From Cycle News...

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Maybe the next shoe to drop is WERA gets Road America and CCS gets Putnam...since WERA may have worn their welcome out there.  Or, maybe CRA would like a Road America event.

H3ll I hear CCS wore out its welcome at Putman 2-3 yrs ago.  :-/

This IS getting f*ing rediculous. Imagine how many CCS racers who didnt make Gingerman and dont read the board here, are going to be sitting outside RA's gate wondering WTF on Friday, Sat and Sunday.


ANyone got a YSR50, TTR125, CR80, or the like. You can road race them at Sugar River Raceway.

[Nate R]

Easy, Jennifer. CCS as a whole doesn't suck, I think. There are some serious issues that people have, mostly with $$$. I think the MW, GP, and GL got messed up this year because of CCS running a ton of events. It made sense for them to. With things getting bigger, good turnout at most races, why not add more?

I bet RA did raise the $$$, and/or CCS is afraid of a poor turnout meaning the financial statment for that weekend would have a lot of parentheses. (sp)

Either way, I was looking forward to maybe doing a TC at RA, but I guess not. I'm not gonna be goin to Kansas, either. Hopefully CCS will learn from the experiences this year IF turnout stays meager for events.

WERA or CRA at RA sounds like a GREAT idea if CCS can't swing it. We'll see.

[Pierre - Team PMR]

I'm new to CCS & racing as of this year, but am starting to have serious doubts about this organization.  My questions is...Is the grass really greener with a different organization?  If I change over to WERA or something like that, will I be seeing the same stuff we are seeing with CCS???

One way or another, I will not be driving all the way to Topeka...Its just too far.  I'm really disapointed about not going to RA.

[sdiver68]

I'm new to CCS & racing as of this year, but am starting to have serious doubts about this organization.  My questions is...Is the grass really greener with a different organization?  If I change over to WERA or something like that, will I be seeing the same stuff we are seeing with CCS???

One way or another, I will not be driving all the way to Topeka...Its just too far.  I'm really disapointed about not going to RA.

Go over to the WERA board and you'll find more bitching than here, generally.  Recent examples are pulling an entire region, cancelling an event 1 week before, the track at Nashville, etc...

How is CRA I wonder?  WSMC seems to have their act together as far as communication goes...but I noticed their summer grids aren't so big.

[StumpysWife]

I guess our main concern as first year participants is that we are making a significant investment to participate.  Some items in our budget must remain fluid (covering costs of repairs, etc.).  Some items should be relatively easy to determine (travel costs) according to the schedule.  

I just find it horribly unprofessional to release a schedule and then change a major date on it without a reason or warning and without formal notice to participants directly.  I realize it is 2+ months away, but we figured out what we could do in February for cripes sake.    

At least 20 people from our home town were planning to travel 4 hours to RA to spectate.  Do the gate fee math there. They aren't going to Topeka.  

After talking it over with Stumpy last night we decided to wait and see, but, it is 900 miles away now.  Plus fees.  And it's not RA.  Eeeeesh.  I really wish we didn't have to make this decision.

Maybe we should all go into denial and show up to race at RA in August with the others who didn't get the message.  Fun times!!!!!

If the races weren't such a blast, this stuff would kill me.

 Happy Tuesday ;D

[Jeff]

How is CRA I wonder?  WSMC seems to have their act together as far as communication goes...but I noticed their summer grids aren't so big.

Both are very small, exclusive organizations...  I believe CRA only runs at 2 tracks, and that's up from just running at 1...  

So, we all complain about CCS, but at least we get to experience a few different tracks.

I'm sure somebody could come out with a BHF only race organization which would be reasonable and run like 4-6 events per year, but would we be satisfied with that???

Me, I like Road A, Gingerman and the occassional Gateway.  Mid America I could do without, but I'll still run it for variety...

Just checked the mileage for me...  652...  Exceeds my 500M threshold for "this sucks and is just too far".

If it came down to it, I'd rather run at ONE track than NO tracks, but there's a lot to be said about variety...  Just ask my wife  :o

[Pit_Girl]

my thoughts (and probably nate's) exactly.

 i guess they wont be getting my money.  i can just barely get the 'rents to agree to letting me take the car to RA and BHF, but i dont think i could swing F***ing Kansas!!! >:(
 i'm not even a racer and i see that CCS sux (sorry Tiff :-/)

-jennifer

<inner dialogue> must be tactful must be tactful must be tactful must be tactful must be tactful
 :-[
i guess that came out poorly, and i'm sorry.:-/   i understand that CCS has it's problems, seemingly more than anyother organization (which brings up the question of whether or not CCS is really as dysfunctional as racers say it is or the racers are just more vocal about the problems they have with CCS).  I know that problems that i and other people have with CCS are not Tiffany's or Kevin E.'s fault (or the race directors or the cornerworkers or anyone involed in CCS(except for those people who make the desicions like this one, obviously, and even then they are just doing their job)).  

i guess this is a good time to say "thanx" to everyone at CCS who works so hard to make the best of CCS and pulling everything together so that people can race.

i'm sorry this came across the way it did.  i didnt mean "sux" in the RAWR kind of way.  i meant it in the "man, that sux" said with a slight laugh kind of way.  i should have been more clear.  tact is not always my strong point.    

sorry all :-[ :-/
jennifer

[motomadness]

Anyone in the GL up for racing int he 8-hour WERA National Endurance Race at Grattan on July 19th.

