Originally Posted by Kevin CBR

When people ask the inevitable question, how do we get more new people into race, the common denominator is "must be cheap to get people interested". I think the bigger question is how do you get "kids" away from video games and how do you get parents to invest the time to take their kid to a track to practice and race.

If you are going to run spec class, you have to keep it very restricted and you have to tech the vehicles. Racing by it's very nature is a competitive sport. Add the "youth soccer" mentality of not keeping score and everyone gets a trophy and it is even more difficult. Tamiya has the GT Pro Spec class. Very limited hop-ups on their lower end TT02 chassis. But unless you get a very large turnout that you can have an expert and sportsman class, those "new people", if they have to run against better racers because of experience or set-up skill eventually get tires of being at the back of the pack.

If a track is going to try to build this kind of class, it is most likely going to be a one off at their track. And the bigger picture on these limited spec classes is once the novelty wears off, people start dropping out and then the class slowly dies off because the "spec car class" you created would not be competitive in any of the other regular classes.

Why not just do a better job at locally policing the driver skill in the classes. Start the newer drivers in Novice. If someone comes in with a $ 1,000 car and waxes the field the first two races, bump them up to sportsman immediately. But also don't let the guy who has been racing for ten years but wants to race on the cheap with his ten year old chassis and five year old motors and batteries and one set of tires a year race in novice just so they can win. Most people at your local track know who each other is and their skill level. But it usually takes the track owner to have to be the bad guy to bump someone up a class but they are hesitant as they do not want to upset a paying customer.

Panda