COMMON RULES

[NickHolt]

Now that we're all in agreement.. LOL

 

Nick Holt

[HOUSTONLM04]

Common Sense Racing --

 

I may have missed it somewhere along the way here but what is your name?

 

Not trying to start anything, you just seem very knowledgeable and I’m wondering who you are…

[Truck99]

I've been thinking about Tommy 33's post a page or two back. So, let's play a little game on here. Suppose I'm the track owner at THR. Convence me why it is in my best interest to have the same rules in my local classes as say SAS. What's in this for me?

I think I've said this before, but there are too many pages of this mind twisting thread to go back and veryify...

 

I don't believe that common rules among SAS, THR, and CC in the LOCAL classes will do much of anything to fix the current problems. On the flip side of that, common rules certainly couldn't hurt anything as long as they aren't phased in too quickly and as long as they aren't too drastically different from the existing rules - either of those scenarious hurt the current racer's wallets. As I speculated before in this thread as have others, what the tracks need RIGHT NOW is to figure out how to get all of the garaged cars back on the track.

 

To answer Budman's hypothetical question...I think common rules for the LOCAL classes do little to attract the track owners/promoters. Common rules might gain them an occasional car when the driver is at odds with his home track - no big change there. Common rules might also gain a car or two at a track where the car was purchased by someone who wants to race the car at a track other than where it was originally raced. In other words, common rules might make the cars more marketable. What other factors are there with common rules to attract track owners? I don't see many others.

 

I believe that your non-touring racers or local racers or whatever you want to call them choose a track to race at week in and week out for personal reasons, and geographic location is probably at the top of the list of those reasons. Another reason I might choose one track over another to race at weekly could be the rules package. Either way, your weekly racer is going to build his car to meet the rules of his home track. If he has any hopes of competing in the points race, the other tracks are of no consideration until the post season events come along.

 

So in summary, if a guy wants to race at all the paved tracks in TX, there are touring series available for that. If, on the other hand, a guy wants to race in a local class, he's not going to really give a rat's tail about what the rules are at any other track besides his home track. If the rules happen to be the same, rock on! If not, he's racing at home anyway.

[CommonSenseRacing]

Exactly, there needs to be more going into the cars setting then into common rules.

Your right, all the cars sitting in garages not racing is something that needs to be addressed, but before we can cross that bridge the rules need to be worked out. Each driver has his/her own reasons why their car is sitting, it's no different than speaking with track owner/promoter about common rules. They need to see the benefits that common rules would provide.

 

If there are no cars, the rules are useless... If you only have 25 cars total(sas & thr), how many do you think are going to make the trip every other week, 1 to 5 MAYBE if that.....If 5 cars show up it makes the car count go from 10 to 15. Is that good enough?

 

I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't give you a number, but I can give you the number that are traveling now, ZERO! If common rules would help the show, even a little, isn't that better than what they have now?

 

Also how many cars that are racing NOW will be parked if they cannot afford to change their car to the "common rules car". YES 2 year phase in period- If "rich kid" can afford the new rules right now(and it makes the car better) and "poor kid" cant, then what... YOU LOOSE ANOTHER CAR.....

 

There would be weight penalties/breaks to even out the field, so the "rich kid" wouldn't be able to buy the wins. Not to change the subject, but isn't that what happens in the SLMs?

 

JMO

[CommonSenseRacing]

Make it where a person can race on Sat for less than $100 a nite and cars will appear.

Hopefully, the pure/grand stock class will accomplish that and with the common rules the racer would be able to move up to the next division if he/she were so inclined by making minor changes to the car. Instead of having to sell his/her car and start over.

 

RULES<RULES<RULES

 

Unfortunately, you need rules, look at the CC super street engine rules (I'm not trying to bash CC, it's just to make a point). There engine rules in my opinion have a lot of loop holes. Those loop holes can be exploited by a good engine builder to the point that you need a $10,000.00 engine to be competitive in a street stock. That is part of what is killing asphalt racing, not only in Texas, but around the country.

[CommonSenseRacing]

Trudge on CSR! I believe this is a good thing in the making. It still needs work, but that is what the discussion is all about.

Why the change of heart in the last post?

[Truck99]

Trudge on CSR!  I believe this is a good thing in the making.  It still needs work, but that is what the discussion is all about.

Why the change of heart in the last post?

Read more closely. There's no change of heart. I tried to make my position clear, but maybe I was not successful. Common rules can be a good thing, but I just don't think they are the answer to our current car-count problems.

[americanracer]

SS99, you are so correct.

 

response to snowball

 

"That has to make racers feel good that you take an active role in recruiting cars to your track. By the results of your efforts, it is crystal clear that hospitality is probably more important than any rules the tracks or series may have or not have. Congratulations of your success, keep up the hard work. "

[KISS_Racing]

We have said all along that we would race at another track and if we did would pay for parts to race there... i.e. CCMS or THR. different tires, carb or whatever to make us legal as well as competative.

 

This being said, I feel that if common rules are excepted by SAS, THR, CCMS and even possibly HMS then on off weekends we MAY go somewhere else to run. Otherwise we are commited to run SAS and are happy with the rules in place. Having Common Rules with a set 3-5 year contract if you will, would be nice because the people who run on limited budgets wouldn't be changing things every year. Obviously leave room for safety changes and such. Even improvements that wouldn't be costly, like allowing X-pipes or exhaust improvements and performance for example wouldn't cost a Team so much that they had to sit out for a race or two possibly three...

