F-USA question

[CorvetteChris]

Maybe a stupid question, but...

I raced CCS this year and really don't know anything about Formula Usa.  At Daytona this weekend it looked like all the FUSA racers are experts.

Can someone please explain F-USA to me?  Trying to decide if I am going to race CCS, WERA, FUSA next year.

Thanks

[tstruyk]

FUSA is a step up from WERA and CCS in competition... it involves a more rigorous travel schedule and likewise competition.

you need to carry an expert liscense to run in every class except thunderbike and the Team Challenge!

[Super Dave]

Clear Channel Entainment(CCE) purchased SFX Motorsports in 2000 after it, SFX, purchased CCS.  FUSA was a program that started at Willow Springs in the mid 80's and was bought by someone to take nationally.  FUSA was ran at WERA events, then it was ran alone.  In 2000, it was purchased and put under the whole CCS, CCE, SFX program.

There have been amateur FUSA programs.  

Currently, FUSA is like the national pro series for CCS.  It's an add on to a CCS expert license.  FUSA is only a national points series.  

That help?

[Jeff]

One could look at it as an amateur AMA series.  

You're running tracks all over the country.  Don't run the same track twice (with the exception of Daytona for start & finish weekends).  The level of competition is a definite step up from CCS, but it doesn't have the factory guys that AMA does.

Consistent CCS Expert front runners can do well in FUSA (Ortega, Purk, Fuersthaler, Janisch, etc).  If you're a mid-pack CCS guy, you're gonna be eaten for lunch.

Most people run CCS because it's a regional thing.  Travel costs are reduced and vacation days needed are reduced as well.  Plus, to run competitively in FUSA, you could simply slide the decimal point one place to the right on your current CCS budget...

[MELK-MAN]

.. need to be in pretty good shape to. None of this 6 lap sprint stuff. 15-18 laps usually. Grid by qualifying times to so as mentioned above, more $$.

[OmniGLH]

Upside is that you get to feel like you're part of a bigger show.  It's kinda neat to walk through the pits and pass a semi truck or two and know that you're a part of that.  

It's more impressive for family/friends that come along to spectate.

Sometimes, there are actual spectators there... and it's kinda neat to go racing and know there are more than 1-2 people in the stands watching.

Travelling to different tracks can be fun (think, "On Any Sunday".)  Sure, it's exhausting... but sometimes driving all night to go race all weekend, just to drive all night again to get home has a little allure and sense of adventure.

You get to play on "bigger" tracks.

[Super Dave]

You get to play on "bigger" tracks.

LOL!  Like Summit?

[whitey_1964]

If FUSA is more like "the national pro series for CCS", and both the riders are on average more talented and the budgets are bigger, this begs the question why do they run combined CCS and FUSA races.....? Specifically for instance the Race Of Champions that just concluded in Daytona. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have say an AM class, and EX class, and a (I don't know) Expert-Expert class for the FUSA guys?  If not, wouldn't crowning both a CCS and FUSA champion for each class make more sense?

Seems to me like having the FUSA guys race against the majority of the CCS expert guys, is akin to having a CCS expert race against a CCS Amateur. Or perhaps a better, and reversed analogy would be having a FUSA rider race against some of the AMA professionals.

Granted there are a few, the likes of Ortega, Purk, Fuersthaler, Key, and Janisch (plus others I've missed) who stand a higher than average chance of doing well in these combined events, and who may in fact be ready to go to the next level, but to the majority of CCS racers is this a fair setup? Certainly there are FUSA riders too who could hang with some of the AMA racers, but I'm betting the disparity is on average just as great as it is between the majority of CCS and FUSA riders.

Thoughts?

[Super Dave]

Experts are experts.  

Seems like there might be a need for a "sportsman" category though.  Something in between noob and fast.

[CorvetteChris]

Experts are experts.  

Seems like there might be a need for a "sportsman" category though.  Something in between noob and fast.

 ;D  while we're at it, how about "noob plus"

[Jeff]

The weekends are combined to save money.

The races and series are totally separate.  CCS guys tend to enjoy the higher level of competition when FUSA comes to town, so some of them run the races.

I doubt that FUSA is large enough to survive completely on its own, so it rolls into the CCS races of whatever region they're in.

The class between NOOB & FAST is there already...

CCS Expert.

You could put a class between literally every series and ranking out there and there would still be disparities.  In the AM ranks, you find people who at BHF can run within 1-2 seconds of the winning experts running in the same class as people who run 1:30+ and get lapped 2x per 8 lap sprint.

AM
EX
FUSA
AMA

It seems pretty reasonable and clear to me...  

And fighting with the likes of Purk, Ortega, Fuersthaler, Rosno, etc continually causes/requires me to step up my game.  Personally, I'd rather fight for 5th in expert than easily win an AM class.

[DanO966]

Seems to me like having the FUSA guys race against the majority of the CCS expert guys, is akin to having a CCS expert race against a CCS Amateur. Or perhaps a better, and reversed analogy would be having a FUSA rider race against some of the AMA professionals.

well if you wanna go fast you gotta play with the big boys.  I have no problem racing the really fast guys like may, barnes, jensen....Tho it kinda sucks that they show up to the ROC for national championships but keep in mind, most the them have been racing for years.  The first ROC I did was in 2003 I finished like 20-25ish or so in most of my races.  Now I pulled a 4th and all top tens.  Purk and I led around all of the club guys this weekend.   I pulled low 1:47s at Daytona not too bad but it's also not too good.  May and company were doing mid 43s and 44s (on 600s)that's 3 to 4 seconds I have to make up...It sounds like a lot but it can be done!  More set up time and I can do it.  My bike kind of sucked this weekend and I know Purk was working on his bike all weekend.  It's all about the set up.
I just look at it like, if they can go that fast why can't I?


You're not going to get faster if you're not racing faster people.