Hey everyone,
CVAR is working very hard to get back to the "vintage" designation.
They had been enforcing their basic rule of "the car must be from 1972
or earlier and can be updated to 1972 specs if earlier, as long as it
was a configuration used by the factory in racing," going by the SCCA
rule books, but they had gotten lax and a lot of people were fudging the
rules and running roller rockers and all sorts of other go-fast
goodies. CVAR decided a couple years ago to be more strict about their
rules and have been checking all sorts of things on peoples' cars,
including doing engine checks to make sure they are within those vintage
specs (which can include a tear-down, I believe, if they deem it
necessary). They have always deleted points for inappropriate things
such as fiberglass panels, wrong tires and wheels, and you had to have
those things fixed before you could race again the next season.
CVAR also fields a spec Sprite group, who decided amongst themselves to
limit themselves to certain preparation specs and they have a ball out
there. Some of the other Sprites were busy beating cars they had no
business in beating, and when you ask them what mods they've done, they
say, "Oh, not much, really." It's discouraging to be running with cars
that were very competitive amongst themselves back in the day, and have
some of them taking on and beating MGBs and Mustangs and such, not to
mention the safety issues involved. One of the guys in a nice Sprite I
had been staying just ahead of suddenly started leaving me in the dust,
and I asked him if he had done anything different and he said no. Then
he blew his lower end at a race and when he pulled it we saw he had one
of the most beautiful sets of roller rockers I had ever seen on it
(which CVAR does not allow). No telling what else had been done.
Again, the points raised about the racing organizations needing
subscribers to stay afloat is very valid, at least for some other parts
of the country. CVAR, in contrast, has more racers at every event, it
seems like. They had about 50-60 entrants when I started hanging around
(about 1997 or 98) and now they have over 150-160 and more adding on
every time. They are adding a couple new tracks in Dallas and Houston
to the agenda to see how they work out, and to buffer the issue of TWS
possibly going away in the next few years, and that should draw more
folks as well.
CVAR WILL work with folks who come for specialty events, and grant
one-time status so they can participate. The cars will be evaluated
thoroughly and put in the groups where it is felt they best belong,
based on engine capacity and other things, so they can enjoy the whole
event and not just the specialty event. Safety is a large factor in
this assignment.
And lastly, the one thing everyone needs to remember is that we are
racing for the FUN and the GLORY of it, and to keep the JOY of this
sport alive, not to win money or sponsorships or worldly fame. SCCA
club racing exists for a reason, and it's not fair to the true vintage
racers for the folks who couldn't win in SCCA to come take over their
races with inappropriately prepared cars. To me, the real joy comes
from running with and doing well against others prepared like me, not in
always being first by a long shot since I cheated in preparation (and
everyone knew it -- how could they not?).
Keep Triumphing,
Susan :)
1967 FP Spit "Elliott," who has been brought back to vintage from SCCA
club racing specs
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