I think having a Street Class heads up portion of the Corvette Challenge is a good Idea. Pro-8 for the unlimited guys going 8's and faster, and the Street Class for us other guys. Plus, the qualifing field would be larger since there are more cars that are already competing in the Corvette challenge that fit into this catagory or are close. You could even make it an index class as not to have it get too crazy. Also, the cars that run in this "theoretical" class (for now) could be excluded from running brackets unless the racer buys another ticket to run both classes. That way the event would pretty much use the same amount of time that it currently uses. You either run one event or the other.....if you want to run both then you buy another card. Just my .02 cents. I also think a sponsor could be found to sponsor this portion of the Corvette Challenge with out much trouble.

 

Tom, I think you've got the right idea, Why don't you offer to help Edgar set this up and find a sponsor.

 

....hold on everybody...before anyone "makes" a class or sets up a race I believe you need to have Edgar present some different scenarios to the napps so that they can see if there is any room for this and how the cost will be absorbed.

 

Thanks,
Your are well respected in our book!

 

I told you before Mike, if you wanted a 400 I would help you with the PITA portion of it. You can be thorn in my side sometimes , but I like the compitition you bring to the table. It keeps me on my toes.

 

Steve yes you are welcome to join us in the Corvette Challenge (bracket class) or Pro 8 (heads-up class) any time. If you are sereious I will give you all the detail.

Brian, thank you very much. I think running away with this double class is good only for racers that fit into the new class. I will discuss with RP tonight/tomorrow and a get a feel for how receptive it is, even though I am totatally against it is it only means more work for me...but I know you guys will sign up for points and race the series in support of the series or it will surely die.

Mackey, certainly additional sponsorship will sweeten the deal. Associate and supporting spnosorships are very welcome for the Pro 8 and or the Corvette Challenge.

Paul Z, great suggestion, in essecensce it is what I have to do to please everyone, with the exeption of there will be no proceeds form the sale of my car since I still owe on it but hat is noones problem or business.

Bob Korreck, your humor and comedy no longer impresses or amuses me so unless you are ready to take that slug to the next level, your opinon is worth nothing when it comes to Pro 8 so please take this as an official notice that I do not appreciate the emails you are sending me or the public comments on the forum regarding something you do not participate in.

 

Edgar,
I personally think if another class would bring more work for you then it should not even be presented to the Napps. Now if someone could help out then thats another story. But that bridge needs to be crossed first.

 

I don't know about the other racers but with all the money we spend to get our cars ready to participate in the corvette challenge - I would not hesitate to make a contribution if it helps - especially if we can get Edgar some help to really take some of the burden off of him/reward him for his efforts too. What if all or most of the racers did that would it help the management situation?

 

Guys , if we don't add a street version of the Pro-8 it will die off , sooner or later . Don't anyone forget , if it wasn't for us IRS/Stock suspension guys , there wouldn't be any Pro-8 today , some of us have been racing in and supporting the Corvette Challenge for 5 years , and were racing in the Quick-4 three years ago , before anyone even heard of the back-half cars , guys like me , Boweryboy , Chris-ECS , Brian Miller , John Carter , now since there are basically no rules , and it's a free for all , we all have to sink another 25,000.00 into our cars to compete . That's B.S . " Without us there wouldn't have been a Quick-4 , or Pro-8 .

I remember fifteen years ago going to a 5.0 Mustang Shootout at E-Town , there were 10 cars , it was the very beginning of the 5.0 racing scene , one of the first shootouts they had , guys were running mid-10's and were the top dogs , look where Ford Mustang racing scene is today , the PRO-5.0 guys are in the high 6's and they have several different classes and many different events throughout the country for guys to compete , right in the beginning they started creating classes , because the fastest guys got real fast , real quick , but they didn't shut out the guys who couldn't build a Pro 5.0 car , they created classes .

 

Edgar, I have deleted the post you seem to have found offensive. Also be advised that any emails I have sent to you were REPLIES to your emails. I did not initiate them. I have a suggestion. Don't address any of my posts in a thread and I won't address any of yours. If you want a pizzing contest, you're talking to the right guy.

 

I guess I'm not allowed an opinion but I still think it would help fill the field rather than detract from it.

 

Mike, everyone can appreciate the fact that you and the other racers have been doing this for 3 years. It's a great series and if I had a car 3 years ago I'd definitely be prticipating as well. I'm not trying to minimize your guys' support for the series but if it wasn't the 5 or 6 of you, then it would've been the next 5 or 6 fastest guys. It's an open class, you know what I mean? And rules have changed over the last 3 years. Happens every day.

