944 Cup is now PRO44!

schwank

schwank

Code X Motorsports
Our group of regional 944 racers has been around for several years running mainly as ITS in SCCA and Conference events. For the last couple of years we were loosely associated with the 944 Cup series, which is run mainly on the East coast. We have some great racing in G2 & G5 with a variety of cars beyond 944's, including PRO3, Miatas, Nissans, and others.

With great thanks to Tom Olsson and Mike Conatore, this year Conference took the leap of adopting our rule set as a (provisional) dedicated class in Group 2. At the same time we entered discussion with the Series Director regarding formalizing our region. Unfortunately despite lengthy negotiations we were unable to come to an agreement, and as a result our regional racers have split with the Eastern chapters of 944 Cup and restructured as PRO44.

PRO44 is a Conference standalone class dedicated to the 83-88 Porsche 944 8v and 87-88 924S. Our class is the same... the only thing that changes is our branding. We want to ensure cheap and even sports car racing, and having full control will allow us to focus our efforts in a way best suited for the PNW. Obviously we look at the growth of PRO3 for inspiration and guidance but will be following our own formula for rules and growth. We will be running all future events as PRO44 and you'll see that branding around the paddock at upcoming races. We're happy to tell you all about it so feel free to ask!

We have a long running discussion group at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/pro44 that is readable by anyone... if you want to post you just have to join. We're a very democratic group and work hard to come to consensus which is a good match for the Conference style. I am working on a website right now and it will be live shortly at http://www.pro44-racing.com.

Thanks to the Stewards and BOD for their accommodation in this matter. We look forward to growing our group in Conference!
 
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That's great news, Eric. It should be fun to watch your class grow. If the evolution of PRO3 is a model indicator, you guys on an a solid path.
 
As a former Porsche owner and a lover of all things Porsche (I know, I race a Miata), I am glad to see the addition of 944's to Group 2 and hope your class continues to grow within Conference. I guess the only question I have is what becomes of the 944 Cup series which Greg Fordahl has championed for the past several years. I know their schedule has included both Conference and SCCA events. While their numbers are down a bit, does the formation of Pro44 essentially kill the 944 Cup series with respect to the 3 or 4 Conference events which are part of their series for 2012. I would hope that the 944 Cup guys like Mark, Lyle, Matt, Wade and even Greg would still run their Conference events, albeit in Group 5 it appears. I guess the Pro44 class is a Group 2 exclusive with Group 5 ITS as the double dipper class?

Good luck and look forward to seeing your website once up.

Bill-
 
Bill - this is the same group of guys that Fordahl has helped pioneer. He doesn't frequent the conference forums much and Eric has been our conference guy since day 1 - hence why he announced the official change on here and has been the lead with making conference a solid home for us. You will continue to see us entered in G2 as Pro44 and G5 as ITS. Some of the other guys browse this forum (mark is probably the most frequent outside of Eric and I) but don't post much if at all.

We have always been a little different within the 944cup series and although we raced under the rule set & name...we really operated like a different group. As Eric mentioned more a branding name change and 100% control of where the destiny of these cars go vs. having to align with 6-7 other regions that are all run by PCA,SCCA or NASA.

We have seen quite the uptick in cars within the last 12 months (James,tony,josh,duff, George to name a few) and they join about 10 other cars that are built to run with us all. Spokane and the ridge races will likely see some big counts as we represent the future of 944 racing!


Many thanks again to Mike C, Tom and the BOD for their assistance in our necessary refresh.


See many of you @ in 3 weeks.
 
Second what Mike said - this is not a split but a continuation of the same folks. If you look at our discussion group we're all posting in on the same threads trying to pull this together... it was a group decision to sever our relationship and it's a group effort to build a new brand. I'm really quite excited at our prospects. We had two new builds make their first race outing at ORP and I am hoping our entries will qualify for permanent class status in our very first year. We've already seen some interest from other drivers and we're working hard to capitalize on that for the benefit of our whole group.
 
Look for a PRO44 class at the one hour enduro special race "German Touring Car Challenge" race at The Ridge Motorsports Park in August.
 
schwank said:
Second what Mike said - this is not a split but a continuation of the same folks. If you look at our discussion group we're all posting in on the same threads trying to pull this together... it was a group decision to sever our relationship and it's a group effort to build a new brand. I'm really quite excited at our prospects. We had two new builds make their first race outing at ORP and I am hoping our entries will qualify for permanent class status in our very first year. We've already seen some interest from other drivers and we're working hard to capitalize on that for the benefit of our whole group.
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Now with the Pro44 comfortably competing at the pointy end of Group 2, I hope those 944 guys who appear to despise running with Miatas, will sort of be forced into Group 2 if they want to compete for a Pro44 championship. And the ITS Group 5 option is always there as the 2nd entry. Am I analyzing this correctly? Group 2 - Pro44...Group 5 ITS! I personally love running with the 944's...just keep them on the racing surface!!

Bill-
 
Randy Blaylock said:
Look for a PRO44 class at the one hour enduro special race "German Touring Car Challenge" race at The Ridge Motorsports Park in August.
Click to expand...

You betcha we will be there... Been watching the chatter over in the pro3 group and eager for that fun event as always. (last year I pulled 2nd in class).
 
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