146 replies to this topic

[Cap Henry]

Wouldn't it make sense to then make F1 Friday, Can-Am Saturday, and GTC Sunday? That way both your premier classes are done and travelers can leave.

[Chris Barnes]

Last year, F1 drew more entries than Can-Am. Was that because some didn't want to stay as late? Hard to tell. The thing is the smallest class was 62, the largest 70. How do you decide which goes to Sunday?

What about GTC? Not a Tier 1 event and it has two sub-classes.

[Rick Davis]

I was just going to chime in with the same idea but Cap and Chris beat me to it - even if GT has the same entry level the different format shortens the race some amount. Maybe a further step would be to eliminate GT qualifying and seed by F1 and Can-Am results (should I duck now???)

[Howie Ursaner]

I do not think many would want to race F1 on Friday, but maybe. GTC is probably the best for Sunday since everyone is leaving.

[Ron Hershman]

All good ideas... my thought for next years R4 was "thinking" about moving Can-Am to Sat and F1 to Sunday.

My thoughts were... if guys and gals are going to leave on Sunday because they think/know Can-Am will finish as late on Sunday as F1 did on Sat... I would rather lose entries in F1 versus Can-Am. I don't want to see any one leave early, BUT some have long drives home and we want all to get home safely.

When you look at the big picture... Can-Am is the largest class everywhere it's raced usually. There are lots of guys who race Can-Am who have no interest in F1... it's close but no cigar.

Coupe and Can-Am is basically the same car with a change of weight and body... depending on if one chooses FK over PD (those who have that choice) some may not even have to change motor.

I also feel that we could increase entries in Can-Am if it was raced on Sat versus Sun because some would/could use Sunday for a travel day. A guy could come in Fri evening, practice Can-Am then race Can-Am on Sat and go home late Sat or in the morning on Sun.

Not all can be there three to four days and some are even there for five or longer, but very few.

So if Coupe remained on Friday... some would also use the Coupe race as a warm-up for the Can-Am race the following day so you may even get more entries in Coupe as a guy could race the same car two days in a row versus the current race Coupe, wait a day then run Can-Am on the third day.

[Ron Hershman]

I do not think many would want to race F1 on Friday, but maybe. GTC is probably the best for Sunday since everyone is leaving.

Being we don't run semis and a A Main in Coupe... even with 60 plus entries it would still get done early on Sunday compared to either Can-Am or F1.

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

Keep discussing this. I am watching and taking notes. Cindy and I are both sympathetic to the late ending and long travel times for some of you. We always worry about your safety driving home on little or no sleep.

BUT, the problem (?) is the number of entries. It has been a loooong time since the number of entries was a concern. But what a problem to have, eh? Better than too few! I don't think we could run a more efficient program than we do already. Change of format would make no difference. We ran eight heats of 8 and three heats of 10. Discounting any tracks call, no resets between heats, and re-tech before the semis and main it should take 7.5 hours. Using the RE move-up format it would take 7.0 hours if I understand it correctly. And with that format there would be re-techs between each heat instead of just the two my format needs.

We could just use total laps as we do in GT Coupe. But should the premier class winner be decided that way? How exciting is it to beat a racer who wasn't even in your heat race? The close finishes we have had would most likely be diminished when you are racing against some numbers on a lap sheet from a previous main instead of racer in the lane next to you. I am not feeling that, as they say.

The format we have used the last two years makes the winner EARN his win the the most honest way possible. By racing for it. And unless someone can convince me with a strong argument against it no changes will be made. A schedule change, as in moving the days each class runs, is possible. But I have had several major racers say that Can-Am should stay on Sunday.

So keep discussing and shoot me any ideas you may have. I always welcome good ideas. And I do have 362 days to decide.

[Tim Neja]

Wouldn't it make sense to then make F1 Friday, Can-Am Saturday, and GTC Sunday? That way both your premier classes are done and travelers can leave.

Why does slot racing have to be "backwards" to all other forms of racing?? You don't see NASCAR running their Nationwide cars on Sunday so the Cup cars can run on Saturday? The Premier class is always the "close of the show"! If you want to kill off the other classes - then run them last - or don't include them at all.

F1 is my favorite class - because it takes more driving and handling.

T

[John C Martin]

Would like to know when and where next year's races will be held. I'll be there, and we will not schedule are AMSRA Nats on top of it... as we are going to replace GT1 class with Can-Am next year in our series.

Congrats, Tom Harrington, on your win.

[Cheater]

Tim,

Kinda hard to compare what NASCAR does to the R4 procedure. It's a different set of problems to address.

NASCAR only puts 43 cars in the race, regardless of how many cars attempt to qualify, and the 43 cars that make the race are all on the track at the same time...

[Cheater]

Would like to know when and where next year's races will be held.

John,

The R4 is always held at Tom Thumb Hobbies in Columbus, OH. It is their event, not IRRA™'s...

I don't know if Mike has officially announced it, but the 2013 R4/6 is scheduled for March 15-17.

[Cap Henry]

Tim, my idea was that simply those who only want to run the two big classes can, then leave Sunday so they are home. Not everyone likes running GTC for whatever reasons.

Also, as Ron mentioned, GTC has a different format so it wouldn't take as long. I only had a two-hour drive, left before the main, and still didn't get home until 11:30 PM.

