----- Original Message -----
From: Roger Johnson <rjohnson@friendlynet.com>
To: A-Team.Net (Group) <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 10:58 AM
Subject: STS Tire Rules
> If you believe that the "success" of STS is due to the
> incredible foresight of SCCA to tap into this burgeoning
> market of car enthusiasts who happen to drive the
> cars we have classed, you might as well stop reading now.
>
> If you believe that this "success" is primarily a result of
> the restrictive tire rules imposed, then we might agree.
> The proof is exceedingly clear: If we hit the market,
> then STR would be far more popular than it has been.
>
> IMO, there has been for some time a latent desire for
> a class/classes that use real street tires. STS meets this
> need far better than any other perceived benefit of the class.
I think ST satisfies several desires. The original member proposal wasn't
concerned with street tires vs. race tires. It was a response to the
growing difficulty of finding a place for a modern, mildly-prepared, street
legal car to compete -- something we didn't believe the SP category
delivered any longer. In fact, it started as some suggested modifications
to the SP rules, until SP folks in the disucssion weighed in heavily against
tinkering with their ruleset. So the proposal group literally created an
entirely new preparation category -- the National Staff and the SEB boiled
that down to a single class with a restricted list of elibigible cars
afterwards.
Yes, a large part of the justification was to bring in additional folks at
the regional level who were not served by the existing SP rules -- but it
was also to meet the needs of *existing competitors* who were not willing to
compromise the streetability of their cars to the degree a successful SP car
seemed to require. Pat Kelly's comment illustrates some success:
"One thing I've noticed is that a lot of our regular CSP, DSP, and even ESP
drivers,
who have not prepared the cars "all the way" for "SP" classes, have
switched over to
the "S" classes."
The proposal of ST as a regional-only class was grounded in two things --
first, a means of mitigating the vocal opposition to additional classes, and
second, a real desire to "walk before running." While the National Staff
and the SEB accelerated things a bit, I believe we all hoped ST would prove
popular enough to eventually be accepted at the National level. In this
sport, that really is a measure of legitimacy. Pat hit it again:
"It wasn't until STS was included in the Pro events that our drivers
started to show
interest...."
Not a surprise, really. Few regions are large enough to support more than
one regional-only class of this type, and SFR already had a really
successful OSP class going for the local gearheads.
> However, the long-time hue & cry to do away with "R"
> type tires (seen annually here on the net for the last 5-6
> years) has always been answered with reference to the
> impossibility of policing such things as treadwear.
> IOW, if a manufacturer wants a National win badly enough,
> they will build tires to get it. With the necessary treadwear
> label of 140.
Interesting, though, that the topic keeps coming up -- few people really
like changing tires, but no one's willing to give up the advantage....
Someone save us from ourselves! :)
> For years, this has been the stated reason for keeping "R"
> tires, and suggesting 'street' tire classes at the regional level.
> Has this reasoning disappeared with the inception of STS?
>
> Hence, I feel that there can be no possible place at a National
> event for street-tire classes.
> Or else all Stock classes should have street-tire rules.
>
> Take your pick - can't have it both ways!
As long as STS stays a single-class category, you probably can. Even if the
group attending Nationals doubles in size, it's still a small community, and
relatively self-policing. If and when the concept grows to more classes,
that becomes more difficult, and the tire rule will either follow the path
of the now dormant (but still on the books) Stock tire exclusion list, or
migrate to a spec tire (which wasn't a bad suggestion). For now, though,
it's working -- let it run and concentrate on stabilizing the ruleset.
Jamie
'92 Prelude Si (accumulating parts for an ST car eventually)
Speed Demon Racing
http://www.mindspring.com/~jsculerati/sdr
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