UKRBMW Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So I'm in the process of trying to get my car ready for ST. Been looking over the latest participation and it's a bit discouraging. 3 total ST cars at season opener at CMP for SE. Have 3 total signed up for Road Atlanta so far and 3 at VIR with MA. Are folks rebuilding cars? Taking a break? Economy? Just curious. I'd hate to be out there turning DE laps, would like some folks to run with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So I'm in the process of trying to get my car ready for ST. Been looking over the latest participation and it's a bit discouraging. 3 total ST cars at season opener at CMP for SE. Have 3 total signed up for Road Atlanta so far and 3 at VIR with MA. Are folks rebuilding cars? Taking a break? Economy? Just curious. I'd hate to be out there turning DE laps, would like some folks to run with. Depending on PTA field you may get some bump ups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I didn't go to CMP for 2 reasons, but primarily it was for reason number 2. Glad I made the right decision. 1. I hate that place 2. There was no contingency announcement from Hoosier. I'm in for March PT/ST/STR or whatever. I just haven't registered yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PushinTheLimit Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 So I'm in the process of trying to get my car ready for ST. Been looking over the latest participation and it's a bit discouraging. 3 total ST cars at season opener at CMP for SE. Have 3 total signed up for Road Atlanta so far and 3 at VIR with MA. Are folks rebuilding cars? Taking a break? Economy? Just curious. I'd hate to be out there turning DE laps, would like some folks to run with. Just thinking back to last year's entries for ST2... Jody A. was running DE to test his rebuilt car. Kevin C. was signed up but something came up about his car. Tim was gone on work related business I believe. Not sure about Tony J.and Mac M. And I'm rebuilding mine back. Russ Dalba was only one of that group to run this year. I'm shooting for possibly having mine ready for the May CMP event or June Road Atlanta event. I won't have everything I wanted done to it by then... but I really want to make enough races to run nationals this year (in ST2 or STR2) since it might be going out west next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivinhardz06 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I hope to make nats, so with that as a "goal", you have to work everything backwards. How many events do you need, which ones are the closest/easiest, etc. At a bare min I hope to TT at nats, I guess i'll be dumb enough to race again in PTA if I have the $$. But right now $$ is tight with hopefully it flowing a bit more later in the summer/year. So TT events for me (since TT counts for racing but not vice versa). Once I'm qualified for TT for nats, hopefully I can find a few dollar bills to go race. Instruct/TT is a ton cheaper than racing. I'll jump in whatever class where there is a shot at tires (ST2, STR2, PTA, etc). Probably experiment with stuff in TTS but will reset the car for "A" trim for nats. I always think worst case, I have a race car sitting around, and RA 4 mins away, so I can always do 4 NASA weekneds at RA in a year. If that's all I get to do, that's 8 days instructing/helping folks and flogging a Z06 around Road Atlanta. There are worse things in life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninetyfourintegra Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Only 2 TT events count towards 5 race entry for racing at Nats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 But 2 races can't count towards any of the 5 TTs. Need a mix for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivinhardz06 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Only 2 TT events count towards 5 race entry for racing at Nats. correct, but 5 TT's puts me in the running for TT, and only extra 3 races needed to do both. as ken said 5 races means no TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKRBMW Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Wow, I never knew that actually. Hoping to have the car ready by April and attempt to do Roebling (or NARRA at RA). Between CMP, RA, and Charlotte should be able to get both. This year might be the one to finally try nationals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Tornado Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) Well that TT rule is BS but whatever Hoosier contigency is same as last year. It's not posted on website as I mentioned to them but same as before as already got tires. As for ST I think a few of us AIX cars will hop over if fields are big enough to win tires. RA in general is way low currently but expect next week it to bump big time. Edited February 18, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hoosier is same as last year. It's not posted ad I mentioned to them but same as before as already got tires. Huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 i was planning on jumping to ST2 for 2012, but that changed late. i want to compete for points for the first time. in NASA SE the American Iron group(including AIX and CMC) allows for dropping 5 races. ST group has zero drops. Because NASA SE has 10 events with 9 double race events and one double points race at a single points race finale, ST was just too expensive. It also set up a double edged sword of having to enter all 10 events in order to compete for the a points championship AND effectively winning that championship only because of the number of races entered. NASA SE right now has an unusually large AIX group as well, right now, which helps with contingencies. If I go to the nationals I would enter in ST2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 