Jeff, Its good to hear that somewhere in SCCA the stewards still enforce the
rules, but after watching the runoffs recently and hearing the announcers talk
up
all of the contact, talking to a good friend who has made four trips there and
been wrecked every time, and my own experience as both steward and driver with
national licenses, that somewhere is not in the areas where I raced. John
Jeff Zurschmeide wrote:
> Folks, I think it's important to remember that "SCCA" varies from
> place to place. I can't speak for other regions, but I can tell you
> how we do things in Oregon.
>
> "Racing Contact" or "Incidental Contact" are not catch-all excuses.
> Here's how it works - corner workers report all contact between
> cars, no matter how slight, that they see. Drivers report incidents
> that the workers do not see. Included in the worker report is a
> place for their opinionas to whether the contact was avoidable
> or not.
>
> When the drivers come off course, they are interviewed separately.
> If the workers reported unavoidable (within reason, of course, in
> the grand scheme, it's *all* avoidable) contact and the drivers
> both agree that it was "just racing" and neither one is upset by it,
> then we'll usually let it go.
>
> HOWEVER! This pretty much applies to one report of one contact
> between these two drivers. It does *not* apply to two drivers
> consistently
> trading paint or one driver having "racing contact" with 4 or 5 drivers
> throughout the weekend. Or once per weekend every weekend. That
> kind of behavior gets nipped off quickly.
>
> If either driver feels it was not "just racing" contact, then it usually
> goes
> to the Stewards of the Meet. We stewards see the same people every
> race weekend of every year. We know who our bad boys (and girls)
> are.
>
> But the policy in Oregon Region is that body contact is *NOT* part of
> our race program. I also race a stock car over at the Portland Speedway,
> where trading paint is a way of life. I love it - in my Camaro and at
> that
> venue. I'll get *Really* upset if someone decides to rub my nice little
> bugeye!
>
> We value clean racing, and I agree with the writer below in that
> I think of my Vintage grid and my bugeye as a place to have fun
> driving my favorite car. It's about 2/3 exhibition and 1/3 competition
> for me. Most of that competition is with myself, too, to try to drive
> better, learn from the more experienced and talented drivers around
> me, and just enjoy myself.
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Susan and John Roper [SMTP:vscjohn@iamerica.net]
> >Sent: Sunday, November 01, 1998 3:59 PM
> >To: PaceCars@aol.com
> >Cc: CLCSF@aol.com; owner-vintage-race@autox.team.net; MRogers726@aol.com;
> >emanteno@ibm.net; vintage-race@autox.team.net
> >Subject: Re: The Rules
> >
> >Harold, I respect your position, but have to offer different thoughts. When
> >I
> >started in SCCA decades ago we took pride in having enough talent to race w/o
> >the
> >need for banging on people. Granted, SCCA no longer cares whether
> >metal-to-metal
> >occurs. they excuse it as "racing incidents". In my experience it is all to
> >often lack of skill or "I don't give a damn" attitude, neither of which are
> >to my
> >liking. Those of who have raced a good bit learned long ago that you better
> >know
> >who is around you and how they behave. Vintage drivers have, in my humble
> >opinion, even more obligation to know what they are doing and to avoid the
> >dumb
> >moves that can cause incidents. If you are at speed in a race car, there are
> >many cituations where you are committed and cannot take major evasive action
> >to
> >avoid some mindless off line move immediately in front. In other words, you
> >don't need to go fast but you do need to respect and be aware of those who
> >do.
> >John
> >
> >
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