Bumps

[Peanut]

Should I consider you a peer because I was finishing with you? In a sense I see where you're coming from- Seriously... I'm going round and round myself. But I don't think "you guys" would be "leaving me behind", really. I would see ya in 05, right?  :) 04 as an AM would give the opportunity to race against those with those "peers" with about the same experience as me.  You can't disagree that I have a lot to learn, despite some decent finishes.  We all know the military isn't the best paying career in the world, and it's not why I joined. However, I am thankful of the fact that the military has given me the opportunity to pursue racing.  
But as of now (LOL) they aren't paying my tire/entry fees, so I'll admit, yes, contingency will (hopefully) aid in some of my racing costs... But that's what it's there for - to help racers out.
I'm not saying I'm the only one in this position, but with 3 race weekends, and 7 trackdays, I can't just compare myself to you, Dafan, Hector, Donny, etc etc etc, (in most cases you guys have 5x or more the track time than I do) but bumping up I have to compare myself to guys like Trey, Tomer, etc etc etc.. as well.  Do I expect to beat those guys in my first year? Hell No.  But to say I will be competitive is a stretch to say the least.  :-/

Well, Tiff, I don't know what else to say. I've basically given any arguement I could in my petition, so if, by this, you think I should not be an AM, so be it. I'll look forward to my @$$ kickin next year.

i really wasn't singling you out greg, the conversation just got started that way.  

i think you'll do great either way because your a good rider, but only you know what's the right thing to do.  as i said i didn't question the guys higher up than me who stayed last year, or went to wera.. ;)) i only concerned myself with trying to be a factor with whoever was there.  didn't always happen, but that was the central focus.

from what i saw, you had 2 outstanding weekends and 1 bad one.  like i've said to you before, my decision was much easier, i wasn't as fast out of the box as you are, but did more weekends.  guys like you have a tougher dilemma.

and as you know opinions are like a**holes, everyone's got 'em but only your gets the job done.  lol..

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

I for one am happy I made this list...

But I already have my letter written...

1. To slow
2. See #1
3. Can't afford a cooler for my beer, how do you expect me to pay for White paint?

this letter will be given with a small amount of unmarked Quarters (can't afford paint, how can I give dollars away? ;D )

:D :D :D :D :D

[speedy619]

Hello and let me annouce that this is my very first reply on this board!  So, let the comments fly.  Tiff, I support your power to accept or not accept these petitions.  I for one look forward to racing as an expert.  I know I will have to pick up the pace to chase Brian Long out here on the West coast, but I know I can improve and spend tons of money that I don't have on my bike.
   I want to offer a viewpoint that others may not appreciate.  I think there are way too many AMs running in CCS.  I think it is great to have an arena for newbies to get their feet wet and go racing, but it seems to be almost a hiding place from the fearsome experts.  What bugs me the most is that the field for the experts are more often than not smaller than the amateurs.  I don't want to race with 2 other guys; I want to race a real field of 10-15 guys.  If we threw all these AMs and EXs we would have ourselves a real race.  Heck, half the time there are not enough racers to get contingency and this would solve that problem.  
   I really like the policy of 500 points and you are an expert.  If all of us were experts, then there is nothing to fuss about.  Can't we get these guys to figure out how to race and join the series.  I hate to go to another series just so I can actually race with more than 2 guys because everybody including my 2 best racing buddies are staying in the AMs ranks.
   Tiff, kick all up I say.  They will complain until they start having fun, but you got to kick them all up!

  Best,
Mike

[GregR6]

hmm... look at the Ex grids in the MA region.. nuff said. ::)

it's not a question of enough riders... :-X

[speedy619]

actually, I just did and I stand behind my observations.  There are consistently more AMs in any race and between 8-15 guys in expert for the last event for the MA region.  You guys have more particpants, but it is still on the light side especially when compared to the AMs.  Maybe we should get rid of the expert classification and make everybody AMs ;)

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

     Being an Expert is more about knowing what to do on the track, not just how fast you are. Take a look at my performance factor for this year and some might wonder how I even have an expert license. The fact that I ran in the back this entire season is not at all reflective of my ability, but more representative of my situation this last season (questionable income situation at the time). I was generally running about 10% to 15% off the pace of the Expert leaders this season, but I never crashed once (even though I had Dunlop D207's on my bike from 1999 which at the end of this season had 2 FULL seasons of use on them - apx 110 individual races on those tires!).

     My personal expert status in my opinion is about knowing how to get around the track safely. Someone who takes 30 races to get 500 points may not be all that fast, but they most likely understand by that point what to do and what not to do. At the other extreme is the new racer that averages 5th place in 5 classes times 2 events and has 500 points. That person apparently knows enough to finish that high in the results, which would be good grounds for them to advance also. Amateur ranks is a place to learn the basics and then move on, it's not a destination but instead a spring board to the expert ranks.