i was planning on jumping to ST2 for 2012, but that changed late. i want to compete for points for the first time. in NASA SE the American Iron group(including AIX and CMC) allows for dropping 5 races. ST group has zero drops. Because NASA SE has 10 events with 9 double race events and one double points race at a single points race finale, ST was just too expensive. It also set up a double edged sword of having to enter all 10 events in order to compete for the a points championship AND effectively winning that championship only because of the number of races entered. NASA SE right now has an unusually large AIX group as well, right now, which helps with contingencies. If I go to the nationals I would enter in ST2. The SE model pays dividends for those who work their asses off to make each event. I'm not sure I agree with it since I'm basically lazy, but for those who make winning the season championship a priority, it does exactly that. Should season championships be determined by perseverance, hard work, sacrifice and determination, or by picking and choosing selected events? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PushinTheLimit Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 How about the guys who just can't afford to race every event in NASA-SE There's just no way I could afford to run that many races each year. Plus, I like going out of region to run at VIR, M-O, and run with the Mid-South guys when I can. That's why I wanted to start a championship for ST2 to a few selected tracks and have lots of entries in the class. To me, that's more fun than winning the season championship which awards attendance more than winning as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Should season championships be determined by perseverance, hard work, sacrifice and determination, or by picking and choosing selected events? thats one way of looking at it. jody, its pretty simple for me. the super touring championship season is more expensive to run than the american iron championship season. two events/four races with my travel works out to around $5k. its just more affordable. maybe i am not determined enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falcon Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Oh, I'm with you, Rob & Michael, it's expensive, both in time and money. In 2007 I made every SE event, every MA event at VIR, a weekend at M-O in August, and the Nationals at M-O in Sept. That season even included scheduling a hernia operation while an engine was being replaced in the car during a 2 week lull in the season schedule. That was a real busy year, and the season championship came down to the very last race at Barber between Mike Powers and me. I was lucky enough to beat him by just a couple of points and that was after a full season of thousands of miles traveled, and thousands of dollars spent, and many hours working on the car; it was stressful. It seemed a shame both of us couldn't win since we'd both done everything we could. For a million reasons I'm not at all the events now (lack of desire/motivation is the biggest one), so I know I can't be in contention for the season championship, but for those guys who do make it, I'm all for them capturing the crown for their sheer endurance, and I'll congratulate them generously. As far as affordability, I once heard an official say, "We're not here to make this affordable, but to make it fair. There are many hobbies cheaper, maybe you should try one of those." As harsh as that sounds, he was right, racing is expensive, so we all have to make choices, and I can't blame you for running the AI series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 i have to admit, if $5 gasoline is on the horizon and that means $12 98octane and $5 diesel, i wont be able to afford a championship effort anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra4B Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I'll probably race ST2 at VIR in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 i have to admit, if $5 gasoline is on the horizon It is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PushinTheLimit Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I'm retuning my car back to 93 octane anyways, but race gas at that price is rediculous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 i will have to get a flashable computer from roush yates AND have it reflashed at rye in order to get my car on 93 octane. but i am certainly paying very close attention and have alternate plans. if the price of fuel explodes like they have been talking about, i may be forced into a VIR centric schedule. here's hoping its overblown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balroks Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Ditto, ignoring the immense travel budget it would take to do that championship, if the prices of tires and fuel keep exploding - just making local events is going to be a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Tornado Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Racing always costs...and sometimes more than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbodleimages Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 some of us just closer to the edge than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Simard Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Have 3 total signed up for Road Atlanta so far and 3 at VIR with MA. Count one more in. I'm about to configure my 928 for ST1 and run RA in March. I just always thought it was a 'Vette specific class but after bothering to read the rules this looks like the most awesome class ever! It also took a few years to sort out an electrical connection, you can't rush these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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