 

 

LET ME MAKE ONE THING VERY CLEAR HERE!!!! We are happy with what Rick Day, Terry D. and ALL the other involved in making the rules at SAS have done. Even the late rule allowing the Sportsman to run a BEEFIER right front spindle for safety... Tire issue has come and gone! Thanks to all!

[HOUSTONLM04]

?

[CommonSenseRacing]

I hate to get preachy, but I feel the tread has unfortunately gotten off track again. Let’s look at the 3 of the concerns that people have:

 

1. BIG-Common rules, they will not solve all the problem asphalt racing in Texas is facing today. It could be a step in the right direct or another detour off the main road, that’s one of the big questions. Over 4200 hits on this tread tell me there is at least interest in common rules, either for or against. I will say it again, the only reason I wrote a set of common rules was to have a starting point that was different than any one of the existing rules that are in effect today. That was the easy part, adjusting those rules to make the competition fair is the hard part. I personally don’t believe that you can make everyone happy no matter what rules would be agree upon, it’s unfortunate but that’s reality.

 

2. BIGGER-There are a lot of cars sitting and everyone is right, that issue needs to be addressed. I do believe that if something doesn’t change they will continue to sit, since they are not knocking down the gates at the track to get in. JMO

 

What will attract the parked cars back on the track? I believe in order to do that, racers need to see steps being taken in the right direction before they would be willing to jump back in. What those steps are is the MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION OR ANSWER WHICH EVERWAY YOU WANT TO LOOK AT IT.

 

3. BIGGEST-The tracks working together, from the outside looking in not knowing all the facts, but trying to make an educated guess. The issue I see is the tracks don’t feel they need each other, that’s the big egos talking. Sides have been taken and the line has been drawn in the sand and the rebellion began. Once that started, it’s very hard to start over, the owners have their issues with each other and nothing is going to change that. All I know is that every disagreement takes at least two parties and seldom is one 100% at fault. My question to the owners is there anyway to make each party whole again and move forward?

 

I personally would like to see all the tracks have as much success as possible, because I’m tried of seeing short tracks turn into SHOPPING MALLS and do we really need another SHOPPING MALL.

 

I think that filled my preaching quota for the next ten years! lol

[Truck99]

.........................I also would like to commend Snowball on doing a great job of getting in touch with these drivers and letting them know that they are wanted and appreciated at FFS.

 

This quote was taken from another thread. This type of behavior might go a long way toward getting some of these dormant cars/drivers back to the track. If the promoters would call these drivers, ask them why they are not racing, and tell them they are missed, you never know what just might happen...I suggested this last year and several suggested it was silly to think something so simple could be the answer. It seems to work at other tracks.

[CommonSenseRacing]

.........................I also would like to commend Snowball on doing a great job of getting in touch with these drivers and letting them know that they are wanted and appreciated at FFS.

 

This quote was taken from another thread. This type of behavior might go a long way toward getting some of these dormant cars/drivers back to the track. If the promoters would call these drivers, ask them why they are not racing, and tell them they are missed, you never know what just might happen...I suggested this last year and several suggested it was silly to think something so simple could be the answer. It seems to work at other tracks.

 

It usually is the simplest plans that works best, the less moving parts the better. This way the ideas don't get lost in the translation, we all know how that goes.

 

JMO

[Crazyhorse]

maybe it's a bad example , for the plain and simple fact that the track closed anyhow............but ron chambers took over longhorn in one of it's last hours , and i can still remember him calling me every week to see if we were gonna run...........and drivers got in the pits for free......that was very cool , not the free part , just the fact that he was that devoted to call.........but of course that was before a tx speed zone or tx racing became the ways and means of communication..............now days before a guy can fart, everyone knows what he's gonna do.

[KISS_Racing]

now days before a guy can fart, everyone knows what he's gonna do.

OMG he didn't...

 

On second glance, he sure did...

[CommonSenseRacing]

maybe it's a bad example , for the plain and simple fact that the track closed anyhow............but ron chambers took over longhorn in one of it's last hours , and i can still remember him calling me every week to see if we were gonna run...........and drivers got in the pits for free......that was very cool , not the free part , just the fact that he was that devoted to call.........but of course that was before a tx speed zone or tx racing became the ways and means of communication..............now days before a guy can fart, everyone knows what he's gonna do.

So now that TXSZ is available, do you think the owners should send PM to all the drivers? It's not a phone call, but still could be a good gesture.

 

Those farts, are they silent but deadly, like the ninja smiley!!

[Truck99]

maybe it's a bad example , for the plain and simple fact that the track closed anyhow............but ron chambers took over longhorn in one of it's last hours , and i can still remember him calling me every week to see if we were gonna run...........and drivers got in the pits for free......that was very cool , not the free part , just the fact that he was that devoted to call.........but of course that was before a tx speed zone or tx racing became the ways and means of communication..............now days before a guy can fart, everyone knows what he's gonna do.

So now that TXSZ is available, do you think the owners should send PM to all the drivers? It's not a phone call, but still could be a good gesture.

 

Those farts, are they silent but deadly, like the ninja smiley!!

Nope. They should make the phone calls.

[CommonSenseRacing]

Thought ROCKSTAN would enjoy reading this!