...Speaking as one of the "bozos" -- your term, not mine -- yes, I'm
perfectly happy with a National Championship event that basically takes on
all comers. What that means, Hugh, is that without arbitrary and artificial
restrictions on entry, the you truly are competing against the best there
is, not just the ones with the funding to buy all the latest, gee-whiz,
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious kit and refresh it several times a year,
plus the funding to get to X number of events to gather enough points to
qualify, not just the ones who caught a break on an iffy-weather weekend
(how many times have we seen situations where half a class gets dry runs and
the skies open up, basically hosing the rest of the class's chances even
though they're regarded as among the best drivers in the land?....
I would call that "racer's luck". Is this a competition or a "feel-good"
excercise where nobody's self-esteem gets crushed? Just for the record, I
suggested that one could use finishing places at divisionals,prosolo events,
and regional standings. That's three different ways to qualify.
...The Solo2 National Championships are about the competition, sure. But
it's also our sport's National Convention, as it were. Where the North,
East, South, West, and Center all meet, swap lies, sell and buy cars and
parts, raise a fair number of glasses, and generally have one hell of a
great time...
Maybe so. But since its always held in the Midwest, I would bet that,
percentage-wise, there are more "Centers" than folks from the East and West.
...This is NOT Club Racing. It's not *supposed* to be Club Racing. Club
Racing is great, don't get me wrong. I met my wife when we were both
working F&C at Turn Station 5 at Grattan Raceway, and if I could afford it,
I'd also be Club Racing. If I suddenly won Lotto and could afford Club
Racing, would I stop running Solo? Not just no, but HELL NO! Not only is
it a challenging mental exercise -- those of you who played in the high
school band or orchestra might have been through will recognize a lot of
similarities to the sight-reading part of many band competitions -- that's
considerably different than Club Racing, Solo is where I met a great many of
my circle of friends. It's *fun*. It's fun at the local level. It's fun
at the Divisional level. It's fun at the National Tour level. It's a
different sort of fun at ProSolos. It's also a ton of fun at the Solo2
National Championships. What was it Carroll Smith said last year? "It
reminds me of what Phil Hill said at a vintage race: 'It's like the early
days of SCCA when we all liked each other.'"...
Which is probably why, for the past two years, I've been crewing for a
vintage racer and enjoying it immensely.
...Hugh, I submit to you that the Solo2 National Championships, in their
current state of entry open-to-nearly-anyone, is a prestigious even for
precisely that reason...
But is it prestigious to anyone outside of the SoloII community? If the
Nationals ever get on TV, the first thing a commentator is going to ask is
"What did these folks do to get here?" SoloII competitors buy truckloads of
tires, shock, oil,etc, but outside of a few isolated instances, I cannot
recall seeing ads from any of these manufacturers (in general motorsports
publications) that talk about it. Contrast that with the Club Racing
runoffs, where I see lots of ads (Hoosier, Redline Oil, etc) that feature
the winners.
...By removing artificial barriers to entry, the competition comes closer to
finding the best drivers in the sport than any other motorsports format
where access to large amounts of funding is a greater contributor to success
than driving ability (cf: Tora Takagi, Hiro Matsushita, and a number of
ride-buying backmarkers in CART, Atlantics, F3000, and even F1)....
Who said anything about funding? I was talking about a previous
demonstration of ability to compete at a higher than average level.
...You want to run a bunch of events to gather enough points to "qualify"
for the National Championship? Club Racing's right over there. The TR6
runs in E Production or GT-3. Bring your checkbook, every credit card you
carry, and the complete home equity line for your house, and have at it.
*This* bozo will be having fun in Topeka while you're watching the Miatas
blow you into the toolies at Mid-O...
Actually Triumphs make better vintage racers.
Hugh Barber
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