Region 1 Sportsmans Class
 

I know there are a lot of guys who are improving in Region 1, 1/8th scale BUT. I have been speaking with a few of the other fast guys and we think there should really, really be a sportsman 1/8th class next year. I know when I started to run up at nercar back when the track was at the motorcycle dealership lot in enfield CT, we all had to run 1/8th sportsman for 1 year. That even carried over to the NJ track at the 1st parking lot b4 it went to edison college campus.

I mentioned last year that I thought there should be a top 20 for the first 2 heats of guys, for qualifying. Maybe we can do some kind of qualifying day that will determine who will be placed into sportsman class. How about it? let's have a whole day dedicated to qualifying to see who will race in sportsman class. let the sportsman class be only protoform bodies, not the GTP body we were forced to run a few years back.

Guys i'm telling you the faster guys are talking and it's gettings very old being in a main with a guy who was 2 laps off of your qualifying time just because he fits into the 10 person main. If this sportsman thing is not gonna fly, there has to be a way to manipulate Jlap so that the lap requirements for the A main are within a certain time of the Top 5 fastest qualifiers. It's not fair! Something has to be done. Just because you have the latest fastest most powerful motor doesn't make you fast.

Compromise
 

I agree with Taurean that a strategy should be implemented that will allow the fast guys to have a fun day racing with peers on their level, and also allow newer racers to compete without the pressure of being on the track with guys alot faster. However, there must be a COMPROMISE...To have ONE day of qualifying that will set the order for the REST of the season I think is a bit extreme. Taurean you are one of the faster guys in our Region, but lets say next year on this qualifying day you have problems, and cannot get a "good one" in. Now you will be placed in slower heats for the season. I think the racing strategy should be consistent and stable throughout the racing season. Meaning, create a workable format and stick with it. One, way to try and make everyone happy is to use RE-SHUFFLE. Most times we have three qualifiers, so after the first round there should be a re-shuffle. This way the faster guys are grouped, and the slower guys are grouped. With this method, if you have a bad qual it affects you for that day, and that day only. Plus, if you have a bad set of quals you can still bump up. That is what bump-ups are for. I watched Vincent have a horrible day in qualifying, but he bumped up from the C-Main to the A. With Bump-ups and Re-shuffles I feel there are enough opportunities for the faster guys to show what they are made of. When we travel to big races, from what I have seen sometimes you are thrown into what we call a "basher" heat, but as a racer you have to make the best of it. I dont think we reshuffle enough, and that is partly due to time constraints. There were alot of kinks ironed out this year, and hopefully next year, it will be smooth sailing, and re-shuffles can be used regularly. We also have to educate newer drivers. Teach them that if you let the faster car through, then you and him/her will be faster, blocking only slows you both down. Some racers just DONT get that. That is very important!!!! I arrived a little late this past weekend (10am), but I don't remember hearing anything about a drivers meeting??? Even if its only 10 racers, and the meeting is on 22 seconds long, there has to be a meeting so everyone knows what is going on, and basic rules/tips (IE: ALWAYS LET THE LEADER THROUGH) are stated.

Guys, are you kidding me? Welcome to RC racing! This has been going on since they started racing these things.

First, there is no rule that says you have to let a faster car by. It's called courtesy, something sorely missing in racing these days.

If you're a slower car and someone faster is coming up, you should try to let them by cleanly when it's convenient to you. If you're a faster car and you come up on someone slower, it's up to you to have patience and wait for a clean opportunity to pass. Don't drive through the guy and then say you should have gotten out of my way.

And it's up to more experienced drivers to talk to people who may not know what racing courtesy is and explain it to them, without being confrontational.

sportsman class
 

Jim your funny! It's always the guy who has a 1000 post on a forum, who's always talking about coming out to race, who never shows up to the track, who has the most to say!! LOL There's a room full of guys like yourself jim. A lot of them lurk around these forums, post away and race very little. But are the 1st to tell a stranger how there into "the hobby."

Me personally i'm in pretty heavily into the hobby. Far from the best, but a pretty decent driver. I've raced near and far away, via planes, cars etc. I spend a sizable amount of my own money on this hobby and to keep everyone having fun within there abilities I offer suggestions.

Racing is racing no question about that. All i'm talking about is driver placement according to skill level, that's it. When i was a teen studying karate I was a pretty skilled and aggressive brown belt. My sensai never paired me with white belts to spar. Why is that? In college I was 265lb OL we never did drills with the Safety's. Placement jim, that's all i'm getting at!

I may not race very often now, but I've raced long enough to know what I'm talking about.

Dividing racers by skill level is a good idea, if you have enough racers. No matter what you do eventually you're going to end up in a race with a hack. It's up to racers to work it out among themselves to stop this sort of stuff.

I must first say that I agree with Paul about a good racer not having a good day of qualifying. In my opinion, I believe that the best way to go is by having re-shuffles after every round. Yes, we may know a few racers who are hackers or are a bit slower than the fast guys, but if a separate class was to put in place I don't think there will be a lot of racers in the expert class as there aren't too many people who are within a lap of the top driver. I'm sure you wouldn't want to have only about 15-20 people in the pro class.

Another reason I think it wouldn't be wise to have the sportman class is if a racer from out of the Region or one who has never been to our track or tracks to race, what class would he be allowed to race in? What if you put him in the sportsman class and he's an excellent driver?

This must can be resolved some other way than splitting the class and still be fair to everyone.

