dg50@daimlerchrysler.com wrote:
>
> I don't agree that having a Hotshoe kill at Nationals is a bad thing. In fact,
> quite the opposite. This is, for the most part, a "run whacha brung" class.
>The
> expectation is that those who bring more to the party will do better - that's
> the way drag racing works, after all. The important distinction between this
>and
> the existing Modified classes is _that there's an obvious upgrade path to get
> there_.
I think a concern could also be the ego of the target audience. They'll
go out there full well believing themselves to be the hottest around.
And get their door blown off by a bone stock Neon. How humiliating,
"I'll go back to the drag races where I can kick some.". Ok, so not
everyone is going to be that way. However, the big thing I think is
going to be the fact that these folks have, for the most part, come
from a venue that his little if any actual rules structure pertaining to
car preparation. Anything they encountered in the SCCA short of an E-Mod
kindof environment is going to chafe badly.
Who's going to run SST? A few radical enthusiasts, and a whole lot of
folks who have cars that are somewhere between ST/CSP and SST. Too blown
somewhere to qualify for the ST/SP class, and way too underblown for
the limits of SST.
I dunno, it'd be a fun exhibition class. maybe it'll be successful, but
I have a fear that'll is go by the way of F-Prepared. And for the
record, I personally feel F-Prepared was a great class. And what
percentage of AP last year was comprised of formerly FP cars? Not a
small number is it? But that's another rant for another thread...
> Consider Joe Riceboy in his Fiero (ok, I know, it's a 2 seater mid-engine car
>-
> bear with me) He slaps a turbo on the car, and winds up in EMod, running next
>to
> that National Championship winning "Fiero" What's his upgrade path? "First,
> throw out your car. Second, buy a Sports 2000 chassis. Third, have a
>custom-made
> Fiero body made to fit over this chassis...."
>
> There's no way to get there from here, whereas Joe Riceboy (now a Honda Civic
> owner) when presented with the Tripp Tatum turbocharged SST Civic (and a
>similar
> margin of victory, assuming Tripp keeps out of the cones :) can come over,
>look
> at the car, and map out whatever series of steps he needs to get there. It may
> take him 5 years and all his lunch money, but it CAN be done, and it can be
>done
> (for the most part) piecemeal.
They both have the map to follow. One just requires more exotic body
work to accomplish. Probably no more expensive however.
> What's more, I think a National caliber hotshoe or two should be _encouraged_
>to
> play - because the sport needs heroes. This is the demographic that will put
> 60,000 people in the stands to watch people like Viet Lam, Vinny Ten, and
> (blatent sponsor plug) David Buschur come race - and then they go out and
> emulate these guys. Hell, David will sell you everything you need to make a 9
> second Talon, if you want. And sell he does.
>
> Will the National level get expensive? Damn straight it will. It should - this
> is Nationals, after all. (Or ProSolo) They're _supposed_ to be the best.
>They're
> _supposed_ to be the role models.
But this is -amateur- sports. Not Pro. Prosolo and Nationals are two
different things.
> Lemme put it this way - do you think any drag
> racer seriously expects to be immediately competitive with the likes of John
> Force? The trick is that there has to be a path for them to follow, and the
> current "get thee to EMod" structure doesn't work, because there's no way a
> production-based car will ever be able to compete with "real" modified cars -
>so
> why bother?
And what production based car is gonna compete with a wild creation
such as the kind Force drives? None.
Funny car? Top fuel? Nitro? They're light years beyond anything a
production based car is capable of. Effectively the E-Mod of the drag
racing arena.
> 5) "If you build it, they will come - not!" I sorta agree. For this to work
>the
> way I envision, you need two things. 1) The class 2) Effective promotion. #1
>is
> our job, #2 is in the hands of both us and Denver.
>
> If you build it - and you flog it a little in Super Street, Turbo, and Sport
> Compact Car - they will come.
That would be key.
> 6) Minimum weights:
>
> Here's what I'm thinking is workable, all weights with driver:
>
> Non-turbo 4 cyls: 2300lbs
> Turbo 4s / NT 6s: 2600lbs
> Turbo 6 cyls : 3000lbs
No 8's? What about a supercharged SHO? :-)
> I'm concerned that there may be eligible non-turbo 4 and 6 cars that are
> underweight stock - can anybody with better access to stats than I
>confirm/deny
> this?
Yeah, early Hondas, easy.
-Josh2
--
Joshua Hadler '74 914 2.0 CSP/Bi - Hooligan Racing #29 - CONIVOR
'87 Quantum Syncro - aka stealth quattro
jhadler@rmi.net
http://rainbow.rmi.net/~jhadler/
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