Proposed Amendment to the Downgrade Rule

[squirrel22]

I can appreciate that some guys earn a bunch of points, but still aren't ready to go expert.  However, I think that some people have taken advantage of the rule and go on to win 30 races in a row.  For this circumstance, I propose the following amendment:

Riders who have downgraded back to amateur are allowed to stay amateur until they win their 400th point.  They will be bumped to expert status the event immediately following the weekend they win their 400th point. 

Example:
Rider X earns 430 points in 2010 and gets bumped to expert for 2011, but feels he isn't ready to go expert.  He downgrades back to amateur for the 2011 season.  After 3 race weekends of entering into and winning 4 races each weekend, he has amassed 420 points.  His 4th race weekend of the year will then be as an expert.  He has clearly shown that he is no longer a deserving amateur.

[roadracer162]

That makes sense. I always thought the goal was to become expert and the amateur class was the place to get my feet wet.

I believe that the contingencies and cash payouts should reflect that and does to some degree. I can only speculate that the benefits of staying amateur can be quite good for many.

[twilkinson3]

One counterpoint - given grid sizes this last year (at least in the MW) if you ran most of the season in say LW (GP, SBK, SS) for instance it would be nearly impossible to NOT go over 400 points, not exactly what the rule was put in place to do originally I think but a recent issue with the grid sizes shrinking

[squirrel22]

One counterpoint - given grid sizes this last year (at least in the MW) if you ran most of the season in say LW (GP, SBK, SS) for instance it would be nearly impossible to NOT go over 400 points, not exactly what the rule was put in place to do originally I think but a recent issue with the grid sizes shrinking

Is your example using someone who had earned 400+ the previous season as well? 

[Team Spalding]

What squirrel has proposed is a great idea.

[Super Dave]

The two tier system isn't working.  I'm sure someone will pull up my three tier system again from several years ago sometime here in the next few months.

[apriliaman]

How about this rule?
Back when it was  CCS-FUSA a few years ago to be able to race at the race of champions you must race in at least 5 races in a class to be able to race in that race in the event.
Now you can race in a class that you never raced the whole year.
Someone can just borrow a bike and win that race and they are the national champ and didnt even do a regular race in the season.
And it happened this year!!

[scubabill]

I believe that the contingencies and cash payouts should reflect that and does to some degree. I can only speculate that the benefits of staying amateur can be quite good for many.

It might...lol

[roadracer162]

Dave- The three tier does have merit and to some degree we do have that with ASRA being the top of that tier. The ASRA group certainly becomes more of the elite racers where they are some of the fastest racers in the group of CCS racers. it seems though that there are often larger Amateur groups compared to the Expert counterpart for that class.

Mark- The only problem  is that the current participation for the past few ROC events have been steadily declining. This year we had a lot of what you said with many racers never turning a wheel in the respective classes doing the ROC and even winning. It is what it is though.

Bill-You must move to Expert and I am sure you will do well.

[Noidly1]

I like squirrel's idea, however...

Some of the things I don't like about the 400 pt. rule is that someone can enter a crap load of races, ending in the rear, and accumulate the necessary pts. and get bumped.

Another is if someone races a class with a few riders, have a high performance index and/or maybe win a class championship and get bumped.

I believe the performance index would be a more representative indicator of ones eligibility of bumping, but not if there are only a few that enter that class.

I think that a more realistic approach would be to determine one's eligibility would be by their overall finish with the experts in each class or by their lap times for that class.

Just my .02 cents...

As for the 3 tier system; I am not familuar with it unless you are talking about something like what WERA has.

[roadracer162]

Noid- I guess it really depends on what "one" considers an expert. Is an expert someone that wins races consistently or is it a rider that is smooth, consistent, predictable or has a good track record as far as crashes?

I believe the "Expert" should possess the ability to make the right decisions at the right time as far as passing in particular. Being the fastest isn't a must to move to "Expert". I would also venture to say that the racer that participates in a large number of races have gained a considerable amount of riding experience that contributes to an Expert status(at least in my mind). Certainly the amateur that is running with the experts should be bumped to that expert field.

[squirrel22]

I appreciate the discussion guys, I really do, but some of you are really starting to cloud the water.

This amendment is for people who have ALREADY DOWNGRADED BACK TO AMATEUR.