It seems to me that many organizations get a bug up their ass to fix
problems that either don't exist, or affect very small numbers... and ignore
issues of far greater importance.
I would think that either at tech, or at the race director's discretion, a
car not prepared to proper period specs can be bumped a class, or moved to
an X class within the same group. Perhaps a 3 race grace period for flagrant
"outside of the spirit" modifications... but never should there be a
confrontation of rules selectively applied at the track. Nothing chaps my
ass more than selective interpretation of the rules. A letter can be sent to
the racer with clear explanation of needed changes, and/ or an explanation
of policy that caused him/her to be re-classified.
Far greater issues include unsafe driving, or unsafe cars. Both of these
issues need to be dealt with aggressively, and in swift fashion. I've seen
some pretty serious shunts the last few years caused by overdriving...
usually folks that can afford cars faster than their talent is ever going to
catch up to. Its a case simply of poor decision making... whether it be some
dentist drivin' a Can Am car that killed a number of pros back in the day it
was originally raced (please, all you dentists ought there... don't take
that personally) or, decisions taken in the blink of an eye... such as a
decision to make a pass at an inopportune time, when a far safer opportunity
exists moments later.
The other thing many organizations need to become is more "customer
friendly". It's an expensive sport.. the application of cubic dollars.
Today's economic conditions have strained the wallets of all but the trust
fund lucky sperm club members in our ranks. I'm curious to see what
attendance is overall this year. Art Eastman alluded to this in the last
issue of Vintage Motorsport. It's arrogant to think that any organization
can continue to expect climbing attendance while treating its paying
customers like the great unwashed.
I suppose its not at all different than BS Levy's described in his Last Open
Road series... self important types that feel that rules don't apply to them
or their inner circle.
WST
Team Thicko
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-vintage-race@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-vintage-race@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of John A. Rollins
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 5:21 AM
To: Hugh Barber; vintage-race@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Question about HSR
This is disturbing news because it is not isolated to just this one
occurance. Another friend who races a 240Z with the local SCCA Vintage
program was recently turned away from an HSR event for not having the
"correct" tires... This is guy is one of the nicest people you would ever
meet and usually runs in the upper "half" of the field but is very stock
when it comes to vehicle preparation. Like Hugh's father, he voted with his
wallet, packed up the car and left the event.
These are examples of what is wrong with some people/organizations. I was
one of the early supporters of HSR, running its events from the beginning up
through the Daytona event in 1997. By that time, the allowable years and
preparation levels were well beyond anything remotely "Vintage" and
distancing "Historic" quickly. Further, the competitive "spirit" was way
higher than the Vintage spirit so I chose to eliminate future HSR events
from my schedule. It strikes me as odd now that the same organization that
freely accepts current race cars and Spitfires with 6-speed transmissions
would refuse to let cars compete because of their tires... This sounds more
like an individual problem than an event organizer problem. Even in our
Florida Region SCCA Vintage Program we have guidelines for cars that show up
and maybe aren't quite within our strict preparation rules. Rather than
"send them packing" after they have taken the trouble and time to tow to the
event and all, we normally allow them to participate with the understanding
that the items not meeting our requirements must be fixed prior to the car
being entered in another of our Vintage events. This seems to be the most
equitable for all parties.
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience at a Vintage event in my home state;
it reflects poorly on the entire sport. Hopefully, you'll find a group that
is more welcoming. (Perhaps your father should contact me if he is based in
Florida as we hold about 8 - 10 Vintage events a year within the state with
SCCA, in a far more "relaxed" environment.)
*8o)
John A. Rollins, Vintage Race Coordinator
Florida Region, SCCA
(561) 748-6512
website: http://www.netcom.com./~nobozos/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hugh Barber" <tr6nut@sbcglobal.net>
To: <vintage-race@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 10:18 PM
Subject: Question about HSR
> I recently had an "experience" with HSR and I was wondering if this type
of
> experience has always been a part of HSR or is it indicative of new
> leadership at HSR. I flew out to FL from CA to crew for my Dad at Sebring.
> He is racing a 1964 Jaguar XKE with a Chevy 327. It is the actual car/same
> configuration that he raced in SCCA (A Sports Racing) during the late
> 60's-early 70's and he has documentation to prove it. He has raced in HSR
> for the past three years with no complaints or problems. Anyway, at the
end
> of the Thursday test day, this guy shows up at our paddock area, says he
is
> the "new" competition director, and says that "we" are putting him in a
> tough spot with the car. He was then quite insulting (ran a safety check
on
> the car - even though it had already passed tech) and claimed that HSR has
> no place for "mongrel cars". My father pointed out that this is an actual
> vintage race car (not a new build),that he asked for and received approval
> to run from Joe Pendergast (previous Comp Dir), that he had run this car
for
> the past three years in HSR, and that he is more than willing to run for
no
> points, since he just races for the fun of it. All of this fell on deaf
> ears. The new Comp Director's decision was that if we wanted to run that
> weekend, (1) we would have to get bias-ply tires (even though tires in
class
> 3A- Sports Racers from 1967-1974 are "free") ,(2) if we had any problems
"of
> any kind" (his actual words) in practice, he would not let us run the race
> (nice how he invented a rule "just for us") and that (most important of
all)
> (3) we would not be allowed to run any other HSR events this year.
Needless
> to say, we don't run where we're not wanted, so we packed up and went
home.
> I find it very interesting that this same weekend had a Panoz LMP entered
> (since when is a current ALMS car "historic"?) and a Ginetta with a SB
Ford
> (but hey HSR doesn't allow mongrels and kit cars, right?). By walking
> through the Sebring paddock, it appeared that HSR caters primarily to the
> very wealthy or folks with Porsches and does not want folks who just are
> racing for the joy of it.
>
> Hugh Barber
> Hollister, CA
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