2006 Great Plains Region??

[Jack_Brock]

So what will GP be for 2006?  I hope it will not be status quo.  Heartland Park is spending millions, but we still need a real Great Plains region to make it all successful.

So what do I propose?
  A schedule with a majority of the events held in the Great Plains area(Mid America, Heartland, and Hallett).  For those that don't know about Hallett, it is west of Tulsa about 30 minutes.  It is a great track that is fun, technical and safe.  Their website is http://www.hallettracing.net/
Scott Stephens(co-owner) runs their track days which are very successful, and he mentioned he would like to add more races to his schedule, so I know it is an option.

Every racer I have talked to would support this, so I hope CCS will look into it(Scott's number is 918-583-1134).  I think it would be a huge region given a chance.

[Super Dave]

Schedules are hard.

One can want dates, but the dates have to fall in with a whole season program.  

CMRA has the upper hand at Hallett.  SCCA runs events there along with other programs for testing, track days (cars too).  Everyone wants a weekend too.

When I won a few championships at Topeka, the other track I was racing at was Talladega Grand Prix Course for the region.

[Thingy]

Hallett is a blast!!!!! and can be run in both directions.  ( I prefer counter-clockwise.)  I plan to head down to one of the CMRA races there and do the endurance race if CCS does not go there next year.

Man, I love that place...

[extrakt0r]

Living in Kansas City, my average communte to the races are 10 Hours, ONE WAY...

I would love to see Gingerman and Autobahn go Bye Bye...

Barber and Road America must stay becuase those tracks are just so awesome..

With the re-pave of Heartland Park, it will be nice to ride it again...

But, by getting rid of Gingerman and Autobahn, that will free up 3 weekends, so add another round at BHF, MAM and HPT and I think that would be nice...

Heck the Midwest goes to BHF like 5 times, so why can't we, it is still pretty far, but is a really nice track...

I personally have no desire to ride at Gateway w/ walls 10 feet away from me


 :-X

[Rich]

Living in Kansas City, my average communte to the races are 10 Hours, ONE WAY...

 :-X

Amen brotha.

I say:

Hallett both ways

HPT

MAM

Autobahn or BHF

Gateway - sure its dangerous but its SO much fun!

And this place if it ever gets built  http://www.middlecreekmotorsports.com/index.html

[R1abuser]

Heck yeah...

I wont chase a championship again next year with the schedule the way it is... WAY to much travel.

Must be DAYM nice to live in Chicago !!!

Rant Over !!!  LOL !!!

[Super Dave]

Looks like another Alan Wilson track.

Working on possibly doing some consulting for an engineering company that might be the builder of a race track for a client.  More on that as it becomes available.

[tstruyk]

to be honest and at the risk of being the odd man out... I found the schedule to be pretty darn good!  Of course geographic location was helpfull...

RA = 8 hours
BFR = 6 hours
HPT = 6 hours
MAM = 6 hours
G-man = 9ish (didnt go)
Barber = 9
AB = 5

nothing is close... yet nothing is too far!  GW would be fun... danger smanger its just walls!   ;D   And its 30 mins from the house!  I prefer walls in slow corners to catching air at 130  :o (pre repave hpt) and to be fair to gateway its really not that bad!  You get a little clausterphobic (sp?)  being in an oval infield but other than that... I just dont feel its that bad.  T-1 is down right frightening and 7 spits you out NEAR a wall but even a tucked front over the BumP will low side you into haybails.  Air fence and more bails protect you from the chicane exit so where's the problem?  Its no different than BFR or HPT in my opinion.

What I would NOT want to do is go to the same friggin track over and over and over again!  If we are gonna do a repeat track... hit barber in april or RA again in august!!  THAT would be great!, But BFR 5 times.... thpbpbpbpbp  and to be honest other than proximity and the fact that alot of people do alot of laps at that track... whats the attraction?  I dont get it.

