Growing the Champ class

[TopTier98]

I agree with Greg, Pro Lite was a great class to be apart of and I agree think it can be the class of the future. There was a different winner almost every week. This class gave myself as a driver the ability to get comfortable on a champ chassis and get an idea what handling adjustments made to the snowmobile. It also gave my guys the ability to get comfortable with making adjustments and learning things throughout the year. We have never learned as we did this past season. I strongly believe this is the perfect "stepping stone" class for champ. The rules were spot on in my opinion yes the track cost big bucks but yes its all part of having a champ chassis. If teams want to spend bucks for carbon and titanium let them. Greg and Gavin showed being heavy didn't matter one bit to being competitive. The sled numbers for the first year were decent in my opinion, 7 to 9 sleds on Sundays was great compared to my former class Limited 500 and only having 3 or 4 sleds. Having a class sponsor was fantastic as well i can't thank V-Force enough. $700 to win made that Monday Wahl Brothers call feel a lot easier. And like Greg said champ isn't for everyone, i agree with that as well, being forced to move up could become a dangerous journey that i don't think anyone wants to go down. And lets face it, i would have to loose my house to be able to afford an engine package to run in the champ class. I hope Todd A and Jerry see the potential of this class and keep the rules right where they are because i think after this last season a lot of teams are now off the fence and on board, are numbers should be even better moving forward. My only add would be maybe add another heat and put some points up for grabs in them, along with that maybe with the heats you qualify your starting spot for the final. I think that would add for even better racing throughout the day. My concern with adding another class or creating another path to go down as now we will spread the sleds right back out again and we will be left with 3 sleds here 5 sleds there and 2 here, Just my opinion

[fast dad]

I think Greg said it best. "not all teams are cut out be be in Pro Champ" Why??? because they are not competitive, much easier to stay in lower class and be competitive and have fun...Correct me if I am wrong but under the Champ Lite rules John proposed, the class champion HAS TO move up and can not stay in Champ Lite...or wins 3 races....

I watched the champ lite sleds this year, it is good class for learning, but to me learning is all about racing against the best, I only seen 1 racer from Champ lite race in Pro Champ, and he was not very competitive against the Pros....WHY???

There is no easy fix with rules, it takes commitment from racers and tuners...The best will still be the best...

The other issue with Pro Champ is zero help from manufactures, other than a few parts and some contingencies at big races...In snow cross any rider in the Pro Open class that wins a national gets anywhere from 15K to 25K per win, 10k-15k for second and 5k-7500k for third!!! Even the Lites class in snow cross manufactures pays riders for winning a national class around 6-7K yes every race...If even half of that was available to Ovals I do believe you would get more entries...

Why do ovals get no help from manufactures??? Because they don't sell them sleds or products to consumer...Something does need to be done before the TRL Cup funding goes away, if and when it does they will be ZERO Pro Champ...You have to get something back before you can give anything away, marketing 101...

TJ

[Spy-Guy 74]

T.J. I could be wrong but the last I heard the winner of Pro-lite class wouldn't have to leave the class the following year. Entries seemed to be around six to seven at most races at the USSA events this past year. The class is still in the building stages and to me it would be counter productive to have some leave the class. Either for winning three races or for winning the season championship. My opinion only. I can think of three more new racers that will jump into the class next year.

You wanted numbers for the F-500 class this past winter, at USSA events numbers ran between 19 and 22 entries each week in the regular class . Sport F-500 had less numbers but were quite good also. In the junior class it averaged between 7 to 8 each weekend. It's still in the planning stages but hopefully we will have a b-main for the drivers that do not make the final in the regular F-500 class next year. That way they'll get to run 7 more laps each weekend and have a final too

I can think of a couple of drivers that may move up to champ for next season or at least have plans to go that way. Numbers are building, but at a slow rate it seems. Your correct tho, to be able to run up front consistently you sort of need one of those super tuners in your trailer to make it all work smoothly. If your correct on the prize money for wins in snow cross, if those numbers were available for Champ class our numbers would grow overnight. Really now the two elite classes in snow cross don't have much higher entries than champ now. Some of there feeder classes have huge entries at this time though.

At this time I like the direction oval ice racing is moving, in most cases it growing in numbers at the USSA events. Alexandria had huge entries at there race, and best of all the fans are starting to come back to the races. It's been along time since I've seen the number of fans that showed up this past year. I believe we put on a great show too, so they should be coming back for more and hopefully bring there friends too.

[Spy-Guy 74]

Sorry double post too quick on the trigger put me back in the second row lol

[Schmidt87]

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[Schmidt87]

Would this new option still be mod motor and pipes?

[Petawawarace]

In my opinion, if you really want a professional show, you need a dictator running the series. Democracy doesn't work when it comes to motorsports. Take a look at NASCAR, they mandate what the cars look like. They don't vote on it. If they let the teams set the rules , can you imagine what they'd have? Nascar mandates the rules to make the show the best it can for the fans (so that NASCAR can make more money). All rules tie into this. Yes I'm sure the teams have some input but the end of the day, NASCAR makes the rules. If the TLR guys decided to make some changes to the rules to reduce costs, I'm sure everyone would follow suit. If they make the wrong rule changes, its on them. If they make the right ones, its a win win.
I do agree with TJ tho. The TLR cup is great, but its kinda artificial inflation right now. If it disappears all of a sudden and no one steps up to replace it, champ is in serious trouble.

[fast dad]

Amen Petawawarace!!! You can not make everyone happy....I do believe Todd is the Grand Puba for the TRL Cup..

TJ

[diskvalve]

I agree Jeff, have someone with a proven understanding mandate a well heeled set of rules and stick with them … I think one the main reasons that F-500 is so attractive is because all the engines are the same and the teams don't have to worry whether their engine package is as good as the deep pockets teams. I think we could keep champ rules as they are with the exception that the heavily modified and very expensive 440 motors could be substituted for any modern 600 engine with the only parameter being stone stock cylinders and still using vm 34 mikunis. Teams could use whatever pipes, compression , reeds , or other tweaks but the cylinders must remain stock… It would be policeable , it would allow current engines in the manufacturers lineups to compete which might generate corporate interest again and it would make things a lot more affordable. The lesser funded teams would not have to worry about their engine package and could just concentrate on clutching , tuning and handling..

[proton]

The Deckers are interested in filling the grandstands. .... the reality is they will TELL us what machine's we will be racing for the WC and we will ALL comply to whatever they tell us.

If the Deckers say stock 600 will be racing for the WC, say good by to the champ 440....my point is we better think about what the fans want to watch and what will make for an exciting show and move the rules that way. ...the unsustainable spending resulting in 16-18 sleds showing up for the WC isn't going to cut it, we may think it's great from a racers point of view, but it makes for a poor show

I'm surprised they have been this patient with our shortsighted attitude and selfishness.