Points through race #11...

Thank you for posting these so often Bob and for doing the job.

Can someone explain the reasoning of the points spreads between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers vs the rest of the field? To me all this spread does is keep close battles in class confusing. An example is Bret and I in GP. If he and I go to PR and he places like he has all season in 1st and I finish 2nd (assuming no one else shows up) he has the championship by 4 points. It would be pretty hard for me to race him and finish with more points. He'd have top break or get tangled up in another battle that would allow me finish ahead of him,, not likely.

What this is leading me to is to not spend the time or money going to PR this weekend. I know I am not as fast as he is yet and particularly I have not raced at PR so it would be a totally new experience, not likely to be a fast one.

Bret deserves the championship and the only reason I am in the running at all is because I am literally buying my way there. I want to win because of my overall season placement, not the number of races I can afford to go to. I do support the rule that states you have to participate in at least 50% of the Conference races and that requires travel.

I am having fun this year and things are getting sorted out with the car and me and I think next year will be even better. I just want to be fair about it.

If Bret, for some reason, does not make Seattle and does not win the Championship I am not sure I want or deserve the title. He has been the GP driver this year.
 
Suffice it to say that there are as many different philosophical perspectives on the awarding of points, the spread, whether you get any or only a few if you don't complete 50% of the laps and take the checkers, points to top ten only, points to everybody, etc etc..., as there are colorful personalities in our Conference family. It's what gives us strength, and keeps things interesting.
 
As for the idea that you would win an "undeserved" championship - there is no such thing!

Race wins are for the fast, season championships are for those who take a longer view. There are plenty of long sighted drivers who are also fast and that helps them win a lot of championships.

My wife teaches some important early life lessons to Kindergarteners. We try to be fair in our actions with others and compete in ways that don't intentionally place others at an undeserved disadvantage for personal gain but the great rule of life still applies: Life Is Not Fair and the sooner you accept that fact the happier you will be in life. This acceptance generally frees up valuable time that was previously invested in whining, complaining, and feeling sorry for one's self to be used for working hard and controlling things that used to be left up to fate.

The championship is there for the person who collects the most points within our strict framework of rules over the course of the season. There is much you can control - like how many races you are able to do, driving skill, and car preparation. There is also much you cannot - weather, your competitors, and mechanical failures. Don't ever feel like you don't deserve a championship if you finish with the most points.

If all else fails and you still don't feel good, submit a rule change proposal that makes you feel better and see if the majority of the drivers in Conference feel the same.

Good Luck!
 
Rick:
Not quite sure how to receive this: (I don't believe there was any intent to insult or throw stones though.)

"My wife teaches some important early life lessons to Kindergarteners. We try to be fair in our actions with others and compete in ways that don't intentionally place others at an undeserved disadvantage for personal gain but the great rule of life still applies: Life Is Not Fair and the sooner you accept that fact the happier you will be in life. This acceptance generally frees up valuable time that was previously invested in whining, complaining, and feeling sorry for one's self to be used for working hard and controlling things that used to be left up to fate."

I am not whining or complaining or feeling sorry for myself or anyone else. I believe I make my own luck and fate.

You say life is not fair and I agree to a point. Life may not be fair, but I sure can be. I may be a simple country boy from Oklahoma but I play on the up and up. I work hard for what I got and get. If I consitantly come in 2nd then I figure I earned 2nd. If I continue to improve and can play with Bret and we dice forth-and-back and one of us comes out ahead then thats is the way it should be. Problem with the point gap is it makes the spread too wide. More exciting in my opinion would be to have won or lost by one point- all things being equal (# of races both do during the year).

I fully understand the ways of Conference and the ability to submit a rule change. That is one of the big reasons I do not, nor ever likely will be an SCCA member again. Conference is the best.

I am asking all of this now so that next year during rule change I may have a sensible offer to make.

Thank you for your input. Should I move this to another thread? Kinda jacked it from Bob.
 
Kyle, when a driver committs the time and the coin to race, then you take whatever position you earn, and enjoy it. There are way too many variables involved, and as Rick said too much out of our control, like weather, DNF's and the like. So take what is there to be taken, and if it's a championship instead of 2nd, well dad gum it, wear that jacket with pride!
I guarantee no one will think less of you if you finish higher than you think you should. I respect your integrity, and I fully understand what you're saying, but in the final analysis you put out a lot of money, time and effort, not to mention blood sweat and tears along the way.
A season ending in a top 3 or top 5 with a spot on the banquet podium is not all that easy to achieve for a multitude of reasons, so savor the experience.
 
Please don't take any of it as insult or projectile hurling!

