That's the rule I was thinking of -- thanks.

Like I said: It's a thought, only. It's something I thought of after watching the Rose Cup Races up here, and seeing one of the SCCA race groups with *17 different classes* therein -- I thought "if the cars all run at about the same speed anyway, why not unify some of the classes?".

2005 Crawford for sale (Racers Only web site) wonder who it belonged to seller wont say. Anyone know who this car was with in 05?

Can ya give a brother a link?

Would make answering the question easier.

This post edited by luvspeed on 09-08-2009, 1:01 AM EST

Why oh why have GM spent so much money on the GT2 corvette for the ALMS but they seem to have next to no want to spend money on GA real American road racing??

So the  ROI on a series with NO competition > series with REAL competition?
 
I guess it would be if all ya ran was preliminary "events" to NASCAR  and IRL road and street course "events".

ROI  ?? ...
nah,  why they (GM) plays in the other house, in order of importance  ;
1) Doug Fehan -  the best corp racing boss there is, can sell any program
2) 24 Hueres du Mans - only 'race' they care about
3) Don Panoz - will sell his soul to keep Bowtie brigade in his house
4) race weekend events for their dealer network P.R. and wine & dine 
5) zero ROI - they mostly live off the factory R&D budget, very little from marketing dept



This post edited by sportswriter on 09-08-2009, 3:02 PM EST

I think your list may need a little adjustment but let's say you've got it right... #5 on the list makes the crucial difference then. You can't really do #5 in GA.

sure they can ... for less than half their annual expenditure in ALMS GT2 ...
build a new Daytona Prototype chassis, skinned with the Corvette front cap,  the new 'Corvette DP' along with a Chevy motor, along with some factory assisstance ...  sold to anyone who wants to race a Chevy in the Rolex Series. True ROI, win on Sunday - sell on Monday, ala Nascar.
All this R&D talk is just spin .... that is accepted by the GM bean counters. True R&D can be more efficiently accomplished back at the factory , don't need to go racing to design and test "electronic" systems or "green" technology, better gas milage , etc.
Chevy racing spins and sells to corp what they believe will be swallowed and accepted and they take from the budget that is still funded and available to be spent ... R&D.
Marketing has been greatly reduced and has many mouths to feed. So, we have a #1 selling technolgy, branding with 'world class competition' (#2), suited and silver plattered by #3, and made to 'feel good' so as to be supported by #4 (as a portion of the racing budget comes from #4) ... like i said above, Doug Fehan is the very best racing team boss out there, plays the system how it must be played.  Kudos to them ... until the new bean counter decision makers at Government Motors decides to shut down the ALMS program.
Grand Am will survive based on its privateer friendly format, where every team has an equal chance to win, with resources being the deciding factor.  GA should be flexible in working with its racing partners (the existing Rolex teams) to allow whatever leeway necessary to navigate and successfully get through these tough times. Tomorrow will bring a better day ... and a few new Mfg's wanting to participate in the Grand Am show.