bioman

Maybe some of you more 'experienced' folks can provide some more context for me, but it seems like american motorsports has become 50% racing and 50% demolition derby. Whether it's Speed WC, Rolex, or Grand Am (where it's completely nuts), there is an incredible amount of bent metal in american motorsports. And don't get me started on NASCAR. Even watching the SCCA national runoffs I was shocked by how dirty a lot of the racing is. Especially in the last lap, where it's anything goes/banzai pass/punt the leader as a normal course of business.

I race spec miata in SCCA, and it's a rare race where less than 10% of the field is DNF due to car-to-car incidents. One of my race buddies is also running Grand Am, and after every race his car comes back beat to ****.

I've been wondering if I should buy a Porsche and go PCA where I hear that more gentlemanly behavior reigns. I got into this for some good clean exciting fun, not as a full employment act for body shop workers.

Comments?

Nogaro

Lots of gentalmen racers and the fans like it.

Fritz

the number of 'incidents' down. Basically you bend some sheetmetal and you're put on probation for 13months. Do it during probation and you're out for 13months.

s4wood

BMWCCA, PCA, and Vintage have very little contact.

NASA racer

but OTOH, if you watch sedan racing from anywhere else in the world, it tends to be demolition derby also.

Could speculate on it all day but sometimes it's embarrising to watch modern pro racing. What astounds me is how open-wheel racing has exactly the same problem...guys in CART and IRL don't seem to understand that they don't have nerf-bars on their cars.

LRPct

if you'd wanna call PCA "racing" I guess

Krisko

But the 13/13 rule doesn't always hold true. There was some pretty good contact right in front of me in a race, got it on video and everything. The offender made a turn at a hairpin as if nobody was there but rac into another car. He got to continue the race, the victim was out with a broken control arm.

The one who initiated contact was there the rest of the weekend so I assume he never got penalized. It would seem that if the victim of the contact doesn't complain then nothing gets done. I will say that there is almost no contact in BMWCCA or NASA.

Krisko

It almost seems like you don't want to be the leader on the last lap. All it takes is a nudge, you bobble a bit and the other guy gets past you.

There's a driver in WC Touring named Rick Maki. I swear this guy has either put a driver out of a race or made him lose 10+ positions in every race this year because of this antics out there. No penalties that I'm aware of and there doesn't even seem to be any 'payback' either.

WC is pretty damned fun to watch and I have to admit it's largely because of the contact that goes on.

bioman

Seriously, I don't actually know anyone who races there. In SM I now know which guys I can safely dice with, and which guys will be in my door if I try to mix it up with them. I've had this idea that PCA is a grid full of folks that it's safe to dice with.

bioman

lots of bad behavior there