I was trying to reassure you that if you finish second every race that you are not undeserving of a championship. I've been racing a while now and narrowly missed several championships over the years. Originally, the novice that started racing back then probably would have blamed bad luck, but the more experienced me in the present would have to say it was more like 50% bad luck and 50% inadequate preparation. I just didn't realize the depth and bredth of what I didn't know back then - a nice percentage of bad luck can be overcome with effective prep, innovative field engineering, and a thorough knowledge of the rules!

Racing involves more than you might think when you get right down to it. If you take a more total view of the life of a racer one could say that all of the decisions you have made in your life affect your ability to win a Conference championship. Did you study harder than some of your classmates in High School? Maybe that got you into a good college and then you were able to make enough money to make ONE MORE RACE than your competitor. Maybe you chose to work on your own car because you couldn't afford to have someone else do it when you were a teenager and that started you down a road that gave you a combination of mechanical skills and passion for motorsports that got you out to the garage to prep the car for ONE MORE RACE than your competitor. Maybe you didn't have children so you could afford selfish pursuits like racing on what it would have taken to send a kid to college and that made it possible to make ONE MORE RACE than you competitor. Maybe, just maybe, you just want it worse so you are running ONE MORE RACE than your competitor because you love the feel of a car at speed among the trees at Pacific on a beautiful September weekend doorhandle to doorhandle with your adopted Conference family.

A Conference season is currently ten races. If you win a championship having run any less than ten then you are depending on luck, regardless of how fast you are. Enjoy them when they come along!
 
Kyle to quote Woody Allen, "80% of life is showing up, the other 20% is the presentation".

I too came from SCCA to the Conference Family. I used to pray for competition to show up so I had someone to run and compare my performance too.

No matter what group, class, or organization you run with you cannot control who shows up or when. You can only do what you can within your control. The part you cannot control is of no value.

I too have my places in the class I run primarily because was fortunate enough to run more races. My main competition kicked my tail head to head more then once. But I am okay with that because it gives me something to shoot for. I prefer to judge my performance against my past in terms of lap times and consistency. As long as I learn and apply properly I will get better.
If this leads to better finishing positions that is icing on the cake.

It's the rush I get in the car and how I feel when I come off the track that makes it all worthwhile. Two of my greatest races and fun came in my 2nd and third novice races. No trophy but battling door handle to door handle against Bart made my whole year! He beat me once but I learned and used what I learned the second time to barely beat him. It was fantastic fun both giving each other fair room to race but no more. No freebies here.
I miss racing Bart.

But I will still take my season results with pride for my team and all my friends who supported me to get that one more race to qualify for the season points.

Almost as cool as being allowed to be part of this family we call conference. Encouragement, criticism, and the socializing at the track this year has improved my quality of life in ways I cannot begin to tell you. But my wife and friends have seen it and mentioned it.
Now if I can just improve my driving every time on the track I will beaming twice as much in the pits.

Good luck this weekend Kyle and go get Bart! :)
 
Thanks to everyone for your input.

I'd still like to know the reasoning for the 5 point spread between 1st and 3rd. I've run the math and can not see much reason behind it unless it has to do with the pole position points.

One thing that Conference is lacking is the history behind the rule changes. Because the rule change comittees discusion and votes are not recorded anywhere readily available I have this forum to gather the info.

I have never seen the minutes of the Fall Meetings posted anywhere and that may help also.

As I said, this is mainly about the reasoning for the points spread, not so much about Bret and my run for the jacket.

PS: I am not going to Seattle. Has more to do with money & too busy starting another business. Going to wait til next year and give all them Beinerths a run (I have heard rumor that GP's name may be changed to Beinerth Production once they all get their RX-7's on the track - but Tweety is up for the challenge).
 
Life Is Not Fair

Yup. Never was advertised as such.
With points, though, it's a balancing act between
smaller classes that have a few people racing hard against each other
(SCCA E Production (EIP) in years past)
and big classes with several races inside the rankings (Pro3 this year, Spec Bunny and Miatae in years past).

We get both, and the current spread seems to be 'the current best guess' compromise
for most...

Not to say it won't change soon...

t
 
We fought the points fight like 10 years ago, and it was a real pain. This format favors those who travel to all of our venues, which is one of the main reasons it was implemented, after a lot of bickering and dickering as I recall.
Used to be 5 points for first if you were the only one in class, then 8 and 5 I think if there were 2 cars, etc. So if the fast guys just did the PR/PIR deal with the higher car count it didn't help the guys who did the travelling and supported the other tracks.
This current system rewards the guy who wins, as it should be IMHO, and makes it necessary to travel and support all tracks if you want a top 3 or a championship, again as it should be.
It has worked very well for quite awhile now, so I would think carefully before trying to change a good thing.
 
Thank you for the explanation Wes. It does help explain the points spread. The more we understand the less apt we are to change a good thing.

I still have thoughts on it but will take your sound advice and think hard on it before I leap the abys.
 
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