> I will say this about the Neon spec class...it may be boring to watch,
> but if you really want to know where you stand as a driver it's the best
> place to go, IMO. It's not boring when your in the car, beleive me.
An excellent point - as we all know, a great driver in a Yugo could beat a
bad driver in a Neon. Kind of like IROC (the series, not the Camaro), it's
a true judge of who the best driver is, since most cars are prepared
identically.
But what about someone who happens to fall into ES and doesn't have a Neon?
Many who run in stock *gasp* don't have autox at the top of their list of
priorities when buying a car *double gasp!!!* Since something besides a
Neon fits their needs better, or maybe just their budget, they shouldn't be
penalized for it by being forced to run in a class dominated by another
particular car.
I have absolutely nothing against the idea of Neons racing Neons - it's
great for the Neon drivers for exactly the reasons you stated. But if
you're going to do that, put the Neons into, say, N-Stock, and make it ONLY
for Neons. That way, you can enjoy your Neon spec races, and the rest of us
E-Stockers can happily compete amongst ourselves.
Of course, the problem with this is people will say, "Hey, the Neons get a
spec series - what about our Miatas?" Followed by "What about our M3s?"
Followed by "What about our Corvettes?" Sound familiar? We had the Vette
thread a little while ago, and concluded that if you want to spec race, the
best place to do that is in your own club - Vette club, Miata club, BMW
club, or in this case the Neon club. I enjoyed running my BMW 320i in the
BMW CCA series against other similarly capable BMWs, even if I didn't do too
well against them. :) But, IMHO, SCCA is a better venue for competition
between but different makes and models of similar capability. Part of why I
intend to start doing SCCA events more seriously next year is to see how my
Saturn SC2, which does quite well in its "non-BMW, 2.0 liter and under"
class at the local BMW CCA events (3rd out of 11 last time, hoping to do as
well Sunday), measures up against other more equal cars. To me, at least,
that's part of what the SCCA events are all about.
> Somebody, somewhere is going to make me eat those words I know, but from
this
> perspective it's not all a bad thing.
I'm glad you think so - similarly, I'm not trying to make you eat your words
or convince you (or the list) that my way's the only way. I'm just
presenting my alternative point of view. :)
- Justin
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