SCCA GT1, 2 and 3, I'd like to see more moderns.

I remember in my youth being at tracks where there were a great many of the current sports cars racing. I also remember with fondness the huge fields of thundering Tran Ams. Burt at heart, I was always attracted more to the Sports Car classes. I can still remember vividly watching Paul Newman, who I'd just walked past in the pits, racing in his Nissan ZX for the Championship against Kenny Slagel in his Rotary Mazda RX7.

That was fantastic racing! I wish there were a modern equivalent.There is Ferrari Challenge. And there is PCA stuff. But they play alone? Not together anymore? ... Don't get me wrong. I love them. But what if ???

I like racing. And I like sports car racing.

I understand the interest in safety. I'm heading back to the track for more involvement myself.

HEY !!! I just hit upon something. I need to get involved. I just might be the catalyst for change. ... What if we had a formula for safety. But one that at the same time was designed to build big fields of really cool cars driven by people that really like to race.



Hey. Who wouldn't like to see a field of modern sports cars like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Lotus, Corvette, Maclaren, Aston Martin, Acura, Nissan, Saleen, Panoz, Noble, some specials and few old Vipers etc thrown in? All in a big event that has two starting grids.

There have been series with equalizers. I like the idea.

How about you?

 

didn't SCCA adopt GT3 specs for some amateur class?

edit: yep, for GT1.

http://www.scca.com/news/?cid=51927

I can't imagine spending that kind of $$ for club racing, but then again if I had that kind of money...

 

I wonder what the economics of racing in the past. Today a top running spec miata could cost 50k. Fielding a midlevel Corvette in a touring class will be 100k. I think we aren't seeing cars out there is cost. The regular guy in the 60's who could raise a family and still race on one income are gone. Families today are double income two kids and a dog trying to figure out how to buy braces for the kids or a $500 day at Disneyland. If it wasn't for the miata clubracing would be looking way worse than it is.

 

The Miatas really are nice. I was wondering about the economics myself. Maybe those were the good old days.

I have another idea about racing. It is electrics. I favor an all out war like was in Can Am back in the day.

The problem there is this. I have analyzed it, and I think the draw is for the sights and sounds of racing. At least the sound is gone with electrics. So would be the appeal for spectators IMO. So, in replace the sound with a speaker system. A hosting org can provide some simple computer programs that make the sounds. A separate battery would be dedicated to making the sounds.

 

Closest thing to this is SCCA Pirelli World Challenge, it's a great series. In the amateur ranks NASA super touring may be the closest where everything is classed hp/weight.

 

Or a LeMons Platinum class....

 

Another factor is that younger people simply don't care that much about sports cars and racing. I have multiple nephews who did not even bother getting a drivers license at 16; while I was anxious for years in advance for my 16th birthday. Younger people enjoy state of the art electronics and the social media of the internet, all of which consume dollars for equipment and bandwidth and lots and lots of time. Racing was often born of endless tinkering in the garage, and the time and money to do that goes elsewhere for most kids. Also, it seems lots of teenagers want Jeeps and SUVs, not sporty cars. So lots of factors, not just the large budget to race today.