Now that Chuck Stephen Jr. is busy with a house payment, how much for his national number?
After all........He bought it! :-X
Chuck doesn't have a national #6, he has a regional #6.
It's not very difficult to get a top 10 regional number, it's just a matter of consistency. The whole trick to it is to ALWAYS show up to every event in your region and always complete at least 1 lap in each class you enter so you get at least last place points in each race you enter.
Individual class championships are the same situation, except for the fact that you just can't enter extra classes to increase your points. In this case you pick what classes you are going to race and you follow those for the entire season.
All I have done so far this year is follow the same 4 classes all season, and even though I have been finishing in the back I am leading or in the top 5 of the individual class points in 12 classes across 3 regions. With only 4 classes being run this season per event I am still in the top 10 overall points in 2 regions (lost the other region due to a non racing injury forcing me to miss an event in that region).
As for how much for #6? Consistency, Chuck always showed up for every event.
QuoteNow that Chuck Stephen Jr. is busy with a house payment, how much for his national number?
After all........He bought it! :-X
Are you suggesting that a regional championship can be "won"? No, it's a contest of who can afford the most races and will show up at *every* event.
However, I will say, it's not as easy as it sounds. It means racing when you don't have a bike, racing when you are sick, racing when there are white-caps on the surface (at Road America), racing at tracks you don't like, racing at every single event consistently.
I did this last year only for 3 classes and ended up with 7 regional 2nd places, 1 4th and 1 5th. In the end, it was good experience, but it seemed too much like work.
This year, I started out with the same intentions, but all that changed when I blew up the F4 after selling 2 spare motors, and then getting the new RR. It's nice and relaxing to race when I WANT to, at venues I WANT to.
I don't think its that easy...while a Top 10 plate by is not directly related to actual skill...it does take a dedication and commitment to earn that plate. Racing when you are sick. Scrapping your bike together to make that next race. Not crashing yourself out of a weekend. Keeping the bike maintained. Etc...etc...
I used to think it was pretty easy to get a Top 10 plate and class championships...maybe it is skill wise...but the commitment required is more of a physical, emotional, and mental drain. So, yes, I for one am suggesting class championships and top plates are won...just in a different manner than winning a race.
I think you said this yourself, Jeff, when you emphasized how relaxing not chasing points is in comparison.
So, how much for #6? My guesstimate for this season would be $15-$20K (taking into account prize money and end of season equipment value)
It cost me a girlfriend of 2 years. :-/
QuoteIt cost me a girlfriend of 2 years. :-/
Don't tell me you and Sue broke up. :'(
Dawn
QuoteDon't tell me you and Sue broke up. :'(
Dawn
Nope, the one before Sue.
QuoteNope, the one before Sue.
Whew! Thank goodness! ;D
Dawn ;)
QuoteAre you suggesting that a regional championship can be "won"? No, it's a contest of who can afford the most races and will show up at *every* event.
However, I will say, it's not as easy as it sounds. It means racing when you don't have a bike, racing when you are sick, racing when there are white-caps on the surface (at Road America), racing at tracks you don't like, racing at every single event consistently.
I did this last year only for 3 classes and ended up with 7 regional 2nd places, 1 4th and 1 5th. In the end, it was good experience, but it seemed too much like work.
This year, I started out with the same intentions, but all that changed when I blew up the F4 after selling 2 spare motors, and then getting the new RR. It's nice and relaxing to race when I WANT to, at venues I WANT to.
I race about four to five events a weekend, and I usually end up with a plate. It does come down to consistency. The expert middleweights are traditionally hard, along with any money paying class. In those classes, there are the fast guys that are there to get the money week in and week out. So, just finishing ok won't be enough, you've got to be toward the top to get the championship.
And if you can go faster, you can get more points for less money because of fewer class entry fees.
But, the overall championship is kind of bought. If you can afford twelve classes, you can race them and score points. Should be only a certain number of finishes that apply to the championship so that more riders would be in the fray rather than only the select few with a deeper pocket book.
As for relaxation...oh yeah, it's easy to show up and just play. Try to play, chase people for a championship, sell stuff, and help other people. LOL! I'll show you hard.
;D
To answer this question I asked him. My understanding is that his last full season cost him a porshe 944 and in the end (@ Datona) another broken sholder and bike.
3 YEARS LATER, :wtf: ?
Chuck crashed at Daytona in '98 thinking he was going to be able to get past me coming out of the International Horseshoe, WRONG!!!! He high-sided his ass into the infield care center with a broken wrist! Chuck should have some memories about that one LOL (tell him Mike Williams says HI - previous Expert plate #214, now #58).
nope, it was in 2000.
I was there too, and it was his sholder (turn one) I think...
I think it was the start of the race or he was just getting on the track for pratice. :wah:
Either way, his un-used pit garage would have been useful for something other then storage that weekend. :jerkoff:
Space was so limited, he would have got his rent money back easy! So, " :wtf: " to that!
and why is this of any relevence today?
Man, don't get me started....
Quote from: K3 Chris Onwiler on June 08, 2006, 10:45:12 PM
Man, don't get me started....
I'm sure we can find this discussion every year. All you need to do is a search in the system.
BTW, the new search feature rocks in comparison to the old one. :thumb:
8)
Its not......
But I wanted to put a close to this blog before deleating it.
but now your here.
This all started with the simple fact that Chuck ran a points game on everyone when he was at the track, by running one or two laps in a bunch of stuff, He was only compedent in formula 40. and when he could'nt carry points from other stuff over towards that to further cheat, he stopped racing. and this was a big reason why people can get ahead in a season now.
:blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah: :blahblah:
Cheating? It's all there in the rulebook. Want a championship? Grab your sack, work 20 hours a day, go three, four days a week without sleep, buy low to repair and sell high, stop eating, drive all over the country on Red Bull and Hydroxycut, race when you're injured, ill, too broke to get home, or so sleep deprived that your skin feels like it has bugs crawling on it. Beg borrow or steal whatever you can't afford to buy. Count points like they're gold, always knowing that one crash or irreprable mechanical problem could make all the time, money and hard work have been for nothing. Do all this better than the four or five other guys on the same mission, then go to the banquet, collect your championships, and laugh in the faces of all the whiny little Nancies who want to call it cheating!
Lemme give you some phone numbers of all the other guys who sing this song. You can all go form a whine tasting club. :wtf: :whine:
Quote from: unforgivenracing on June 08, 2006, 09:54:19 PM
nope, it was in 2000.
I was there too, and it was his sholder (turn one) I think...
I think it was the start of the race or he was just getting on the track for pratice. :wah:
Either way, his un-used pit garage would have been useful for something other then storage that weekend. :jerkoff:
Space was so limited, he would have got his rent money back easy! So, " :wtf: " to that!
The incident I told you about is accurate, Chuck was on his Honda (I think it was a 900RR?) at that time, not his GSXR. I know it was '98 because in '99 I had a bike problem immediately at the start of the event, and I didn't return to another ROC until '03. :thumb:
Quote from: EX#996 on June 08, 2006, 10:48:15 PM
BTW, the new search feature rocks in comparison to the old one. :thumb:
Why thank you! Yes, I REALLY like it as it's concise and FAST.
Am I the only one who read the new points arrangement and rules which would basically PROHIBIT what this thread was based upon?
You want a championship in 2006, you'd better work your ass off for it because that's the only way you're gonna get it.
Can you still "buy" a championship? Well, if you have enough money to quit work and practice constantly to improve your times, and then have a couple of bikes to ensure that no crash keeps you from competing. Then, yes.
Other than that, you'd better bring your "A" game to every grid...
It took long enough for someone to "get it"!
I think they pretty much missed the hole point of where I was getting at.
#1) Did it ever accure to you to think that he falls of his bike alot!
#2) That you where not there in 2000.
#3) That you have no real idea what point I was tring to get accross.
Three years ago.....
A guy with time to waist and the money to burn, could run a Points game. And apply them to his overall standing in Formula 40, and some other races. Why else would he ALWAYS run ONLY one or two laps in so many different races.
The rule that allowed this pratice changed. No more back door, no more Mr.C
It was a good move on the part of CCS.
Too bad it took so long to see it.
Quote from: unforgivenracing on June 10, 2006, 09:21:05 PM
#1) Did it ever accure to you to think that he falls of his bike alot!
#2) That you where not there in 2000.
#3) That you have no real idea what point I was tring to get accross.
I wasn't trying to argue with you, I was simply stating a fact that Chuck had crashed and broken himself trying to pass me at Daytona as well, a couple years before he stopped following the series (Chuck has raced since he 'retired' though). I didn't see anywhere in this thread where you mentioned anything about 2000, did I miss that somewhere? I understand what you were trying to get across in this thread, but I also agree (like K3) that Chuck was following the rules as stated in the CCS rulebook, because CCS allowed the situation of being able to buy championships, it certainly wasn't Chucks fault. There were lots of discussions in the past how CCS was the ones who left it the way it was because it encouraged more people to try for regional number plates (which means CCS making more $$$$ by having more classes entered by more people), those that benefited by that previous points system will have absolutely no chance with the new system.
But don't think that the new system is perfect either, because it has serious issues as well. I argued my point to Kevin Elliot in an E-mail when I read the proposal for the change before the 2006 season started, but never posted it here, I will give some of the flaws I pointed out (and yes, I did suggest a different better system at the same time). Class size is a HUGE factor in regional championships now, the bigger the classes you run in, the worse you can do and come out still looking good - even when finishing poorly. Anyone running in smaller classes or the Unlimited classes gets screwed by the new system in the event they don't win, as was the case with Ed Key at Road America when he was beat in Lightweight Supersport by a national rider not involved in the MW regional points championship. That 2nd place cost Ed by only giving him a .857 Performance Index for that class due to only 7 people being in it, (that PI gets averaged in to his other finishes and drags down his overall PI). Ironically at that same event in the Middleweight version of that race there were 36 competitors, the 1st 16 finishing positions were all MW and GP racers potentially going for those regional championships, and the 2nd place finisher got a .972 PI. Multiplying the PI and points together the MWSS 2nd place finisher got apx 35 points, but Ed got 30.85 for his 2nd place finish in his race. This is just 1 class at 1 race, taking this into account over the season shows how it's effects compound rapidly, Ed has the highest PI of the Top 10 racers in the MW region, yet he is in 4th place.
I pointed out before the season started that the majority of the Top 10 points earners would end up being racers in the Middleweight classes (with Heavyweight riders following them and Ed Key somewhere in there as well) due to flaws in the new system. As of today Middleweight racers have positions 1,2,3,5,6,7, Ed Key (Lightweight dominator) has 4th, and 8,9, & 10th position are Heavyweight racers. I'm an extremely analytical person, to me all of this immediately seemed overly obvious that it would happen. It was easy to see that there wouldn't be any Unlimited or Lightweight riders able to earn a Top 10 plate (unless they won almost every race they entered - like Ed), it's almost impossible to achieve with this new system.