Special Race brainstorm

colin_koehler

colin_koehler

Great SCOTT!
First off let me say that those who have created and facilitated the special races in the past deserve a round of applause and the marketing/posters for the German and Japanese challenger were outstanding. Even though I didn't participate in the special event during the Spokane Triple I thought the creativity behind it was terrific.

I've been DVR'ing the WTCC, BTCC, DTM, Continental Tire Challenge and Australian V8's over the winter break and boy has that helped keep the itch at bay... but in a couple series like Conti Challenge and Aussie V8 the driver change thing interested me and lead me to this thought:


Special race idea:

1 Hour race, mandatory driver change after 30min mark, no refueling, 3 classes. Can't go 60min on a tank... sorry 'bout that.

-You will not be allowed to change drivers until the 30 minute mark.
-Classes will be: Really Fast (RF), Fast (F) and Not So Fast (NSF).
-Due to the driver's change the hot pits will be used and two "teams" will share a spot for the change.
-All other sprint-race rules/realities apply: AKA, you break, you're done. There will be no "pit stall" to fix, repair, or anything else beside changing a driver and getting on with it.
-Radios aren't even needed. Once the 30 minute mark is passed the #2 drivers should be ready in the Hot Pits at a moments notice and the time period should be pre planned.
-To designate the 30 minute marker, this could be done by having the starter waive the green flag again or with a "30 MIN" board or other designation.


OK, that's about as far as I got in the brainstorm. Your thoughts or completely different ideas?
 
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colin_koehler said:
-All other sprint-race rules/realities apply: AKA, you brake, you're done. There will be no "pit stall" to fix, repair, or anything else beside changing a driver and getting on with it.
Click to expand...

Sometimes spelling is important, brake vs. break.

Its a good idea Colin, the SCCBC runs the WSC which are 50 minute races, driver changes are at the particpant's option. There is a mandatory 1 minute pit stop, and its bracket racing, you breatk out of your bracket time, you get a black flag. Opinions on the rules are divided, those who race the series like it alot, those who don't, don't.

db
 
Randy Blaylock said:
Hmmmm, my car will go an hour on gas...
Click to expand...

Then you are in the RF class Randy....great outside the box thinking Colin. How late could you do that driver change? After 30 minutes, but before the 45 minute mark? You could have the Stig in the car for 50 mins then put in the slow guy.

I'd enter a special race like this one.

Bill-
 
Sounds like a fun special race... more chaos to manage but it would be more fun to limit the top 3 in each class to HAVE to pit that first lap after 30 minutes. The others in class have a 10 minute window to pull in... that way if "the stig" is in the car they could potentially catchup. Also would be cool to see folks gamble on having the fast guy (owner of the car?) in the 2nd half vs. the first. etc
 
I would say throw out the time window. Here's what I told CSCC's Kai today:

Make it so the cars must pit for 1 minute. Doesnt matter what you do, take fuel, change drivers, change tires, heck, change a motor, you must be in a pit box for one minute (Not 30 seconds one stop, 30 another, ONE STOP). This can EASILLY be "officiated" with a sticker on the windshield. Car pits, sits there, pit marshall pulls the sticker off, away the car goes. It's how Trans Am used to do it in the early 2000's.

Obviously, cars need to complete one green flag lap before the first pit stop, and pits are closed with 5 minutes left.
 
I like the idea, would there be a limit on how many cars total on the track, or is just as many that can be fit in the pit?
 
Kyle I dont see a need to have a min time stop if you have to change drivers. now if you were not changing drivers that some thing else.
 
Ok Kyle... I can be down with that but I'm still against refueling. It creates a logistical complexity that makes this little exercise a bit more of a headache than it should be to pull off during a normal sprint race weekend for a "special race".

My initial goal was to keep it simple. For the mandatory 1 minute stop you can't do anything to the car. You can change drivers or not... or you can get out to go to the Honey Bucket (which would be great in a video!) but no work on the car.
 
Another "Special Race" idea (that isn't a race) would be:

Senior Driver Ride Along Session:


  • Open 30 Minute session
  • No Passing, No 'racing', No shenanigans.
  • Select Drivers sign up to participate
  • Passengers sign waiver
  • Great way to give back to our: Workers, Pit Crew, Spouses etc who have always wanted to ride along.
  • If passengers must meet similar safety reqs we could have drivers bring extra driver suits and helmets out for passengers. We could also get those Military Nomex pilot suits on Ebay for like $25/suit.
  • If it were able to pass legal and insurance scrutiny, we could possibly charge a few bucks per ride to benefit worker funds... or free rides for workers, $20 for everyone else. And here's the best part... Make other drivers man the turn stations during this session!

