LP track days come to Midwest on Saturdays!

[Super Dave]

Just look for a guy as sexy as you... 8)

The groups are well divided.  I don't think it will be too bad.  Will it attract more riders to race?  I cannot say one way or another.  Any extra paying pocket books are good for our racing community so long as our safety is not jeopardized.

I think the schedule is cramped...  That is my biggest concern.  

[SliderPhoto]

Chris, I think you're right on that CCS is looking for a way to sell time back to the racers. How successful are the sport rider days? Are people really going to bring their bike to a track, usually tracks are not located in your back yard, to ride for 1/2 a day or less? I doubt it.

What I think CCS is doing is this, say at Blackhawk you have 40 racers in a grid, but when we go to Gingerman the same race brings 20 racers. I think what they're doing is combining two races to get the same 40 racer grid. Now you can take the slot of the combined race and sell it to track day riders, or more likely, racers who want more practice. Sucks, but it's economics.

Like your apartment for example. Imagine you paid rent based upon how much you used your apartment. Say you only used it 20 days out of the month, so you pay for the 20 days. But the owner tells the landlord he needs to collect 30 days worth of rent out of your apartment, so the landlord sublets your apartment for the other 10 days. Well, you get the idea.

Since attendance is down at Gingerman, seems like this same solution that is being used in the other regions, which have attendance problems, is going to be used at Gingerman as well. I know how racers could combat this but don't we want the organization to succeed.

Eric said that your time on the track will be no different than it was before. Now you have the opportunity to practice more, something you've been asking for--of course it doesn't come free. ;D

Bigger grids I guess. I'm not saying this is the right thing to do, I'm not saying I agree with it. But I'm guessing this is the logic behind it.

[SliderPhoto]

You got to watch him Hitchthingy, he's a smooth talker!  ;D

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

I agree with K3.

PS - I don't think I ever met you last year Chris.  Looking forward to it this year.

I ride with the ChiTown Hustlers race team.  Big red trailer, black bikes.  My # is 333, now on the freshly painted, sacrificial virgin white plate...  See you at Blackhawk!
K3

[roadracer797]

Bill
Chris is a great guy and a lot of fun to be around but he does need a lot of help keeping his bike running and on the track, sorry Chris just joking around with you.
Craig

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

YOU try winning championships on a 12-year old Frankenbike with double it's original HP!!  Stuff breaks!  But that's why I always pitted by the Schock squad.  They don't know how to fix anything, (Honda riders, no practice) but they have lots of spare nuts and bolts in the trailer! ;D

[duc995@aol.com]

Chris K3...

Check out my thread on "SW/Pacific Schedule (again)" for my comments from this weekend at Streets of Willow.  I agree with you whole-heartedly...very scary and crowded...fortunately not many street squids showed up!

[chris_chops]

These LP trackdays are a joke and take away the cred of real racers looking for sponsors.  LP trackdays are a tool to make more money and complicate an already busy weekend, this much we know.  Here are six questions:
    How many minutes of practice did you guys get on average this year?  
Isn't practice what makes safe, experienced racers?  
Would the scca let me practice with their fastest ams in a mechanically sound 1989 Honda Prelude?  
Can those of you that know me assume the worst if I was allowed to do that?  
Should you think about what K3 is saying in his analysis and at least give it a thought?
Finally, if you aren't the least bit agitated by LPtrackdays on race sat., what the heck is wrong with you?  
 "We are a business trying to make money = we can screw you if it makes money", does not fly with me and it really pisses me off.

I feel sorry for you younger guys that will be racing long after I retire.  We have the money, racers!  We have the power!  Don't be afraid..........................

[Super Dave]

Yeah!  Great points!

I guess I've always looked at it this way...  If racers don't race...there would be no need for racing organizations.  We are the egg, not the chicken...  Without an organization, another one could be created or we just move to another one.  

But the sponsorship dollars...  that's good.  

As for the practice time...  seems like Bill has been streamlining our system soo much at some of the races in the Midwest that we are really getting screwed on time.  We used to have open practice on Saturday after the races when there was time left.  Now, we just whip through and we're done.  That's getting out money's worth...

[DRU2]

I agree with what Dave is saying about another series being created but wasnt that tryed befor with glrra?

[Super Dave]

Sure.  And there still is WERA, CRA, etc.  Racers race.  Without racers, there is no organization.  

How's that go...

First there was one car.  Then there was two.  And car racing was born.  

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Chris K3...

Check out my thread on "SW/Pacific Schedule (again)" for my comments from this weekend at Streets of Willow.  I agree with you whole-heartedly...very scary and crowded...fortunately not many street squids showed up!

I remember my first few practice sessions as a racer.  Every lightweight bike (60-70) that showed up that weekend in one Am/Ex all skate.  I'm doing 2:00 laps on a Comp K shod EX500 as Ed Key (multi time National Champ) and friends pass me on SVs at 1:20.  I almost quit on the spot.
Fast forward 3 years.  I'm rolling a wicked-fast FZR560 on fresh Pirelli slicks, 2 weekends away from a regional championship, with the #2 points man up my @$$.  Last lap.  I get held up by a pair of riders fresh from school.  They decided to leave the shirts off, so there's no warning.  They're friends, playing pass-me pass-you, unaware that the devil and his brother are coming hard from behind.  The slow guys both go inside well before the corner.  No time to play.  I go outside, blaze past, crank the bike onto my knee, and roll it on.  Three turns later, the red flag comes out.
My competitor followed me around the slow guys.  There was room.  Even the corner workers said so.  The newbie freaked, never tried to brake or turn, and left a front tire rubber mark on the rear # plate of my competitor.  From there, he went head first into the wall.  Helicoptor.  Nice way to end his first race.
These guys were racers.  First day racers, but still racers.  They forgot everything they had been taught the day before in Rick Brewer's excellent Learning Curves school.  How much less training have track day people had?
I was a danger to the fast guys when I started.  CMRA has a squid class for beginners.  Until they demonstrate that they have a clue, that's where they race.  CCS expects us to practice with first-timers and track day people.  Dangerous for us, dangerous for them.  I wish I lived in CMRA country.