I think you're really hung up on the irs thing and I think you're concentrating on the worng detail. Paul Major can walk into the irs class and kick the crap out of EVERYONE because there isn't a single person running with 1/2 a second of him. Does THAT make the series more exciting? I mean, he's got irs so he's definitely allowed in the class. Sooner or later, I would have found the right combination to keep my drivetrain together and I'd be running 8s with irs (and probably a 6 speed) too. So that's two cars dominating a series and you're back in the same boat.

If you want to make the class more exciting, the races much closer, but still heads up on a pro tree you HAVE TO FORGET the irs thing and push for an index class. An index is the ONLY equalizer. Like I said in a previous post, advances in technology are allowing guys to keep irs and go quicker and quicker while staying together. Look at the Vipers. What are you going to do when other guys start pumping $20,000 into their irs cars and run well into 8s? Make a rule that prevents a driver from competing if they have more than $30,000 invested into the car and have to present receipts at tech? It's impossible.

Assuming that you get an irs class. Who's gonna fill it and how spread out will the field be? You, Billy, and Alan's blue running low 9s and I don't see another participant that can hang with you guys. Because more guys than you think are making changes to their cars. They just don't want it be known.

As of now, the Pro 8 stays the same for next season so I don't have a problem. This is just my opinion on spliting the series. There are a lot of guys stepping up to make their cars more competitive in the Pro 8 next year so saying that the series will eventually die if it stays like this is completely opposite of what I'm seeing today. If this series was in jeopardy of disappearing, Leo wouldn't have as many Vettes at the shop as he does right now or will have over the next 3 months.

 

I agree that in order for this "proposed" new class to work it would need to be indexed. Costs and participation the main reasons. But the guys in the 9's, ask your self this.....what happens if this come to pass and there is a 10.0 index? How would you feel about that? Remember, this is all just talk presently.

 

I've been doing this for almost 40 years and if there is one thing I've learned is that there will always be someone who will be faster and have the money to spend to get there.

 

You make some real solid points

 

Mackey , I fully acknowledge that , and I'm not hating on the faster guys , I love to race , especially heads up , against evenly matched competition , and I think there's enough stock suspension cars around to do it . That's all , if it doesn't happen , so be it , I'll still keep running my car , and have fun driving it on the street as much as possible .

 

Paul , You're wrong , and not taking anything away from Paul M's accomplishments , but , if the rest of us IRS guys went to a Turbo 400 trans , ( Me , Doug , John C. , etc Alan and Bill are already converted) we all have the potential to run 8.90's , maybe quicker , then factor in the tree , and an 8.70 car can be taken out . And no C5 IRS 6-speed is ever going to run 8's . There's a big difference between an IRS Viper , with the trans in the front , and an IRS C5 .

The way the Pro-8 is now , it's not even worth it to me to convert my car to a t-400 , so I will run high 8's , and still not be competitive against low 8 second cars , and lose a lot of streetability , and deal with all the other hassles of converting to a 400 . Not worth it . I'll be looking forward to watching you guys battle it out next year and see which way the series goes .

 

Mike there isn't any reason it can happen, my biggest concern is the safety of the car going that fast on saturday. I believe the PRO 8 should become a Sunday class, and the IRS PRO8 become the Saturday class. If sunday is out run each Pro class every other Challenge on Saturday.
This is very doable. but as always it all about the money and convincing David to give it a chance to succeed. That was how I got the Quick 4 to beging with and everthing else the challeneg is today. I was a very hard sell in the begining but I think the series a success record now that the Napps can't overlook.
I would first fine a sponsor to come up with some funding and then have Edgar present it to the Napps. Maybe start off with 4 cars and let ir grow. You know I hate rules but I would like to see a cap/index, maybe 9.90. You could run that with a little less boots and there are other IRS cars that could be competitive. It just a thought.
You would also need someone to become the coordinator of the to help Edgar. You really need one of "US" from the series helping with this to see it runs smooth, you can't count on track help to run it right(except Impala Joe).

Don't give up on this, I still say it could happen for 2006.

 

Right. So it's not a matter of splitting the class purely along suspension lines. Because if you say "irs only" cars in one class and "everything else" in the other class, then you still wouldn't be competitive because of guys who have a race trans in their car. So, back to the drawing board. Then you have to define the rules in more detail - irs and no race transmissions. You see where I'm coming from? That's why I thought if the class could be split, an index was the only equalizer that made sense witout the need for 583 rules.

 

Stay tuned for an announcement before the end of the day.