"mainstream" classes are the only ones good enough

[Papa_Thiam]

Kevin, I don't want to speak for others, but I don't think anybody implied that entry fees are the main cost in racing. But regardless of where the bulk of the cost comes from, to win those bogus consolidated championships, you need to win everything you enter, or just spend a ton of cash on entering (and I don't mean on entries themselves) lots of races every weekend.

As far as the national championship, if you too recognized the the real championship in your organization is the Formula USA series, why not make it clear by making Daytona just another race in the fall? Is it just about money?  It's fine, you can't say if it, i'm not being critical of CCS' motives, but just trying to understand the rationale for a one-event championship held at the same track every year, and a track that doesn't rewards riding ability. Why not just let CCS be what it does best, a series of regional championships? As you said, if someone wants to be a national champion, they'd have to do it the "real" way by running the national series. So is there anything other than $$ keeping CCS from making the fall event at Daytona exactly what the same event is in the spring: a multi-regional event?

By the way, it's great to now have a way to discuss issues with CCS other than by trying to corner officials at the track.  :)

[MudDawg]

All this talk of "best 5 classes" and who wins the most class championships is bull. It doesn't solve the underlying problem that you all perceve, that he who spends the most wins. Ask Jeff Purk, or Steve Keener (who also racked up a fair amount of Sportsman points with his SV) or Eric Anderson about what it cost them to race for the Number One plate in 5-6 classes. The equipment, the tires, the leather repair (yes, they all fell down) and what they spent in entry fees is probably the smallest bill they paid. To race and win any championship, regardless of how it is structured, costs money and lots of it.
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This is a no-win situation for CCS to be in. We either make the majority happy and the minority unhappy or vice versa. All we can do is to try to give our customers what they ask for, tell them up-front what the rules and procedures are and do our best to follow them so each rider has the protection of a set of fair and evenly enforced rules. Going into the 2002 season you all know how the programs and championships will work, and if you choose to compete for one of these goals, you can be certain we will be behind you all the way. If you choose not to compete for a title, then we will welcome you to any event you feel like attending, and if you choose not to compete at all then we wish you the best of luck on your future endeavours.

Owwww...I only fell down once this year.  The last day of the season....when my engine grenaded into a nice paperweight.  

We all know that it takes money to chase a championship for a season....no doubt about it.  I was suggesting that an alternative to one or two guys in a region trying to run 15 races a weekend to get the plate...limit the number of classes that will count.  Don't discount the finishes...just give tem the top 5.  Many riders gie up on trying to get a top 10 plate because it's much more expensive.  It was a thought .... and a hope that it might even be able to stimulate more revenue.  

As for rules....as long as the series is still around each year...I'll be happy.  :)

[Litespeed]

Why don't they just weight the classes when calculating the total.  Use 100% of the first, then 50% of the second etc.  This would make if beneficial to run as many classes as possible but would alleviate the problem of it being mandatory.  Decent finishes in all classes wouldn't overcome great finishes in a few but they would at least count towards something.

As far as limiting which bikes an amateur can ride, I don't agree.  An amateur without his head on correctly is just as likely to wreck an SV650 as they would be to wreck the 1000.  It's about knowing your limits and the bike really doesn't factor in for a long time.  True that the likelyhood of spinning off the corner may be somewhat increased, but booting a 600 down an extra gear to get a drive off the corner can give equivalent results.

[Roach]

The "winner take all" at the end of the year for amatuer road racing is pretty much standard fare. Even the car guys do it in SCCA with the "Run-offs" at mid-Ohio.

The real problem, or course is that CCS and WERA both use tracks for their "run-offs"  that reward money and horsepower over riding skill. If you're down 10hp at Daytona, your name better be Mick Doohan if you plan on winning a "National Championship". Road-Atlanta's back stretch isn't much better.
You'd think that with modern computer technology (Say, a pentium 2 and a decent VB or Java programmer...) CCS could grid by points instead of Wallet Size, and both orgs could use regional point totals (weighted, in the case of different schedules) in conjunction with the season end race to determine the class champions. As it is, you can have professional racers using the CCS ROC as practice to take "Natioanal Championships" away from guys who worked all year, which really blows.

Just IMHO, of course.
- Roach

[Greg_Gorman]

As for amateurs and liter bikes, I'm all for it.  The rule change in '99 allowed me to start racing and with the first SE Amateur Unlimited Supersport Championship in 1999 on a '98 ZX-9R. 8)  I had four crashes and none of them were due to too much power.  They were due to faulty mechanical work by me, trying to win practice and taking someone else out, another rider took me out, and cold tires(missed the warm up lap.)  I probably would have been FASTER on a 600 though.

[JoeB]

Ricky,

I think Mr. McKinney is the very reason CCS changed their rules regarding Overall Championships.  If all it takes to win an overall regional title is money, and lots of it, then the title, really, in a way isn't worth a whole lot. Regional titles won in this manner DEVALUE the titles' worth! What does it prove about ones ability as a racer?

CCS needs to change their point structure as well, instead of of giving points to everyone who completes at least one lap, they should give points to only those who complete the entire race.

I commend CCS on changing the rules regarding Regional Championships, however, their are still some rules which are in need of modification.

I don't know what you mean by "mainstream". Points are points. To win and overall regional championship you need money and lots of it. For example; Take expert racer Jeff McKinney and SE regional champion.  The man has money and a bike for just about every class. A Ducati 750SS, 748R, 996SPS and a GSXR 750. He is also known as "Iron Butt" cus he races all weekend. He races those bikes in every class and every race they qualify for.  If you want to win a regional championship, you need a lot of points.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything bad About Jeff. He is a good rider and a nice guy. And he has won races.  But it takes lots of money and he's got it.

As for amateurs riding unlimited bikes, I have to agree but how would this be accomplished?  It be too complicated to setup.  How long would an amateur race before he's allowed to move up?  Would this racer also need to place well? Do you see were I'm going?  

I like/want to race twins and do not want to be told what I can race.  If for example; CCS said that I had to start off racing small singles, I would just take my business somewhere else and I suspect others would too.

[bfkidd]

Hey Joe, how's it going?

Anyway, they did change the one lap rule. It does leave the final ruling up to the race director. But I think that if people complain, they will have to rule against the guy purposely doing one lap.

Now if they would just grid by points...

Chuck #30

[JoeB]

Hey Chuck,

Long time no see.  I was glad to see your name on the results at Daytona.  I guess your injuries are healed up?

I didn't realize that they had changed the one lap rule. That's very positive.

Gridding by points...just what I was thinking to make everything good.  Not only is it more fair, but I feel it's much safer as well.  Safer because, those up front belong up front.

Joe

[Speedballer347]

What's the big deal about amateurs running literbikes?  You turn away streetriders on literbikes trying to see what racing is about, and you turn away people who will continue to get their 'fix' on the backroads.

If someone can't handle their bike and crash it doing something dumb, well then they crash.  You can't save people from themselves.  The more people you get off the street and onto the track the better.