Guys, need your input on some thoughts for next year. I'll be meeting with Dave Royce this Saturday, and can go over some of this with him.

#1: Any T&T or outside races of particular interest this year? I know there is PCA event at Gateway that Joel Karns will be at April 4-5th - good weather, but need to be a PCA member. Gingerman has open days in early April, but weather is chancy up there. I don't see good options before the season at Blackhawk. MAM might have dates - maybe Rob can give us an update - need a non-Easter date for most of us.

#2: How many races to drop in season point standings?
We have 8 weekends/16 races this year. One weekend will be missed by those going to Nationals. My preference would be 4 drops, but am flexible.

#3: Sponsorships. We will have CDOC & Toyo, as always. MotoDelta & Bennington will be doing some things for us through the season - lunches, discounts, any maybe some other stuff, we'll see. It does not look good for cash sponsors in this economy this year. Ekquist Racing Trailers has been helpful, but until we bring them some business, I can't ask for more cash. Doc's Upholstrey, VFC cannot continue their Spec sponsorship programs. If you guys have any other good leads let me know, but be prepared to help!

#4 I want to keep an emphasis on clean racing in 944 Spec. It's part of what separates us from the "other" big Spec series, and it more fun if we all go with our cars intact. That said, we all want to race for real and not do parade laps. It's a fine line, one we straddled pretty well last year, though not perfect. As we get more racers, and the level of competition goes up, this will be more of a challenge. I don't want draconian penalties for minor as the PCA does, but I'd like to "incentivize" good behavior. Last year, if you had contact (more than a tire rub), you gave up your cash contingency to the 944 Spec kitty for year end stuff, etc. This year we won't have the cash to work with (I can't control CDOC & Toyo bucks this way). My thought was to ask NASA or another sponsor for a year-end reward or drawing. You'd lose your "entry" for any weekend you had contact, diminshing your chances of said year end reward. After X # incidents, all of your chances would go away. Just one thought - give me some more & we'll hash them out.

#5: What are your guys thoughts on fun/gimmick races - pursuit style races, inverted grids, etc. We will do some of these, but how many & what type are open to discussion

#6: Who's in for enduros this year? With our large fuel tanks, and low consumables cost, great durability, and the easy to drive nature of the 944, it makes a great endurance platform. It's a lot of seat time for the money. Ray, Anhil, BJ & I all did this last year. Start thinking about who you'd like to team up with (2-3) drivers. If you make a team,it helps you maximize your series points. Make sure all the drivers fit inyour designated car, and that you guys have some contingency plan in place for costs and damage incurred.

#7 Who would be interested in throwing their Toyo buck into a kitty and spreading the tires around? There may be ways we can make this happen, though not directly through Toyo. While I'm conservative in my everday life, inside the racing "commune", I have socialist tendancies

#8 What else would you guys like to see?

Eric, FYI re: "I don't want draconian penalties for minor as the PCA does"
Here is PCA's change for 2009 on the 13/13 rule. Although not exactly as NASA does it but at least this is a big improvement.

www.pca.org/clubrace/newsletters/CRN%200...PCA%20WebVersion.pdf

We are definitely giving away some pit stop time to other types of cars due to the stock gas filler neck restriction. 944 Spec cars would be even more competitive in endurance racing if we could remove the restriction.

Keep up the good work and open minded thoughts.

Bill

Here is my 2 cents:

1. I desperately need track time before the season starts!! For MAM, Damian hasn’t locked in his dates yet, but will likely be that Easter weekend. MAM has open lapping on Fridays, so I’ll at least go on Good Friday. If you look into tracks/days outside the NASA schedule, please look to the WEST of Chicago (for us West of you). Maybe Iowa Speedway? Maybe ask Dave if they’ll have open lapping at Road America on the Friday?
2. Dropping 4 ok by me
3. Don’t forget Andrew Racing for pads!
4. Easy – chain up Ray! Frank and frequent discussion among all 944 drivers after being on track is the best prevention. Maybe a year end racer vote on safest/who you would most likely loan your car to, with an award of some of the pooled Toyo $?
5. No real thoughts here – its all fun to me.
6. I’d love to run Enduros, or just help in the pits. But I usually get to the track/area very late on Friday (due to distance).
7. I’m happy to share all my winnings (ha ha).
8. a) a formal “camp 944” at all races for all 944 racers, trailers and rigs, no matter when they arrive. No one should have to set up away from the gang.
b) Friday open lapping at track before a race weekend,
c) for Eric and Linda to spread the workload – we all appreciate your energy and efforts, but don’t want you to burn out!

#5 inverted starts are the norm in the RMR . As the field of cars grows we only invert the top 5-10 but this is a fun way to race our cars. we tried a few starts with no invert last year and they were not fun. Driver on pole drove away with 2nd 3rd and 4th behind him... Plus if your the drivers up front you need to practice passing other cars.

#7 is a big help for the guys on the lower side of the budget. If you can afford a LSD and a fully built car (like mine) then helping out the driver without those items really goes over well ! Next thing you know everyone is having fun and 944-spec is the largest class in your region. Please share the wealth.

Chuck

Dittos to Chuck's post.
The inverted starts are fun and for rookies like me, really gives you an chance to "race" with everyone, the fast drivers and the guys at you own level. It forces you to learn traffic skills and see how the faster drivers are working the track, car and traffic.

I haven't done it yet, but a short Hasnksville Challenge looks like a blast.

Feel free to ignore my out of region driver's $.02.