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Noticed some comments going back and forth about what PAX is and isn't, etc. Since ALSCCA will use it to pay cash prizes this year, it becomes even more important. I've been doing research into this (and developing my own method of rating the speed of classes just for national events).
1) PAX is intended to be "correct" for local competition on asphalt, per Rick Ruth, who created it, because that's where the majority of the data points come from. In other words, the PAX rating is intended for places like Verizon amphitheater in Pelham and Milton Frank Stadium in Huntsville.
2)PAX is not really a national tour or national championship rating system. The results of national tours are used, but only as just another set of data points (about 10 each year) out of 1500 or so events that he looks at. He doesn't give those results any priority or weighting. Therefore, they can have, essentially, no effect as they are so few in number, if what he says is true.
3) So, the R-comp vs. Street Tire class ratings should be fair on our local asphalt surfaces assuming the local surface is not too different from the "average" surface across the U.S. It would only be at a concrete site, like at most (but not all) Tours, where the Street Tire classes get bonked because the R-comp classes are now going faster than the rating because their tires start doing so much better. Or, a terrible site such as JHP in Huntsville, where R-comps struggle to work at all better than street tires, depending upon how much gravel and how uneven the surfaces. (Yes, I know, Verizon has a problem with dust and really small gravel that seems to hurt R-comps to some extent, if not blown off the line.)
4) The above three points are, in general, true. Where it is not true is in special situations. Such as, STF, which was a new class last year. Or ASP/BSP which were reformulated last year. In those cases, we don't know exactly what Rick does to come up with a PAX number. It is some sort of educated guess-work I imagine, where he used whatever data he can and adds some subjective determinations.
5) Actually, Exactly how Rick formulates any of the PAX numbers is unknown. He doesn't reveal his methods, I imagine for very good reasons. We don't know, for instance, how (or even if) he filters out classes won by poorly prepared cars with poor drivers. I suspect he must do some sort of filtering, or discounting, but it is not public knowledge.
The above is what I've learned from researching what Rick Ruth himself (not anyone else) has posted on sccaforums.com over the last couple of years.
1) PAX is intended to be "correct" for local competition on asphalt, per Rick Ruth, who created it, because that's where the majority of the data points come from. In other words, the PAX rating is intended for places like Verizon amphitheater in Pelham and Milton Frank Stadium in Huntsville.
2)PAX is not really a national tour or national championship rating system. The results of national tours are used, but only as just another set of data points (about 10 each year) out of 1500 or so events that he looks at. He doesn't give those results any priority or weighting. Therefore, they can have, essentially, no effect as they are so few in number, if what he says is true.
3) So, the R-comp vs. Street Tire class ratings should be fair on our local asphalt surfaces assuming the local surface is not too different from the "average" surface across the U.S. It would only be at a concrete site, like at most (but not all) Tours, where the Street Tire classes get bonked because the R-comp classes are now going faster than the rating because their tires start doing so much better. Or, a terrible site such as JHP in Huntsville, where R-comps struggle to work at all better than street tires, depending upon how much gravel and how uneven the surfaces. (Yes, I know, Verizon has a problem with dust and really small gravel that seems to hurt R-comps to some extent, if not blown off the line.)
4) The above three points are, in general, true. Where it is not true is in special situations. Such as, STF, which was a new class last year. Or ASP/BSP which were reformulated last year. In those cases, we don't know exactly what Rick does to come up with a PAX number. It is some sort of educated guess-work I imagine, where he used whatever data he can and adds some subjective determinations.
5) Actually, Exactly how Rick formulates any of the PAX numbers is unknown. He doesn't reveal his methods, I imagine for very good reasons. We don't know, for instance, how (or even if) he filters out classes won by poorly prepared cars with poor drivers. I suspect he must do some sort of filtering, or discounting, but it is not public knowledge.
The above is what I've learned from researching what Rick Ruth himself (not anyone else) has posted on sccaforums.com over the last couple of years.
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