[Super Dave]

Ok, first, the record setting entries were two years ago, 2001, at RA.

The management team changed a few years ago.  They like their own packaging so much that they increased the cost of the track.  You're gonna look at a daily price STARTING at $13k to $15k, add more for a spectator event like AMA or FUSA.  CCS race would be less.

For those of you not watching things in motorsports, CART and RA had a big problem.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Ray Irwin, the owner of Blackhawk Farms, did buy Heartland Park Topeka.  The layout is great, but it is different than other tracks, so some can have problems with the cracks and sealer.  I haven't had problems there myself in the fall down department, but I can understand problems faced by those that have no clue about suspension set up.

Putnam Park's problems with CCS go way back.  There were huge safety issues with the track.   A motorcycle racer died there.  It's a car track that is used for motorcycle racing.  The original owner had personal issues with then CCS owner Roger Edmunson.  The original owner had issues, in general, might I say.  He died recently, and his kids now own the track.  CCS did make an attempt to have some races there, but the kids are carrying the issues against CCS, even though Roger sold it to SFX, and SFX was bought by CCE.

As for the Jim Petak series, you need to start now if you even want to get a schedule.  And bring lots of money for insurance and track rental.

Road America is 90 minutes from my house.  Heartland Park Topeka is ten.  Don't care for RA, I like HPT.  Still blows, but that's the way it is.

I guess most of you are really pampered.  There was never the amount of local road races ever available for me when I was starting out.  The closest track to me was BFR in 1987, and it was 442 miles away.  It was just the way it was.  Unfortunately, racing is never inexpensive or easy.  

[tigerblade]

Even though the surface needs a lot of work, I'm glad to see Heartland Park added to the schedule.  It's the second-closest track (behind Gateway) to me.  

[motomadness]

I probably would go if it were part of the original schedule.  Afterall, I still plan on attending MAM in July  :P.  I was even going to make the trip to Barber in August, the week after the original RA date, just for the experience.  Now I think that the intended changes will definitely require me to change my plans, especially since I am chasing a championship, and not just going to track week after week because I want to get out of the house.

I think it's unreasonable for us to bend to CCS's will with at least getting a warning that something like this may happen.  Can anyone share the details of the location move?

Here's an idea:
- make it a truly multiregional event where anyone in the country can come out.
- each racer pre-selects which region they want their points applied towards.

This way CCS won't lose their shirts on the event and any racer that is interested in racing in Topeka can get some special dispensation for supporting THEIR organization.

CCS should really do something special for ANY CCS racer who decides to participate in this race:
- travel money bonus to the top 3 in all purse paying classes (CCS racers only)
- one free, non-purse-paying race entry if you pre-enter before July 1st (two free if you race more than 7 races)

[MightyDuc Racing]

<inner dialogue> must be tactful must be tactful must be tactful must be tactful must be tactful
 :-[
i guess that came out poorly, and i'm sorry.:-/   i understand that CCS has it's problems, seemingly more than anyother organization (which brings up the question of whether or not CCS is really as dysfunctional as racers say it is or the racers are just more vocal about the problems they have with CCS).  I know that problems that i and other people have with CCS are not Tiffany's or Kevin E.'s fault (or the race directors or the cornerworkers or anyone involed in CCS(except for those people who make the desicions like this one, obviously, and even then they are just doing their job)).  

i guess this is a good time to say "thanx" to everyone at CCS who works so hard to make the best of CCS and pulling everything together so that people can race.

i'm sorry this came across the way it did.  i didnt mean "sux" in the RAWR kind of way.  i meant it in the "man, that sux" said with a slight laugh kind of way.  i should have been more clear.  tact is not always my strong point.    

sorry all :-[ :-/jennifer

The other race org's have the same problems.  Look at the AMA right now trying to get the class situation worked out.  Nobody likes the stupid 330cc 2-stroke instead of 250GP idea, but they are still gonna do it.  WERA is a bit different, in that the guy that runs the thing (Mongo) is readily available to chat with and he also will make changes based on rider input, even from the BBS board.  They still have their problems, but the actual decision maker is easier to make contact with, that's all.  I love the fact that the CCS gives us the opportunity to race, and I realize that no org is perfect, I just wish they were a little more open to rider input.  Once again, that's why I like the Florida region...Henry is accessible and very open to suggestions, and he is basically the decision maker down here.  That's how we got our current format, from rider suggestions.  Just my .02.