Your thoughts?

If we did something like this I know half a dozen people who would put their name on the list right now!
 
The Doernbecher Dash does this with children.

We give rides in PRO3 cars at local BMW Club HPDEs. They are very popular.

In both, only a helment is required.

I always coach my ride-alongs not to have eaten a large lunch just before the ride.
 
They used to sell rides for the Doernbecker. Then somebody got nervous and it came to a halt. I remember them doing the same thing down at Sears Point. G
 
special races

This is all great discussion for those of you on the board. If you want some of these ideas to come to reality you need to get involved with your local clubs that have to put on the special races. Each club has it own set of realities that it has to deal with, be it time constraints, scheduling, finances, insurance, notification, approval, marketing the concept, special trophies, enough volunteers to get it done, it goes on and on for a race chairmen in the planning of a race week end and in addition a special race. IRDC is crying for volunteers and I am sure other clubs are also, if you want special races you need to be involved not only with ideas but in volunteering to help put it on. Go to your club meetings and get involved. Special races can be a real money maker for a club but we need people not only to come up with ideas but to come forward and help bring the ideas to fruition within the realities of the planning of a race weekend. IRDC has had ongoing discussions at almost every meeting with regard to our special races.

Please do not feel that I am throwing cold water on anyone's ideas, they all may be workable for some clubs and not others, but keep in mind that the 5 clubs put on the races not ICSCC. It starts at your club if you want special races.

Dick
 
colin_koehler said:
Ok Kyle... I can be down with that but I'm still against refueling. It creates a logistical complexity that makes this little exercise a bit more of a headache than it should be to pull off during a normal sprint race weekend for a "special race".

My initial goal was to keep it simple. For the mandatory 1 minute stop you can't do anything to the car. You can change drivers or not... or you can get out to go to the Honey Bucket (which would be great in a video!) but no work on the car.
Click to expand...

After thinking about it, the no fueling idea is actually kind of fun. As long as we can pull fenders during the stop I don't mind. (Bockman likes to move people.....when driving my car)
 
Great ideas Colin, but... as usual, many buts. These special races take time away from the normal groups as it is, and adding an full hour of specialness to an otherwise full day would undoubtedly take away from the other groups. PR and Mission both do this regularly, and it definitely impacts the rest of us as far as limiting already limited time on track. While profitable for those clubs, not so for the majority of the drivers who do not participate in these special races.
I love the concept, but the execution of that concept is not really condusive to what we do as a racing organization. Considering the $$ per minute of track time we currently deal with it is impractical to take away more precious time for these special races, unless one or more clubs would care to host a non-championship event where time would be less of an issue. Perhaps we should concentrate more on fun events like these rather than the more serious points battles we are all accustomed to, but it's all about the dollars in the end.
 
Last year's wildly popular IRDC German Touring Car Challenge and Japanese Touring Car Challenge, and the entry fees of the 52 cars that paid $$ to enter, were responsible for keeping IRDC andConference in the black.

Unless we stay in the black, none of us gets to race.

What's conducive is a matter of opinion. Putting a foot on the neck of creative thinking certainly isn't.

If it comes down to giving up 5 minutes of a 15 minute practice session, a session a majority of drivers would gladly give back all of that time for more racing, to provide an opportunity for 50+ Conference racers to have an actual race, that nets at least $5200, I'm 100% supportive of that.
 
On a completed unrelated and absolutely irrelevant note, does it crack up anybody else that the picture in Randy's signature makes it look like there's a Novice square on his car? Just sayin'... :D
 
That is funny Steve!
50 cars is approx 1/4 of the total entries on a big race week-end, so while those drivers are happy Randy, and the club is happy, many of the other 75% are not. I haven't raced enough the last 2 seasons to really care one way or another, but my opinions have always leaned toward the majority. The drivers already pay more at PR than anywhere else, for less track time, so gladly giving up another 5 minutes of that track time for these special events does not sit well for many out there.
These events are now givens and will continue, but adding more time and possible pit stops to these races does not fit within the hours we have available. Perhaps at other tracks, maybe the Ridge, but not PR. BTW, I know just how far IRDC has been into the black these last few years, and they would still be there even without these 2 special races.
Thinking outside the box as they say is fine, but seeing both sides is also important, in my always and forever humble opinion anyway...
 
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