things to think about !

by **Fontaine Racing** » March 7th, 2012, 11:50 am

HI
started this post hoping to get some people to involve their thoughts
and should they prove to be valid concerns/ we could try to get them discussed at the banquet/rules get together?
I will throw out a couple of my own thoughts.

ovllvr
you bring out some valid points, and being one of the young drivers fathers, I want you to know I take no offense, PRO CHAMP is a huge leap from wherever you were. not only for the driver but the people working on these sleds,
then you throw the TLR CUP out there (a great Thing) you atract every champ driver out there young, or seasoned.
dont get me wrong, I dont want to exclude anyone but maybe if you have some thoughts on this subject you could be helping the future?

one thing I have brought up over the season is the use of a raceciever in the champ class. (between race official and drivers)
wouldnt solve every thing but I saw several incidents this season were they would be a huge help

when conditions are condusive to snow dust,run only ten in the final.
trust me them guys in the back row are probably wishin they didnt make it.

some body has to cure the snow dust issue, PLEASE!!

this should give us something constructive to talk about, maybe?
Doug

by **ovllvr** » March 7th, 2012, 12:37 pm

Agreed- there are a ton of issues out there that need to be taken care of!

One being race officials do need to step up the game and get the yellow and red flags out at the same time, there needs to be better communication out there.

What about putting an age limit on champ? It use to be that u had to be 18 to race champ? That would help young guys to learn how to hold their line.

I watched the video on the crash n it looks like 2 guys didn't hold their line!

I went to every race this year and there was a contact crash at every race, some races had multiple contact crashes.

by **mdmill2x** » March 7th, 2012, 7:23 pm

If the young racers had someone to compete against in semi pro champ the age limit would be easier to consider. My kids have had one other competitor to race against in the Jr Sprint classes. ORA and CPTC ( in March) did not have ANY semi-pro champ drivers register. USSA only had two semi pro champ entries. How do young drivers get experience this way???? We all need to work to encourage the KIDS racers and parents to move up to full size snowmobile racing. If we don't solve this problem and the considerable safety issues that exist our GREAT sport will die.

We (everyone that cares about ice oval racing) need to work to improve the safety of our tracks ( snow dust, rock hard bales frozen in place,etc ) and give the young drivers a venue to learn in. I am, as a couple others I known, are working hard to encourage the kids racers of today to become the pro champ racers of tomorrow. It is everyone's responsibility ( racers, owners, tracks, parents ) to work together to advance our great sport.

Marti Miller

by **tuner78** » March 8th, 2012, 2:37 am

Marti,

Actually the sanctioning bodies have been listening and the correct vehicle for progresion is already in place. I believe "spyGuy74" outlined this in another post but here goes:

jr F500 (novice 11-13) Restrictor plate & gearing - Keeps um well under 60 mph.
jr F500 14-15
Sport F500 (Top drivers from the previous season not allowed)
F500 (All inclusive)
Limited 500 or Sportsman 600 (I believe limited is the better choice here)
Semi Pro Champ or Limited 600 (Could run the L6 for a year or so if not ready for champ or spend some time in an outlaw 600)
Pro Champ

Some points worth mentioning, contrary to popular belief not ALL drivers will make it to Pro Champ & some may actually want to spend there careers in other classes believe it or not. The only thing that is missing here is some form of restraint that prevents drivers from moving up the ladder too soon. I suggest several things should be in place before advancement into Pro Champ. A minimum age requirement - a minimum amount of time spent competing in the lower classes & an endorsement system that requires approval of two or more current approved pro champ competitors.

On the F500 side of things for the jr. competitors it can be very economical as the same sled could utilized for many seasons if properly set-up and maintained. The Limited Class is about as close to Champ level competition as you can get without emptying your bank account (At Eagle this year using the published lap times, the Champ sleds were about 2 seconds or 10% quicker on average over the limited sleds). Also I realize there are some current clases that I didn't mention but they can be substituted in if so desired.

With that said, I believe that the structure is in place and the improvement should come in the form of adherance to the proper and prudent progresion and continued policeing of the classes via tech inspections for the purposes of safety and to keep the competition close accross the spectrum.

This is only my personal opinion! Please do not view it as anything more than that.

by **old motorman** » March 8th, 2012, 3:45 am

Some very good points here, years ago you did have to be 18 to race in champ no matter how good you were, this helped the learning curve for the young driver. Maybe semi-pro champ would have more entries if the young drivers couldn't move up to pro champ right away. You might want to consider keeping a jr 340 class for the young drivers, look how many are in the kitty cat assn. racing in that class. The assn. might want to talk to the parents of those racers and see why most of them don't move up, after racing on the jr. novice class most of the drivers just don't move up to the other race assn. Just a couple thoughts.

by **that 31 car** » March 8th, 2012, 4:55 am

Motorman:
You may very well be right about being 18 to drive a Champ, but I went all the way back to 1996 in ISR books and don't see a age restriction. 16 was the number if you went through the approval process for Juniors. Later(approx 2000) it was amended to 14 years old to start advancement and by 16 you could well be into pro with the associations approval process. Where are you getting your data? I might be missing something.

by **old motorman** » March 8th, 2012, 6:09 am

In the early 90's I believe at age 16 the only class you could run was the fan cooled 440, I believe it was e stock, had to be 18 to run the other classes

by **Spy-Guy 74** » March 8th, 2012, 7:17 am

Jerry for me thinking back Jeremy Johnson was the youngest ever to start out on the F-1 class. To think the fellow never oval raced and came to Eagle and ran like he did was amazing. Steve Arpin was the youngest champ driver that I can think of back in the earlier days. Steve of course had race numerous stock classes and sprint sleds before that. He most likely had more seat time than anyone that I can think of making the jump to Pro Champ 440 at a early age. Both were great drivers to, to bad neither are around the oval tracks today.

by **water walker** » March 8th, 2012, 7:43 am

Hi first time posting to help with the snow dust problem .I build ice shavers shave the track at every plow brake. Iam currently building a new one with a grinder, knife,broom on it. It will be selfpropeled 150HP unit. I currently have two pull type models that I shave with for the ORA. Thanks Tim

by **tuner78** » March 8th, 2012, 8:26 am

On the snow dust issue - What about spraying a mist of water (very light) on the surface after brooming it? Mister/Sprayer could be on the back of the broom itself so there wouldn't be any extra time required.