Now mike... of COURSE you would want another round each at MAM and HPT... they are in your back yard!  ::)  but lets face it!  The big support for the GP region is from the chi/wisc area, you add HPT again (not exactly a money maker) and MAM (does well with FUSA... not sure without it)  that puts a dent in the pocket book of ccs.  

No schedule will ever make the entire region happy, my .02 is to keep it as diverse as possible!  Which I think happened this year!  Even a repeat of the same schedule is fine with me!  If I wanted to run the same 3 tracks all season I would race MW... I like GP for the diversity!  Keeps the points hunt real as noone has a distinct advantage at their "home" track!

[LMsports]

I'll just chime in to say that I also think that we need a real Great Plains region. It would be nice to see it centered around either Topeka or MAM as the home track for the region, and spread out from there. Gingerman is fine for a Midwest track but certainly not Great Plains. Barber is a great track and we'll be happy to go there for the experience, but I don't think it fits as a Great Plains track either. Lets get back to the region and build some numbers.

[Super Dave]

What I would NOT want to do is go to the same friggin track over and over and over again!  If we are gonna do a repeat track... hit barber in april or RA again in august!!  THAT would be great!, But BFR 5 times.... thpbpbpbpbp  and to be honest other than proximity and the fact that alot of people do alot of laps at that track... whats the attraction?  I dont get it.

Good question.

Each area needs kind of a hub.  Blackhawk is that.  It's reasonable to rent, close to the Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Rockford metro areas...millions of people.  Very large racing hub.  With tracks like Blackhawk, an organization can afford loosing money at other tracks.

I'd love to see someplace like HPT become a hub.  When I was living in Omaha, HPT was becoming that.  We had five races scheduled there in 1993, I believe.  But road racing just didn't catch on as well as it could have in the KC, Topeka, Omaha areas.  

Road America is ridiculous to rent.  I think in 1996 or 1997, we were going there two to three times a year.  Management changed there and they bumped there pricing up.

[tstruyk]

soooo proximity to a larger number of racers, makes sense!

and to reply to Rob...Or we change the name of the region!  I agree rob, its really not a "great plains" region, but its a better option overall (imo) than that MW schedule!

bringing back GW, Putnam and hallett I could definately deal with... I just want to run different tracks all year, even if it means a bit more travel

but in reality with all the stuff coming up in my life... closer is better to keep the wife happy!  And if I am not chasing points, track diversity is number one!

My Ideal season would include (in no particular order of preference) RA x2, Barber x2, GW, Putnam, ACC, MAM, HPT, (if the repave is as good as I hope it is)  throw hallett in there (repaved as well) to replace GW or Putnam if nothing can be worked out with those tracks.  I could give a hoot if we go to g-man and BFR.  This schedule would cooerse me to attend more races for sure... yeah yeah I know, I'm dreaming, but HEY it is my ideal season!  Should I throw in a sponsor to cover all expenses and a new bike!  Heck why not throw in a new trailer and RV too!   ;D

Cant believe my season is over already!  Cant wait til next year regardless of where we end up!

tim

[extrakt0r]

Now mike... of COURSE you would want another round each at MAM and HPT... they are in your back yard!  ::)  but lets face it!  The big support for the GP region is from the chi/wisc area, you add HPT again (not exactly a money maker) and MAM (does well with FUSA... not sure without it)  that puts a dent in the pocket book of ccs.  

I agree, but it would be nice...

I don't have any issues driving 8 hours, that is not that bad, but 14 Hours to Gingerman, just plain blows...

Midwest goes to BHF like 4-5 Times, let the GP go there one or two more times and get rid of Gingerman for the GP Region, or at least 1 less trip...

It's not like RA or Baber, a track worth the 14 Hour drive...

Sure HPT would be nice as it is like 1 hour away, but even MAM is 2.5 Hours away....

I think Hallett is probably to far South to attract alot of the Chicago area riders, if they wont make HPT they wont make Hallett, which is 4 hours more south...

I just think they could have done better with the Schedule even with the days they already had....

What would be nice is to have access to the demographics of CCS Racers....Every Registration form has a slot for your home town, so if they are smart they are tracking that stuff....


 :-/