SpecE46 Happenings

epsdan

Well-known member
Background - the idea behind SE46 was to (1) be able to race a newer car, (2) develop a rule set that controlled cost runaway, and (3) create a rule set that was nationally applicable, and independent of any one sanctioning body (Not all sanctioning bodies are "driver oriented" like Conference, if you know what I mean...). The rules are currently owned by two individuals, who are both friends of mine - Jason Tower and Evan Levine. Both of these guys are long time BMW racers from the east coast, and are the developers of the rules set. They are good, solid men, with a very good vision of how to develop a nationally consistent class - which was the birth of SE46.

NASA has approached Evan and Jason, and "requested" that Jason/Evan give up control of the rules to NASA. Jason and Evan would be brought into NASA as a Series Director role, so at least some control would remain with the original developers. From many long discussions with Jason and Evan over the last few days, I believe that they are going to go this direction.

NASA would then license the ruleset back to ICSCC and BMWCCA for our use. I have talked to some of the ICSCC hierarchy, and they are in agreement that they will look at the license agreement and see if it makes sense for Conference. I will be available to them to consult on this issue, as I have a lot of history.

So, what's the outcome?

1. The SE46 guys will race in Conference in SpecE46, regardless of the license agreement. If things go sideways with NASA and the license agreement, it might be called PRO46, or maybe Outlaw46, but we will race to the rules we built the cars to.

2. If the license agreement is fair, evenhanded, and allows Conference to operate as it always has, I believe Conference will sign the agreement. If that happens, things will continue as originally planned - a consistent set of rules across organizations (except SCCA).

3. If the license is delivered such that it doesn't make it in ICSCCs best interest to sign, it is my intent that we develop the ruleset as we see fit in Conference, and we'll do it the Conference way. Maybe this means PRO/Outlaw46 diverges from NASA; maybe it means we annually update our ruleset based on what NASA does with theirs. We do, it, however, based on what we - the Conference drivers - want to do and we do it the Conference way - with an annual rule change proposal.

I believe that this will fulfill most of the intent of what the dozen (and growing) of us wanted when we proposed the SE46 class. A modern planform to race in Conference (and other organizations), with a definable and controllable rule set that disallowed runaway car development.

Is it ideal? No - the original plan was better, with Jason and Evan independent and in control. NASA in the middle doesn't make it better for anyone, but it is what it is. Do I think NASAs play will keep SCCA out of SE46 if it grows? Absolutely not - they'll come up with their own version of SE46. Hopefully, all rulesets will stay the same, but at this point, that's in (at least) three parties hands, rather than just one, as it was in our original vision.

If you guys have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at dan@danrogers.net, or post here. If you want to chat, you probably have my cell number, or drop me a note and we'll converse.

Dan
 
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Thanks for the write-up, Dan. Can you explain why Evan/Jason decided to "give in" to NASA? There must be some degree of upside to doing so or presumably they wouldn't have done it?
 
Thanks Dan for your continued efforts to keep Conference the most vital racing opportunity in the NW. Conference is great model and it is a shame the drivers in other venues don't have a choice or a voice.
 
I know NASA is large in the United States, but I find it rather interesting that they want a "Conference race group", when they are no longer in the NW. Maybe that's why they want it.
 
NASA has disallowed our use of a couple of their classes. I hope this time is different but I am not counting on it. I greatly appreciate your support of Conference racing, Dan.
 
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