Gee, Pat,
I don't see it. I don't see any people who moved to
Street classes to avoid faster drivers. Vic and Durk
for two don't take second place to anybody driving, or Charlie
Davis, among trophy winners (don't mean to slight anybody
I didn't mention -- I just don't remember everybody).
Or Katie, or Reitmeir, or Richardson, or Don Ebaugh,
Corey, or Navid, or Jim Ochi, ... Moving to avoid faster drivers
didn't seem to work too good, huh? ; -)
True or not, people see Modified as not for "cars like this",
street cars with popular mods; it's for gonzo no-holds-barred
aluminum formula cars or specials. That's why you didn't see
all these SM or even OSP cars moving from Mod. Almost
nobody runs Mod.
These folks moved from Stock or SP to SM (for example)
because they could make mods they wanted to their cars.
I think if "grasshopper thinking" had not prevailed and there
were no "Street" classes, you would not be seeing growth
in the Mod classes. There sure wasn't any before these
classes were introduced. Rather, there has been continual
decrease in SFR Mod, as far as I can see.
Jerry
Jerry Mouton "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pat Kelly" <lollipop487@attbi.com>
To: "Ian Green" <iagreen@ucdavis.edu>; "Bay_Area_Autocross_List"
<ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 10:26 AM
Subject: Re: Round 6 results are posted
> From my point of view, grasshopper (age does have its priviledges!),
> John is correct, and I agree he said it too bluntly.
> The real question is, would these folks have run if there were none of
> these new classes? Probably the answer is no...because:
> 1. They'd have to put their classes back to stock or
> 2. They'd be uncompetitive with SP because they don't want to go that far
> (I'm referring to STS)
> However, SM and SM2 allow more than SP, and many of those cars could
run
> in a Modified class. :) In fact, they allow more than Prepared in some
ways.
> As these new classes develop (it'll take about 10 years), another
layer
> of classes will be proposed and accepted because there will be a perceived
> need to "fit the era," just as the STS, SM2, SM, and STX have fit for this
> era, and just as SP was developed about 20 years ago on top of the then
> existing Stock, Prepared, and Modified classes.
> Maybe it all revolves around "I want a class for ME!" :)
> Whether new classes 'good' or 'bad,' I don't think anyone can say. But
> their development certainly keeps the sport, my favorite, alive. And
that's
> a good thing. :)
> --Pat Kelly
>
> ----------
> >From: "Ian Green" <iagreen@ucdavis.edu>
> >To: "Bay_Area_Autocross_List" <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
> >Subject: RE: Round 6 results are posted
> >Date: Tue, Dec 10, 2002, 10:14 AM
> >
>
> >> -------------------- Begin Original Message --------------------
> >>
> >> Message text written by "Jerry Mouton"
> >>
> >> "
> >> Interesting, the new Street Touring S & X, and Street Modified /SM2
> >> have been really successful in Slush. Average entrants
> >> were greater than any Stock Class, or Mod Class.
> >> I guess National was onto something, huh?
> >>
> >> Jerry Mouton "
> >> -------------------- End Original Message --------------------
> >> Jerry,
> >> Yes and No.
> >> There's often a forgotten reason why a different class
succeeds.
> >> One key reason is that it's a method of avoiding the experienced--and
> >> faster--drivers in an existing class.
> >> Just check how many drivers in the noted classes are not new to
> > the
> >> scene and who previously competed in an existing class.
> >>
> >> --John Kelly
> >>
> >
> > Thats pretty harsh. Don't let too many of the STS guys hear you say
that.
> > Their usually are several STS cars in the top PAX so I don't know if its
> > all that easy.
> >
> >
> > Ian Green
> > 2003 Team Coleader
> > UC Davis Formula SAE
> > http://mae.ucdavis.edu/~fsae
> > 97 Honda Civic CX
> > http://www.geocities.com/stscxr
> >
> > "I never let school get in the way
> > of my education." - Mark Twain
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