it always will be. I see none being
ignored and meriting the death penalty.
--Rocky
-----Original Message-----
From: The Christianson's <chrstson@netins.net>
To: autox@autox.team.net <autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Saturday, September 23, 2000 10:23 AM
Subject: # of classes and particitpation
>I don't see the big problem with the classes we have now. I do think that
>some of the new classes have popped up with out going through the proper
>channel. SM, F125, come to mind they are not bad things but it seems that
>they just appear overnight. I think SM will be interesting...I will be
>amazed if over the next 2 or 3 years someone does not open the money flood
>gates and create a class killer. I don't know exactly what it will be but
>their are potentials out there. (A Subaru world rally car comes to mind)
>
>
>To propose that classes with 20 or fewer people at nationals be done away
>with, (IMO) was about the...(mom always said if it isn't nice don't say
>it)... thing I have heard in some time. The vast majority of regional
>events total 30 to 50 competitors for the entire event. With only 3 or 4
>to a class...with this in mind rolling into Topeka and running against 18
>or 20 others in your class, that arrived from all parts of the country is a
>big deal. If you do away with all of those that are 20 or less we will
>only have like one prepared class and one 2 mod classes. IMO a real
>backwards step for the sport. I suppose we could combine AM BM into CM.
>We will just make the BM guys put in 300 pounds of ballast, and the AM
>people have to take off the wings and add 200 pounds. Or let CM run wings
>and Cosworth heads, or maybe make the AM cars run snow tires. We can put
>DM and EM together they are fairly close already. (No kevlar bodies though)
> And we could then put FM and F125 together but the f125s all have to carry
>a live pig around in their laps for extra weight. (about 265lb) In the
>prepared ranks I say why not determine the surviving class with a demo
>derby...The last cars running keep their class. My money is on the 3000lb
>ponies.
>
>While I'm at it, street tire classes seem good too...but how many are
>spending money on chemicals to doctor tires and such? If it aint being
>done now, it will be.
>
>It always seems to me that we make these things really hard. I just want
>to have fun, and I am doing that!!
>
>Jeff Christianson
>#65 EM
>
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