TeamZ06@aol.com (Mark Sipe) wrote:
> Given the results so far this year, there are any number of Stock Z06's
that
> would have a very strong chance to win a SM2 championship if one were to
be
> awarded.
Agreed.
That's not just limited to SM2 and the Z06. While SM has gotten MUCH better
this year, it is still possible to enter SM with a well-prepped,
SM-eligible SP car and have a reasonable expectation of trophying. Given a
A+ driver in that SP car and a couple of the top "real" SM drivers having a
bad day (or breaking) it's not impossible that an SP car could steal a SM
National Championship.
With time, this becomes less likely, but there's no question that there is
a window of opportunity for bottomfeeders whenever a class is young. I
figure it takes at least 3 years working flat-out to properly prepare and
sort out an SM car. In the process, it is not at all unusual to take a fast
car and slow it down while you work out the bugs.
> I fully agree with previous points made that it will take time for SM2
owners
> to develop their vehicles. That's exactly why I'm opposed to SM2 being
> eligible for a national championship before it's time.
It's not.
Even under the most optimistic schenario (which right now SM2 looks to be
tracking; they'll make the 18 car threshold easily this year) it will be
2004 before SM2 is eligible for a "real" National Championship. In 2002 and
2003, the winner in Topeka is the "National Winner" - no Championship
jacket, no mention in the rule book Hall O'Fame.
That turns out to be a bigger deterrent to the bottomfeeders than I
expected. When we award championships to classes with single-car turnouts,
who cares if your jacket doesn't say "National Champion" if you had to beat
20+ of your peers to get it? You won your class at Nationals, end of story.
Suprisingly enough though, that has made a difference to people in the
past. "It's not a _real_ Championship *sniff*"
Hey, it works. Give credit to Howard for that.
There has been two other factors that have worked to keep bottomfeeders
away, at least from SM.
The first is sportsmanship. When SM first came on the scene, I was in
direct contact with or heard rumours about a few A to A+ drivers and cars
very much interested in running in SM on the class merits. But, these fine
sportsmen (no sarcasm, I mean it) realized that them showing up in the
tender years might well have a chilling effect on class participation, and
so for the good of the class stayed away until it was a little less wobbly
on its feet.
We were fully prepared to have to run against them, and did nothing to
discourage them coming on board - if somebody raises the bar, it up to the
class to rise to the challenge, not try and pull the leaders down. But
those I was in contact with made the decision on their own to give SM a
little time to grow up first.
Now that SM is a teenager and feeling a little cocky, hell, come on in
guys! We'll thrash ya all. :)
The second factor is peer pressure from your fellow drivers. If a Stock Z06
- especially a car and driver that has been running in their "real" class
all year - suddenly ran in SM2, well, everyone in SS would know EXACTLY
what was going on, and Mr Bottomfeeder would be subject to a lot of
derision, scorn, and loss of face to his peers.
Consider this Mark: you've been having a pretty good year from what I can
tell. It's hard to topple the Eric & John Juggernaut, so I have a hard time
picking you as P1 in Topeka, but P3 I would buy. Certainly I think you're
expected to trophy. (Shit, I hope I'm not jinxing you :)
So you could probably win SM2 in that car, if you were so inclined.
If you did (and please note that I'm not claiming that you ever even
seriously considered doing this; I'm just making a hypothetical example
here!) EVERYONE would assume that you "hopped into SM2 because you knew you
couldn't win in SS" (not that you can't, but everyone knows how tough Eric
& John are, so that's the natural assumption) Yes, you'd score a trophy and
some tires, but your reputation as a driver would be RUINED. TRASHED.
Whatever respect you've earned over the past 5 years or so would be GONE.
That's a pretty big price to pay for a trophy and some tires. Doesn't make
bottomfeeding very attractive at all.
Hell, there was some muttering going on about the Peru Tour and a couple of
cars that ran there - even though everybody there had a perfectly legit,
non-bottomfeeding reason to running SM2 that day (broken cars, too many
drivers in 1 car, etc) and everybody present KNEW that. A *real*
bottomfeeder would catch hell.
So I'm really not too worried about SM2 at Nationals. They'll get their
chance.
> IMO any new class should have to mature to an appropriate level;
participant
> and performance, before being granted full national championship status.
If we graded performance vs expected performance, 75% of CP would be sent
home. ;)
It totally doesn't matter how fast or slow or "soft" any one class is. All
that matters is that there be a lot of them, and that they all have fun. CP
is case in point. Somebody with a lot of money, access to the right people,
and the will to do so could build a car that would likely _decimate_ CP
(look very, very carefully at the rules. A "proper" CP car is something
very much like a modern Trans Am or GT1 car - how many cars in CP even
*approach* that standard? - with construction costs much on par with what
it would cost to build a modern Trans Am or GT1 car) And yet, despite their
exposure, and despite that there are maybe 10 cars with a reasonable chance
of actually winning, they come out in a horde. Why piss on their parade?
Why piss on _anybodies_ parade, if they can meet the attendance minimums?
The current system seems to work pretty well. I say stick with it.
DG
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