2016 NASA TX schedule is up

[Pranav]

http://www.nasatx.com/scheduleresults/
2016 Schedule:

January 23-24 – MSR Houston Clockwise

March 12-13 – MSR Cresson

April 22-24 – Texas World Speedway

May 21-22 NOLA Motorsports Park – Crossover with NOLA

June 11-12 – Hallett Motor Racing Circuit

September 3-4 – MSR Houston CCW

September 22-25 – Eastern States Championships at Watkins Glen International

October 13-16 – Western States Championships at Buttonwillow Raceway Park

October 21-23 – TBA

November – TBA

[Supercharged111]

Leave will be on the books Monday!

[michaelmosty]

Is the NOLA event a points race for us? If so, that would be potentially 8 events (including Oct + Nov dates).

What is y'alls opinion on the number of events you like / year?
I personally have preferred 6, and have felt like 7 is just a little too much if trying to make every event.

[BryanL]

Racing in Houston over Labor Day-ya'll have fun with that one. I know two cars that won't be there.

I agree with you Michael. If you have 7-8 races then I think you should discuss making the out of state events non-points. I assume the TBA is TWS in Oct and ECR in Nov. Besides-who controls the points for CMC? Is that a decision made by the CMC directors or does NASA control that?
How many drops are there for this year too?

[GlennCMC70]

We as a group can talk about making some of those non-points races.
Cali used to have only half of their regional events as CMC points races.

[GlennCMC70]

8 events a year is too much.

[Fbody383]

8 events a year is too much. This.
I would like to go make the CO July 4th race in 2016.

If some can be non-points races, we can do points on best of XX "races" then. That would let some folks who might be able to make one day of a weekend stay competitive.

[GlennCMC70]

Should be able to put up a poll and list the 8 events and allow 6 selections. Let it run for about 2 months and pin it down by mid Dec.

[Supercharged111]

This.
I would like to go make the CO July 4th race in 2016.

If some can be non-points races, we can do points on best of XX "races" then. That would let some folks who might be able to make one day of a weekend stay competitive.

Do eet! Come face your biggest fear on his home turf!

[Trublu]

8 events a year is too much.

Ummm I must be missing something.....there can actually be too much of a good thing? I must be on the wrong forum

[Trublu]

Should be able to put up a poll and list the 8 events and allow 6 selections. Let it run for about 2 months and pin it down by mid Dec.

Doesn't the current drops rule cover this well enough?

[Pranav]

Ummm I must be missing something.....there can actually be too much of a good thing? I must be on the wrong forum

Kinda want to voice the "silent" "minority" here.

I'm actually ecstatic about having 8 events after two years of having our season cut short due to track closures/issues.

I would prefer we leverage additional drops rather than "kill" a particular event. If we did kill an event or two, I bet NOLA and MSRH #2 would be on the short list; coincidentally the two tracks at which I would like to spend more time.

Just my $0.02. Carry on.

[Al Fernandez]

True, in Cali we used to have a California CMC schedule that was made up of select dates from both North and South California NASA regions. On first thought, the idea of additional drops is more appealing than specifying a particular event is non points since that gives everyone more flexibility.

Hey Will...NASA shouldn't schedule events on the same weekend as F1 USA! :(

[BlueFirePony]

Hey Will...NASA shouldn't schedule events on the same weekend as F1 USA! :(
Unless NASA is the support series :)

[mach1]

Unless NASA is the support series :)

I can dig that!

[GlennCMC70]

Doesn't the current drops rule cover this well enough?
Not really.
If we have 6 weekends, a 15% drop rate covers a full weekend. This is so someone can attend a family event w/out fear of dropping out of the points race. That means 5 weekends are required (20 races).
If we have 8 weekends, a 15% drop rate covers a full weekend and a day. That means 6.75 weekends are required to be in the points race. It basically adds 2 weekends to the require number of weekends to stay in the points chase.
The fix is (if we want to target 5 weekends like it was in the past) is to increase the drop % until we get there. One year we moved it to 20% for I think a 7 weekend schedule. It went back down when we went back to a 6 weekend schedule. The drop rate is in the CMC rules. Since this change would not affect other regions, I see no reason why we couldn't set our own Regional drop rate.

Not something I'm willing to do for a season I'm not going to be in control of. Time for that new leader to step up.

[RichardP]

a 15% drop rate covers a full weekend.

Section 8.1 of the current CMC rules specifies a 20% drop rate.


Richard P.

[GlennCMC70]

Ok..... maybee we moved it from 20 to 15 for some reason.
Point is - more events means more weekends you need to make to stay in the points hunt.

[Trublu]

Ok..... maybee we moved it from 20 to 15 for some reason.
Point is - more events means more weekends you need to make to stay in the points hunt.

