On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Tom Shirley wrote:
> Robert M. Lang wrote:
>
> > If you really wanted to go wild on the car, you could run in D Mod, but
> > you'll have to do alot of "hacking" to get the car down to the 1500 pound
> > min. weight for D mod.
>
> The weight limit for D Mod is 1000 pounds. The weight limit for E Mod is
> 1500.
Whoops -
D Mod <2 liters 1000 pounds min weight
E Mod >2 liters 1500 pounds min weight
Sorry about that.
>
> > p.s. what about making it a Vintage racer???
>
> If you want to race the car, vintage is where it should be. Not autox.
> The TR4 simply isn't competitive in E Prepared or any of the Mod
> classes. In vintage, it's somewhat competitive.
You are correct. I would like to point out that a TR4 was 5th at the Solo
II National last year in EPL. I know several drivers in that class, and
they are all good drivers. I'd provide some real numbers, but my network
seems flakey as I write this... check out the SCCA Web site for
particulars. But what I'm trying to say is that TR4's are not that bad in
EP, and in a club or regional area, a TR4 can be as competitive as you
like providing that you do all the "tricks" to it.
I might point out, however, that it is okay to run your car and not be
competitive compared to the other cars. In fact, one of the biggest
problems that I see with SCCA is that they have an uncanny ability to
manipulate classes so that certain cars are - by definition - ruled in as
dominating or relegated to the back of the pack... look at the Dodge Neon,
for instance in Solo II... That car should have never been in E Stock in
Solo II.
I might further point out that I see the emphasis on winning to be a
major problem in most or all aspects of our society. The message seems to
be "if you don't crush the competition, then you're a looser". I'm afraid
to say that this attitude is counter productive and alienating for a lot
of people. Look at the attendance at SCCA club racing event for evidence.
Oh, and look at all the rubber marks and dents on the cars after an IT
race as another example - GET OUT OF MY WAY DAMMIT!!!! Screeeeech,
crrrrrrunch...
Sheesh.
That having been said, if you follow SCCA, you will see that if you run in
a Prod race and you finish at all, you're doing pretty well and the fields
have been getting smaller and smaller. So, just getting out there is a
good thing. Further, I have to point out that Triumphs finished in 3rd,
9th, 10th, 14th and there was one more in the the SCCA E Prod
Runoffs(tm). To quote Sam Halkias, TR6 driver and 3rd place overall:
"Bring 'em on" when asked about the new E Prod legal cars (Mazda Miata,
Mazda RX7 1st generation, and others)... he's got the right attitude -
competition, _good competition_, is the most enjoyable form of racing.
Oh, and the winner of the race reportedly spent something like $100k on
his Miata to make it competitive. I've got news for you - if you spent
$100k on a TR4, it just might be competitive! ;-) If you spent $100k on
_anything_ it could be made competitive.
As for vintage racing, at least in the 'states, the emphasis is supposed
to be on clean racing and not driving 10 - 10ths... so by definition it
is not racing per se, but it still looks like fun. And fun is the
operative word.
If you want to crush everybody, go get a major sponsor with DEEEEEEEEEP
pockets and go push everybody out of your way at Daytona or something. If
you want to have fun, then have fun. If you win - hey great! If not, you
still had fun.
That's what I try to do.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - Tom Shirley -
> - Sale Creek, TN (just north of Chattanooga) -
> - 72 Datsun 510 #18 (the race car) 78 Triumph Spitfire -
> - http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1080 -
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I'm not trying to flame anyone, I just see things in the world as
slightly out of balance. But hey, I'm trying to build an E Prod TR6. Go
figure.
And I don't have $100k... Uncle Sam got that. But you didn't hear it from me.
C'est la vie.
rml
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