[Ron Hershman]

Why does slot racing have to be "backwards" to all other forms of racing?? You don't see NASCAR running their Nationwide cars on Sunday so the Cup cars can run on Saturday? The Premier class is always the "close of the show"! If you want to kill off the other classes - then run them last - or don't include them at all.

Let me give you the "Tim Neja Patent Pending" response...

"How come guys knock what they have never raced in? Come to the Midwest (changing west with midwest here) and race with us".

[Ron Hershman]

F1 is my favorite class - because it takes more driving and handling.

Hey Tim... wasn't the D3 Checkpoint Cup race run backwards then??? The premier Can-Am class was run on Sat and then on Sun they ran your favorite class... F1.

[Tim Neja]

Absolutely - still didn't like that format. But if it's what works for travel, etc., - go for it!

Looks like Can-Am is all that matters anyway - why not just cancel the others because their not as popular? Don't hold them except at the local races.

What would happen if you had 100 racers total in Can-Am? The overall entry was close to 200 racers, wasn't it? Eventually they'll have to be qualifying to enter the race. To allow enough time to simply run it! Wouldn't that actually be a nice development? Having TOO many racers to enjoy slot racing!!

T

[Noose]

Tim,

They were popular. The difference between Can-Am and F1 were 7 racers. 70 for Can-Am and 63 for F1. The GT class is split into two classes and still we had a total of 66 for those classes (and racers chose one or the other as they could not run in both).

[Tim Neja]

Let me give you the "Tim Neja Patent Pending" response...

"How come guys knock what they have never raced in? Come to the Midwest (changing west with midwest here) and race with us".

How come every comment to you is a knock, Ron? Been racing all different kinds of racing all my life - like you - just like to see the premier class on the last day. Same reason they don't give you the "killer" in the who-dunit in the middle!!

T

[Tim Neja]

They were popular. The difference between Can-Am and F1 were 7 racers. 70 for Can-Am and 63 for F1. The GT class is split into two classes and still we had a total of 66 for those classes (and racers chose one or the other as they could not run in both).

If that's the case - then it really shouldn't matter - some said the Can Am was the MAIN class - doesn't appear you're saving any time by running F1 last then?

I'm not throwing stones at a great race - just that I'd like to see the top racers on the final day. Like any major event...

T

[Cheater]

The great limiter for slot racing is the eight lane track.

If there was a race where 200 racers showed up for a class, is there any other option but to go back to the Arco practice of putting the fastest 32 or 64 in the race and the rest going home? I can't think of one...

To repeat my comment of several years ago, when Retro gets popular the biggest problem is going to be processing the participants through the program. Seems we're at that point now...

[Noose]

Let's not jump the gun though. The R4 has always had the largest entries of all of the Premier Races largely due to the slot racing population that Ohio has. Thus, one could say the "locals" make up most of the field where the other three or four Premier Events tend to have mid thirty entrants per class. Nothing to squawk at of course but different because many of the Midwest contingent just don't travel.

[MantaRay]

Did anyone mention the "Bench Racing" at the hotel... With the Can-Am on Sat... it would have to be on Friday and most folks want to practice...

As it was this year... Mike and Jessica were not able to stay long... I was very tired.

Just a thought.

[Cheater]

Well, thanks to Mike moving the race one week later in 2012, you'll have an extra hour to sleep, Ray. LOL!

And I will not have to alternate between the R4 and the Amelia Island Concours, as I've been doing the last couple of years.

[Ron Hershman]

To repeat my comment of several years ago, when Retro gets popular the biggest problem is going to be processing the participants through the program. Seems we're at that point now...

Not quite yet... I don't see a "problem" yet... my suggestion of moving around things may actually "increase" entries for one or two days. The "processing" went rather well this past weekend IMO.

If there are a lot of entries... it's going to be a long day and finishing up late... if there are less entries... well it's a shorter day and a earlier finishing time.

I can envision more "local" guys coming in to race Can-Am if the race was on Sat as even if it got done at 2 AM in the morning, they would still have Sunday to travel home versus having 70 on Sunday... getting done at 10 PM and then having a 2 to 6 hour drive home on top of that. Plus they don't have to worry about missing work on Monday.

What would be better??? 70-80 Can-Am entries on Saturday or the same amount on Sunday???

[Howie Ursaner]

The problem is that when the final is run on Sunday, whatever class, there will be 15 people in the building tops.

NASCAR seem to be able to keep most of the people there for the entire race.

[shadow]

Why does slot racing have to be "backwards" to all other forms of racing?? You don't see NASCAR running their Nationwide cars on Sunday so the Cup cars can run on Saturday? The Premier class is always the "close of the show"! If you want to kill off the other classes - then run them last - or don't include them at all.

F1 is my favorite class - because it takes more driving and handling.

Tim, Are you really comparing the R4 to a NASCAR race? Seriously? You weren't there, Sunday night looked like a weekly race by the time the main was run. There were eight marshals and five spectators.

When was the last time Jeff Gordon had to hop in his minivan and drive eight hours to get home - at 10:00 at night - after being at the track since 7:30 in the morning so he could be at work on Monday??? The average slot racer does not have a private jet or helicopter to get them home after the race.

It would be nice if everyone could see the main event, not just hear about it.