Solo Points 2 event April 7, 2012

[kilgojr]

Before the Easter bunny arrives we have some cone carnage to do. We will be utilizing the large lot as we always have. John W8 will be designing this course so we are looking forward to seeing what he will come up with.

We had quite a few of our regulars absent from the Points 1 event so we are hoping to see more of you out there. And when you register, remember to bring a friend that has never been to an event before, or one that has possibly been away from the sport for a while. We were down on our novice numbers last time and definitely saw it hurt our overall participation.

Registration will open on Monday the 26th of March.

[cjwsrt]

Question for you guys, I ran Novice last event and have decided to run actuall class (BSP) for the rest of the year instead of getting a year of novice. Anyway I can switch my times from Points 1 to BSP and not novice so I can get those points. Basically taking the N off?

[TouringBubble]

Technically, it's possible, but it's the call of the Solo Chair ... John?

[JohnW8]

Speaking as a former solo chair, in the past when someone wanted to jump classes they lost their points for the previous events. This is because they didn't compete in class for those points. Novice is a pax class no? BSP isn't a pax class. So if you won 1st place in Novice that doesn't mean the driver would have won BSP. Does that sound reasonable?

[cjwsrt]

Speaking as a former solo chair, in the past when someone wanted to jump classes they lost their points for the previous events. This is because they didn't compete in class for those points. Novice is a pax class no? BSP isn't a pax class. So if you won 1st place in Novice that doesn't mean the driver would have won BSP. Does that sound reasonable?

I understand that, and didnt win Novice, but my Raw time, which I was going by when thought about moving was enough to take first in BSP and first in novice before pax

[kilgojr]

John W8 is correct. Your points stay with your class. You have to run 6 events to win a class championship for the ALSCCA. But lets say you ran 6 different classes and won first place in each of those classes one time. You technically scored first place, but you only ran once in each class. So you haven't won anything really.

So, to answer your question, you can run BSP for the rest of the year with no problem. But your points from the first event will stay with the Novice class.

[kilgojr]

I understand that, and didnt win Novice, but my Raw time, which I was going by when thought about moving was enough to take first in BSP and first in novice before pax

I know that it seems like it should be an easy thing to do. Looking at the raw times you were faster then the other BSP cars. But its been seen in the past. Cholewa for instance, several years ago, was running HS in a rabbit and consistently was in the mid pack of SM cars on raw time. So he decided that he would switch to SM to have competition and the chance to win or place in a ALSCCA championship (HS had no one else running). When he made the move to SM, suddenly he was at the bottom of the time sheets for the SM crowd. It is something that can't be explained. But when a class has competition, everyone looks out for the times of the others in their class. We can't just grant you 1st place (that is a bad way to say it, but i hope you know what i mean) because of your raw times. You have to participate with the class, and the others in that class need to know that you are running against them. It is the only fair way to do it.

You have plenty of events left, plus this year we are incorporating the drop system for points, so every event is not quite as important as it has been in the past.

[TouringBubble]

And, with DROPS BACK THIS YEAR, that one event won't matter anyway as long as you make 8 more and run in BSP.

(Just figured I'd bring this back up berfore the banquet this year ... =)

[kilgojr]

And, with DROPS BACK THIS YEAR, that one event won't matter anyway as long as you make 8 more and run in BSP.

(Just figured I'd bring this back up berfore the banquet this year ... =)

I brought it up as well. Not important to make every event this year. As we are seeing already, people aren't in a hurry to run events.

[Cholewa]

That upclassing can be a pain...

Just go somewhere and drive, don't worry about other people until the end of the day, then brag about being faster than someone else.

[kilgojr]

reminder. Points 2 is this coming Saturday. Any classing questions need to be taken up with Matt Williams or Ervin Carder (yes i just threw you both under the bus, until someone else decides to be Classing supervisor).

Anything else, contact myself or Mark Kilgore (e30racer).

[chuck schultz]

Since I probably won't even be able to come by to watch, I'll bring up a subject near and dear to my heart that just came to mind.

A hundred years ago, back in the Old Country, in the frozen North, when I first started participating in Solo II, it was common practice to have a large piece of plexiglass and some china markers set up to post everyone's times publicly as the event progressed. This was an assigned worker position, instead of shagging cones, etc.

This was very useful for those of us who are visual learners vs. auditory learners, or for those who can't remember numbers. For instance, when I blue flag an enduro, I can't tell you a car number for a leader or a slowpoke, but I can usually pick 'em out visually. On the other hand, I can't even remember my own time if I hear it on the radio or see it on the scoreboard. Therefore, all questions about, "How'd ya do this time?" are answered with, "I had a good time, and that's all that matters." While that statement is true, it's an inadequate response to the question.

Therefore, I propose, again, even though it's None of My Business, that the Region provide a dry-erase board and some markers, and assign a worker to posting names, car numbers, classes, and times for each run to make it easier and more fun to see one's progress, for better or worse, in relationship with all other drivers in _all_ classes. This is the only way my brain can process this information, and it's a good way for everyone to enjoy watching everyone's races, rather than just their own.

Now it's time for you to tell me that we don't have enough workers as it is, and that it'll never work, while I go back to uploading pictures of motorcycles.

[JohnW8]

In the old days, we've tried the timeslip at the finish but sometimes the writer can't hear the times or the display board fails to give up a few digits. So we generally scrapped it.

I would think an old laptop placed near grid showing the current times would work the same as your dry erase board without having it be a work assignment. The times would be displayed in grid just like they are for the announcer.

John, Mark do we still have an old laptop for time display purposes in grid?

[kilgojr]

In the old days, we've tried the timeslip at the finish but sometimes the writer can't hear the times or the display board fails to give up a few digits. So we generally scrapped it.

I would think an old laptop placed near grid showing the current times would work the same as your dry erase board without having it be a work assignment. The times would be displayed in grid just like they are for the announcer.

John, Mark do we still have an old laptop for time display purposes in grid?

I was about to say yes we do, but before I say that I need to check to make sure that in fact we do and that it will not mess anything up with timing and scoring.

I have been asking for a 60" flat screen to put on the outside of the trailer for times but so far it has not been deemed necessary for Solo and our budget.

[e30Racer]

Thanks for your input Chuck! Will be considered