travelling distance to races

[clutch]

I also think that Daytona should not be on the Mid Atlantic nor should Barber.  Roebling perhaps, its not too too bad.  Daytona should be kept as the final Race of Champions.  There is a great way to add a track for the Mid Atlantic that is fairly close.  Beaver Run.  And I dont want to hear that stuff about the DB limit.  I have been racing there since 2004 and I think did track day in 2003 there.  Much louder cars drive there and the vintage noise makers race there and there has never been a DB issue.  Adding 2 rounds  a season at the beaver would be great.  Its a fun track, easy to get to with lodging very close by.  It is approximately 290 miles from my house.  I added it up and I am skipping daytona for the first event.  I just cant justify dropping $1300 + for the first event.  I'll just have to try and make up the difference at other tracks.  I think Mid Atlantic should be limited to Kershaw, but absolutley no further than Roebling which is 660 miles away.  I hope the jersey motorsports park happens.  Thats only a short 70 miles from the house. 

[BlueRidgePerformance]

10K blah. When I ran cars we raced everywhere from Laguna to Sear Pt (infineon now) to Riverside (home track), Firebird, Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, Daytona, Mid-O, Long Beach and Road America.

Thank God, I don't have to do that. Mine is a 03 E350, that I bought in September of 2003. Just turned 120K

[ahastings]

Thank God, I don't have to do that. Mine is a 03 E350, that I bought in September of 2003. Just turned 120K

But you run a National series, not a so-called regional.

[JBraun]

How big should a region be? Most of us have full time jobs, but if you want to chase a regional championship and hit all rounds requires an excessive amount of travelling at least in the Mid-Atlantic region. 

I would argue that ALL of us have full time jobs. Except the youngsters, but they rely on their parents for cash and transport, and they surely have jobs.

If you want to win a championship, you need to do what other champions do. Which means a lot of travel and debt. Making the series easier would devalue the championship. I used to cry about the commitment too, this year I'm going for it. I'll know in september how it worked out.

I travel 1400 miles round trip to HPT, 1200 to Mid America, and 1000 to Gateway. Some have it worse, Ben Thompson is from Alaska! (although he seems to be funded well)

Dave is right, most AMA racers work real jobs too. The question is how bad do you want it? (pretty bad considering you have a #3 plate already )

[clutch]

The difference is the AMA is a national level, which means you will have rounds all over the country.  The ASRA and WERA National are National levels, therefor you travel more and go around the country a bit more.  Contingency payout is higher in Nationals, guess there is some reason for that.  Regionals are just that, REGIONAL and are supposed to be broken down into regions.  Barber and Daytona are not Mid Atlantic, not even close.  And to get the top 10 plates you dont have to drive all over hells half acre either.   

[phillip]

I think that this is one of the reasons most of us new experts quit racing as much. Don't drop Daytona just don't make it a double points mid-atlantic race, keep it SE and FL. Also 12 races in one regional championship is too much! Ten races is more manageable and just might draw more of us to try and attend all of the regionals.

[ahastings]

I would argue that ALL of us have full time jobs. Except the youngsters, but they rely on their parents for cash and transport, and they surely have jobs.

If you want to win a championship, you need to do what other champions do. Which means a lot of travel and debt. Making the series easier would devalue the championship. I used to cry about the commitment too, this year I'm going for it. I'll know in september how it worked out.

I travel 1400 miles round trip to HPT, 1200 to Mid America, and 1000 to Gateway. Some have it worse, Ben Thompson is from Alaska! (although he seems to be funded well)

Dave is right, most AMA racers work real jobs too. The question is how bad do you want it? (pretty bad considering you have a #3 plate already )

I got the #3 plate just running 2 tracks Summit and VIR. It would have cost twice as much to try and do any better. It's not about how bad do I want it, I am already broke doing as much as I can.

[clutch]

And you got # 3 by being consistent and being 1-2 or 3 each race

[BlueRidgePerformance]

But you run a National series, not a so-called regional.

I know, I used to run the NC Regionals. Had the same issues as you're talking about.

[NightHeat]

  I too wish that Daytona was not on the Mid-Atlantic schedule.  If CCS must have an multiple region race why does it have to be at the most southern corner of the U.S.  Why race at Daytona where the costs to race there towers over any of the other tracks let alone the travel expense.  Why race at Daytona at all.  Why not move it to RA or Barber or even V.I.R.  The two largest problems everyone has with Racing Daytona is Track/Race Fees and travel.  Would CCS not make more $$$ by removing Daytona completely and setting up the season opener at a more cost effective track which would be more benefical to everyone?  As in any case if the cost comes down the demand goes up.

Dont get me wrong, I love  racing in CCS and I think the officials do a great job at tackling all the tasks required to run a smooth weekend.  Much more smoothness then what the AMA seen in 2006.  All and all the Daytona gig is really about my only gripe with CCS.  The complaints others have on other CCS issues, I can better see CCS's reasoning.  But going to Daytona for a Mid-Atlantic race is a real 

[Z-man]

I'm not complaining at all, it is what it is.  I did the full MA series last year and managed to make it to all the races and traveled a good 15,000 miles to do it.  I racked up a lot of debt in the process, time off work, racing expenses, travel, fuel, etc took it's toll.  This year I'm not in financial shape to do the same thing again.  I'm just going to do a handful of races.

Now with that said, if lets say CCS changed the race schedule to only be at Summit, VIR and say CMP, the true Mid Atlantic races (CMP is borderline).  And there were 8-10 races in the series, I would probably have a whole new perspective on what I can budget.  I went to CMP, Roebling and Summit Shendandoah.  The turn out was low to say the least. If some of the far races were dropped and the number of races was more race budget reasonable, I bet you would get a whole lot more racers going for the full series.  If I can't make the four out of mid atlantic races, why run the full series.  However, if the series was more managable, I would work really hard to make all the races. 

Again, I'm not complaining just a different perspective.  I think CCS is missing out on a lot of money by keeping some of the dates.  I'd have to imagine they barely clear the track fees and by having some of those races they are discouraging many racers from busting their ass to come to every race.  I know I would come to every race if there was a point and it was more affordable (aka less races).  Shenendoah would be a good place to start, I've raced there all four times CCS has been there.  There aren't any great passing zones there which causes more aggressive passing.  The walls are too close, I know I've hit one before and I got lucky.  I refuse to ever race there again, I don't feel it is a safe track.

Z

[clutch]

That was a good response Z.  I definately agree about the Shanendoah as well.  But, with all the controversy, CCS is still going there 2 x in 2007.