[GregR6]

actually, I just did and I stand behind my observations.  There are consistently more AMs in any race and between 8-15 guys in expert for the last event for the MA region.  You guys have more particpants, but it is still on the light side especially when compared to the AMs.  Maybe we should get rid of the expert classification and make everybody AMs ;)

This isn't even my point... but ok. Look at the last Summit (that was 1 of my 3 races)
MWSB: 36 AM, 26 EX
MWGP: 17 AM, 12 EX
GTU: 33 AM, 34 EX
SPTBK: 25 AM, 10 EX (didn't do this 1)
MWSS: 33 AM, 37 EX

If you have issues with 2-3 bike grids, get a 600 or move east.  ;D

As a past diver, I like the spring board analogy. But my pool has about 2 ft of water in it...   :P
As Peanut was eluding to, everyone's situation is different, and the only the individual knows whether or not they should go up.

[r6_philly]

greg, last summit is a FUSA round. Last VIR was a combined double points round. You have to look at summit and VIR races that aren't double points, arent FUSA, and toward teh mid of the season. I have seem the EX sportbike race (Which pays purse to 10th place) have less than 10 guys in it MOST of the time.

I personally don't want to do all that many CCS races because there is not going to be that many people to run with. The fast guys walk away, the slow guys get left behind, so I am aiming to run mid-pack with peanut and 2 other guys? not fun.

Donnie and me were up there in points last year. He had 1500 or something, and I had 1400. the best finish for me last year was a 6th in the rain. I did not get wood once. I averaged around 10th.

And even then, I think I should have moved up. All the bad reasons aside, I feel that I did not learn as much, and improve as much as I could by running AM. Not to knock on anyone, running behind Hector did not teach me anything but to be more aggressive. And if I get left a bit on the start, I ran slower with the slower guys. I feel I would have learned and improved more if I had raced against BETTER and faster guys. But no point in looking back, I am looking forward to my next season. Making expert is a BIG achievement, I just wish I had embraced it last year.

You will make your best decision, and then CCS will make its. Then we will all shut up and go race and have fun! The system allow you a chance to ask to stay AM, then do it if you feel thats best for you. No wrong in doing that.

There were, are, and will be guys who did way better than you that wants to stay down as a AM. Its up to the org. to supervise that. Even if you stay down, you will see others who will have better days, and finish in front of you next year.

All I can say is, realistically look at your plans and aspirations. Who do you want to be on the same level with, and who can you learn what you need to learn from. If you want to be the best AM rider in CCS, then you must stay AM. If you want to be competitive with the top FUSA guys day in and day out, then you must get there and race and learn from then. Extra year as a AM is only a waste of time (sorry). I wasted mine, and I know I am getting old...

[r6_philly]

For example, if you're riding and finishing up there with Dafan or Peanut, you must be doing pretty well.

Peanut said it right. It is such an accomplishment to be the benchmark for AM's :) Tiff you just made my year! To be in the same comparison as a national champ no less  :P

Hey peanut we need to put on a better show next year! us 2 fighting for the box would be sweet indeed. I diced most with you this season. Hector was a step behind and eveyone else wasn't much of a problem. You I had great moments with. We need to keep that up

[MELK-MAN]

 What bugs me the most is that the field for the experts are more often than not smaller than the amateurs.  I don't want to race with 2 other guys; I want to race a real field of 10-15 guys.  If we threw all these AMs and EXs we would have ourselves a real race.  Heck, half the time there are not enough racers to get contingency and this would solve that problem.  
   I really like the policy of 500 points and you are an expert.  If all of us were experts, then there is nothing to fuss about.  Can't we get these guys to figure out how to race and join the series.  I hate to go to another series just so I can actually race with more than 2 guys because everybody including my 2 best racing buddies are staying in the AMs ranks.
   Tiff, kick all up I say.  They will complain until they start having fun, but you got to kick them all up!

  Best,
Mike

you need to move out here to FL.. BIG grids.. im not fast, just being out front of the "mid weight marauders" seemed a pretty good place to be ;D

[speedy619]

I ready to move if someone has a job for me back East or in Florida.  If not i guess I will have to visit you guys.  In any case though, I would just like to see the grids combined or larger grids in the expert ranks.  If there are smaller grids there it indicates to me that there is a lack of retention of CCS racers or guys are not moving up.  
   I do really like VIR, I bet I could do well there.  HHHmmmmm.

[Peanut]

The fast guys walk away, the slow guys get left behind, so I am aiming to run mid-pack with peanut and 2 other guys? not fun.  

hey!  all that humble crap aside i plan to be running up front next year!  if someone else can do it, why not me?  i didn't have this arm surgery for nothing!  ;)lol.. realistic? well see. all i do know is i don't dream about running mid pack!  :o

Extra year as a AM is only a waste of time (sorry). I wasted mine, and I know I am getting old...

sometimes i wonder if taking the challange would have made me a better rider. hopefully it wasn't a waste of time as you say, hell i'm alot older than you guys!   >:(  

Hey peanut we need to put on a better show next year! us 2 fighting for the box would be sweet indeed. I diced most with you this season. We need to keep that up

i'm sure we'll have fun together on track as always. it'll be interesting when we'll get to ride with all the new superfast guys, hec, donny, myers, benji and the superfast guys already up there like trey, acree etc..  it should be fun and a eye openning experience to say the least. :o  (yes i said acree and trey in the same sentence, i think trey could have a breakout year).