TL,DR version: Thanks for all your work getting the region going Dearstyne! Let's keep spreading the word and recruiting new 944 Spec drivers and have more fun doing it. Let's help each other stay on track and get faster. Part-oberfest! Free Toyos!
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First of all, I’d like to thank the outgoing series director, Michael Dearstyne, for all his hard work getting this region off the ground. I left a region in Texas that had a few cars, but was splintered between PCA and NASA. When I showed up for my first SE event, it was refreshing to see a consistent group of faces that would stick around the entire season and have a good group of cars at each event. I think we are close to having consistently 10 cars each race next year with just a little help from the community.
I've had the chance to think about a few things for a while that I would like to try out if I were to become the Series Director for this region. While I'm not going to focus solely on recruiting, I think it’s still necessary to spread the word about our class to anyone that will listen. There are aspects about our cars that can appeal to those drivers in the other spec classes that could bring them over. We've already seen interest from a racer that was going to SE30, but now seems to want to play with us. I've also had success in Texas recruiting SM racers. Not to mention the first of our GTS1 defectors as well as the adopted GTS1 car we all have fun with at the track. Given our consistent rule set, power limit, and no real 'ringer' setup, we have an awesome cost-effective way to play.
At future races, look for me to do more driver development sessions. I think most of you have seen my videos, now it’s time to start analyzing them at the track to get the class better and faster as a whole. If you don't have a Traqmate, then I invite you to put whatever data logger/predictive lap timer you use into my car during practice to give you a better benchmark to track your progress. If you have a Traqmate, then we can load some fast laps onto it. I'm also always willing to drive other cars for any reason at all!
Lastly, let's continue the fine tradition of helping each other out. There's been a few trackside thrash repair sessions this year and that's a hallmark of our camaraderie and points to the fact that we aren't having fun if we aren't out on track. We all come to have fun racing, so let’s make sure we do everything we can to keep everyone on track. The more cars, the more fun we'll have. The more fun we're having, the more visibility we get. The more visibility we get, the more cars we'll attract. The annual Part-oberfest is approaching were we may have one of these sessions as well as a possible iRacing simulator to play around on where you can get a preview of Daytona or more experience on Road Atlanta and VIR.
As an incentive to finish out the year strong with solid numbers in our final 3 race weekends (VIR, Daytona, Road Atlanta), I'm offering up a set (4) of brand new Toyo RRs to one racer at the end of the season. To be eligible, we need at least 5 cars at each of our final races and you need to race in at least 4 of the remaining 6 races over the course of those 3 events. You must also be a racer that will continue with 944 Spec in the SE region next year. Winning selection criteria will not be based on race results. Regional Series Director not eligible.
If we show enough participation and interest for the remainder of the season, there's a high likely hood of Hawk Performance Brake Pads, compound of your choosing, being thrown in as well to a separate racer that meets the same criteria as above.
