2009 Schedule

[Burt Munro]

And for the record, as Vas pointed out, Road America the 1st weekend in May could be a bit of an adventure. 

I didn't think they started taking down snow fence in Wisconsin until June.

[Scotty Ryan]

Not sure if it was 05' or 06' But I remember trying to wrap myself around my rear tire warmer so that I could try to heat myself up before I went out for ASRA qualifying - Got out onto the track and it was snowing - Not alot - But it was snowing..... The Billy Mitchel bridge was TONS of fun....

[SnacktimeKC]

Not sure if it was 05' or 06' But I remember trying to wrap myself around my rear tire warmer so that I could try to heat myself up before I went out for ASRA qualifying - Got out onto the track and it was snowing - Not alot - But it was snowing..... The Billy Mitchel bridge was TONS of fun....

It was '05, my fist race weekend. I put my gloves on my warmers and stayed in the car with the heat full blast. -Snack

[Super Dave]

It was '05, my fist race weekend. I put my gloves on my warmers and stayed in the car with the heat full blast. -Snack

The FIST.

[kl3640]

Truly not trying to stir the pot here...BUT

show me any region that doesn't have the possibility of weather that can thoroughly screw up a race weekend at some point in the season.

You said it...we all know that weather forecasting is far, far from accurate, but trends for different times of the year are generally pretty good.  Sure, there were times in the NE when we've had a week of 60F days in Feb, and other times in South FL where the nights have been in the 40's for several days...but generally speaking, you can predict about what will happen during a certain time of year.  We race through hurricane season here in FL and in fact, one weekend this past August at Homestead, we raced through Hurricane Gustav.

Again, I'm not from Wisconsin, and I've been camping there all of once and racing there all of once, but judging by the feeling of the nights and mornings there in early July, I would think that a full 8 weeks earlier would be a bit riskier than any other normal race weekend.  Also, someone else mentioned turnout at Topeka.  Turnout at Topeka this year during the Spring ASRA weekend was pretty dismal (in fact, I recall there being a thread about it here).  I'm not sure if it was the miserable weather that weekend, competing events, a tight schedule, or what, but as someone else pointed out a few posts back, if that weekend and RA are now back-to-back, that might affect turnout even more, especially if the weather isn't looking good for one of the weekends.

BTW, on a completely separate note, since there seem to be a lot of mid-Westerners here on this thread, let me once again say how great you all were this season.  I did 3 or 4 events in the MW this year as part of ASRA TC, and you guys really made us out-of-towners feel right at home.  I never had any trouble finding someone who was willing help out with the pit crew, provide advice, offer help, etc.  That includes at Topeka when my bike wouldn't start at 3rd call due to a drained battery and a couple of guys helped push start me so that I barely made the 5 min board!

[Super Dave]

All the actual numbers for Topeka were that it was up in CCS/ASRA classes vs 2007.  I had some inside info on that.  I think it was 800+ entries?  Maybe some more?  But with everyone hiding inside garages, it never looked full. 

With it being 2F this AM here, 90 miles from Road America, it's cold.  Being from the plains of Nebraska, they don't get much more snow here in Wisconsin, it doesn't really get colder, but this is what I have seen from my years of being here.  It doesn't get as hot or as humid as Nebraska does, and there is no Spring.  It's late-winter through May if not sometimes June.  I understand that CCS got the short end of the stick with scheduling, but April and May here are not my favorites for trying to decide if I'm gonna have to blow money running rain tires in the dry.

I'm going to try and remain optimistic about it until we get closer though. 


Oh, and it was nice meeting you!   

[SV88]

I'd be leaning to Topeka if I wasn't planning to put the house up for sale @ the beg. of May because it's a better track for the UL, LW and MW that I'll be running compared to RA.  RA is closer and will have a TC so I'll probably pop up there for a day. 
Like Mark said - why complain/worry about things we cannot control.  The back to back weekends of RA & Topeka are tough.  I would suggest that CCS go away from the twin sprints @ RA.  It's relatively close to the Cheeseheads and FIBs (& even the stray Canuck) so attendance should not be a problem.
Topeka had miserable weather last year but a bunch of us got together, rented a garage, ran a TC and made the best of it - it was good fun!!

[El Guapo]

Road America has the SCCA Runoffs this year, so we lost our July date. (They wanted us to run Mothers Day, but after the losses at BHF on that date, i respectfully declined. They then offered the date we got for 2009 only, at least that is what Gail told me.)

Both Road America and SCCA 2009 schedules show June Sprints at RA June 18-21 and National Run-offs September 24-27.  RA's 2009 schedule appears open for three weekends between June 21 and July 16, so why on earth can't CCS fit into the usual July 3-5 weekend right in the middle?  Please tell me we didn't actually get punted to early May because of some Skip Barber school or Chicago Ferrari dealership event!  Is there money involved?

[Scotty Ryan]

Road America has the SCCA Runoffs this year, so we lost our July date. (They wanted us to run Mothers Day, but after the losses at BHF on that date, i respectfully declined. They then offered the date we got for 2009 only, at least that is what Gail told me.)


Both Road America and SCCA 2009 schedules show June Sprints at RA June 18-21 and National Run-offs September 24-27.  RA's 2009 schedule appears open for three weekends between June 21 and July 16, so why on earth can't CCS fit into the usual July 3-5 weekend right in the middle?  Please tell me we didn't actually get punted to early May because of some Skip Barber school or Chicago Ferrari dealership event!  Is there money involved?

I am assuming that there are many things involved - Usually racing comes down to politics

Please don't misconstrue this - As I can't speak for CCS or Kevin Elliot - Just my observation over my time racing.

[SV88]

We can complain about the CCS MW schedule but at least we are not in the GP region...

Ran the new R6 @ Oak Hill yesterday (1.8 miles, very tech. track) - had the whole track to ourselves - the guy I drove up with.  Amazing - that factory motor pulls from 6K to red line - nothing like the stock 04 I had.  Now I've got to learn to ride the beast and get into much better shape!!

[123user]

Except for going to Gateway, I think the new schedule is great!  Especially for people that don't live in the greater Chicago region.  Mid-Ohio will be on my calender for sure.  Running RA in April is OK too.  If its snowing, raining, or perfectly dry and warm... its still racing!  The only people I feel bad for in bad weather are the corner workers.

The only real weather related complaint should be directed at the decision to return to GIR.  Warm or cold... Gateway is a bowl that fills up with water and takes 3 days to drain.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Temperatures for Road America:

May 1 - Avg. temp's --> 61°F / 40°F           Record temp's --> 88°F (1952) / 23°F (1978)
May 2 - Avg. temp's --> 61°F / 40°F           Record temp's --> 90°F (1959) / 22°F (1966)
May 3 - Avg. temp's --> 62°F / 41°F           Record temp's --> 89°F (1959) / 26°F (2004)