I think re-shuffles should line guys up according to their skill level. It works when applied. Re-shuffle after every round. I think that would work, and at the end, your 3 round average should determine your place in the mains. Just a thought. :)

I think the reshuffling we presently do is the way to go. A sportsman class might be a good idea, but it should be by choice. Let me explain my points. Part of the game is dealing with traffic, but I agree, to a point. What would happen if say the top 3 in a class, just get that much better than the rest and continually finish a couple of laps ahead of the next 3 who are real close. Are we to have mains with just 3 out there?
Next example is if we had a ratings weekend. What happens if someone just has a terrible day for a bunch of reasons and he obiously does not belong in the sportsman class. Does that mean he has to stay in the sportsman class and can only get out with a win? Also there are the bump ups to think about. If someone finally gets it together from a lower class and wins a couple, he should be allowed to run in the A.
Or what happens if you miss the rating weekend altogether.
The present system rewards the person who is getting better and would love a chance to run with the big boys.

sportsman class
 

I still say a sportsman class is the way to go. If someone has a terrible day on a qualifying/sorting day. Then they should have to win at least 2 races in the sportsman class before there allowed to go into the Open class. This is very similar to what Bob Poage did at the nercar club.

We use to look at the guys in the open class and admire how fast they were and how clean the racing was, but we all knew that we did not belong in the open class because we weren't ready. There wasn't even a option if you wanted to run 1/8th you had to run in GTP before you were able to run open. I think this definitely was a filtering process, but it was very much needed!

Definitely just my opinion, but i've been talking to the other fast guys who usually always make the A and some kind of changes are definitley gonna have to be made, to make everyone happy.

Hey Taurean......I understand exactly what u're saying about having a good clean race, but things happen even in a race with all good drivers. For example look what happened at the beginning of the Nationals in Cincinnatti. Anything can happen at anytime man, no matter who's in the race.

Take for example again, our last club race at Floyd. I think you TQ'd with 21 and about 4 other guys had 20 laps. Are you saying that everyone who did under 20 laps should be in the sportsman class? That would make it really boring for you, the fast guys, or so I think.

I know there are some serious hackers in 1/8th scale, but I do believe re-shuffling can sort that out and it would be somewhat like putting all the slower racers in a sportsman class, which would be the lower mains. This is just my 2 cents though.

Taurean, I agree with u 100%! Something really should b done. Jim, please cut ur crap. U always come up some bull. It b better if u did'nt post. Something has 2 b done and soon. Jim, with all do respect, it's good u don't race that much... cuz u sure would b 1 of the hacks. It b nice 2 have good clean racing. Taurean's Idea is GREAT! I second u on it dawg.

Here's something I posted not too long ago on the barcar forum...

Posted: 20 Sep 2006 09:40 pm Post subject: NO MORE HAMMER TIME!!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guys, at the last FBF race I attended, I was taken out on the straight away by someone. The damage to my car was extensive.

Pipe
Reciever
Throttle Servo
Steering Servo
Steering Servo Mount
Fr upper and lower right arms
Lower hinge pin
Front belt
2 Bearings
Chassis

Besides the fact that it's just wrong, it's costly as well.
I know a few racers that couldn't bounce back on the track anytime soon if that happened to them.

In light of this, unsportsman like driving will be addressed at all BARCAR races.

On any one race event.
First penalty = 5 sec stop and go.
Second penalty = 10 sec stop and go + loss of one lap from your best qualifier.
Third Penalty = Earns a Black Flag.
Black Flag = Disqualification from the event.

Anyone recieving two or more penalties in a single race event will drop their "RANKING" to '1' in the computer.

'Computer Ranking'
Whenever a driver entry is made there is a ranking box.
The computer ranks you from 1 lowest to 10 being the highest rank you can get.

The computer automatically puts you in heats with those having a simalar ranking.

The idea of doing this is so that everyone will become more consciencious of what they do on the track. Once that happens, everyone will get faster and have more fun in the process.

Thank you for reading this.

PS:
By reading this you agree NOT to be a HACK!

Later
_________________
Chavo
President
B.A.R.C.A.R.C

Why would it be better if I didn't post? Because you can't handle the truth? Even the best drivers are guilty of hacking once in a while because of how close the competition is. Forming a Sportsman class simply to separate the hacks from everyone else isn't going to work. You're always going to have not-as-good drivers in any class you have. The problem is magnified in 1/8 scale because of the speeds. You're more likely of breaking something going that fast.

Now, a sportsman class that has some sort of cost control (like a spec engine) would be a very good idea. This way you have a better chance of convincing a new 1/8 driver to run in the lower class because it will be cheaper. The new guy can learn the skills without emptying the wallet.

The downside is how do you enforce it?

Have you ever spoken to anyone I race electric with? (Dean, Mike Mal, Richie) I'm sure there's a lot of words they would use to describe me, but hack isn't one of them.

You guys have a good thing going in Brooklyn. Don't let percieved attitudes ruin it.

Jim, it's just u always post things like that man. Cost has nothing 2 do with what was said. In fact, It kinda does. Last race at Floyed, I seen guys hack the hell out of Alex Frank! There is no reason at ALL those guys should have been on the track with him! It cost money 2 repair parts that would'nt have broken if the hacks had there own time. The faster guys r well know by every1. There no reason they should have 2 run with hacks everytime they race.

Our last regional race here in Texas will incorporate a sportsman class, but it still does not prevent sportsman from entering what we call the modified class. Every driver had to learn from somewhere, and it's actually the new drivers that keep the hobby going. The only wat to get better and gain experience is to race against the experienced racers. Preventing any driver from signing up for any race will prevent newer drivers from competing. IMO!!