I'm still not seeing the downside to more races in a season

[GlennCMC70]

A larger comitment either money wise or time wise.

[AllZWay]

I am not racing so my vote doesn't really count, but more than six events is a real challenge on time, money, and commitment. I was never a fan of more than six events per year.

[Pranav]

Would a 25% drop be a suitable alternative to killing two specific events on the calendar?

Dunno, thoughts are we as a group will look weak and have less bargaining power for track time/own run group if we flat blowoff two specific events as a class. I think with 25% drops we can all do the 6 events and have the flexibility to choose which events to make.

On the downside less popular options like NOLA and MSRH on labor day weekend are ripe for slackers like me to jump ahead on points while most everyone else would skip.

[michaelmosty]

I am not racing so my vote doesn't really count, but more than six events is a real challenge on time, money, and commitment. I was never a fan of more than six events per year.

I agree exactly!!!
More events = more money and time away from the family in order to get the car ready. It is also more vacation days used and thus leaves fewer vacation days for family things or the holidays.

[mach1]

I like 6 with the option of 8, 8 will be hard for me to pull off with work/family/etc.

[ShadowBolt]

I am not racing so my vote doesn't really count, but more than six events is a real challenge on time, money, and commitment. I was never a fan of more than six events per year.

I agree with James and even if you do not have to go to all the events to stay in the points. What happens when only two or three cars show up at an event because there are so many? With only six race weekends most can make all of them and all of us try to make those six. With eight almost no one will make all of them (in CMC) and it could spread us all out. JMHO. Plus now it looks like several guys bring new rubber to every event. SO if you want to try and stay up front you can spend $7500.00 per year on tires alone. Our little grass roots racing for guys on a budget running CMC (partly due to CMC 2) could be getting out of hand. When I first started racing Glenn told me he figured $1000.00 per race weekend........now we spend that on tires.

JJ

[marshall_mosty]

Do we want to pick 5-6 events to be "points" events? That is certainly something we can all agree upon. There is nothing in the series rules that dictates which races are points races.

Per the CCR (Sect 22.1),
"Season points systems are controlled by each Region, and may vary. Each Region reserves the right to place
restrictions on any part of the season points system, and set a minimum class size, if necessary."

[GlennCMC70]

So increasing the drop % is a good option. But like jerry said, that will thin the heard for a per event car count.
25% will cover 2 full weekends.
6 events is the better answer from what I hear in this forum.

Perhaps the best place to ask is on the NASA National site in the Texas forum. See if other groups have the same complaint.

[mach1]

So increasing the drop % is a good option. But like jerry said, that will thin the heard for a per event car count.
25% will cover 2 full weekends.
6 events is the better answer from what I hear in this forum.

Perhaps the best place to ask is on the NASA National site in the Texas forum. See if other groups have the same complaint.

I am leaning towards the drops, if we go the 6 event route the 2 that are non points will be very thin or non existent. It would be nice to have options and the drops would allow those.

[GlennCMC70]

My point was NASA should consider dropping down to 6 weekends.
A 7th weekend could be an enduro only weekend.

[Rob Liebbe]

I vote for 6 weekends and cheaper/more stable tires.

I've never been in it for points, only for the fun. Even my Nationals participation was to see how I compared to out of region racers and to experience the "event". Now I think the real test of comparison in CMC is the Summer Shootout at Hallett.

I still want to try to run up front but am not willing to spend the high tire budget to do so. This relegates me to mid-pack which is where most of the "fun" is but it is a compromise and a bit of a hard pill to swallow. As an alternative, I would consider Joey's World Racing League and have talked to him about CMC car classification. I think others may have talked to him as well. Then there are always other non-racing events in which to participate.

[AllZWay]

Then there are always other non-racing events in which to participate.

I have considered trying to do a few bucket list items, like the Texas Mile, Pikes Peak, or things like that.

[Rob Liebbe]

I have considered trying to do a few bucket list items, like the Texas Mile, Pikes Peak, or things like that.

I would also like to go to other events or tracks around the country. The time and cost involved would be high but then it would all be new experiences. The new race car is not far from street legal which opens up some possibilities like Open Track Challenge, Power Tour, etc.

[Pranav]

Blah, I have to miss the April TWS event due to a family wedding :(

2 full, floating drops please? :)

[mach1]

Chump and WRL are both doing events @ COTA in 2016, did the fees drop?

[Suck fumes]

They are prob just trying to lure new customers since F1 may not come back.

[Fbody383]

They are prob just trying to lure new customers since F1 may not come back. I'm not a big subsidy guy generally but am maybe a little torn. Probably a great enduro race facility.

[mach1]

Probably a great race facility.
Yep

[Suck fumes]

I keep waiting for the day we get to race there with nasa.