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“it ain’t cheap staying in Napa”
Tent it at Searts Pt.
The shower facilities are pretty nice, weather will be fantastic for it…BTDT.
FWIW, the Embassy Suites down the road are VERY cheap, once you realize you have two rooms to split the cost with to share as well.
[quote=“Tow Mater” post=78430]“it ain’t cheap staying in Napa”
Tent it at Searts Pt.
The shower facilities are pretty nice, weather will be fantastic for it…BTDT.
FWIW, the Embassy Suites down the road are VERY cheap, once you realize you have two rooms to split the cost with to share as well.[/quote]
The current rate there is $328.
Tow Mater is assuming that you are going solo with no wife and there is someone to share that expense with…which is not the case for all of us.
Inn Marin is a better choice and less expensive.
We got 12 entries now! WHOO!!
Still not seeing a few people on the list whom I expect would go.
It just got cheaper!
http://www.nasaproracing.com/nationals/Kontrolle%20Incentive%20release.pdf
hey Shawn is the nationals weekend up here at sonoma for socal season points like it is for us?
I can answer that for him…No, it is not. The SoCal season ends October 4-5 at Buttonwillow.
Are you confusing the champ event in November with the regional event this coming weekend? Regional events are for points and the champ event is for all the glory! There are a couple SoCal guys heading up this weekend to get some seat time on that track and play with you guys. Be gentle! 
Not sure why hes asking a SoCal guy about NorCal stuff. I just got word that you guys are getting points for the Champ event. First time for everything! Thanks for the specific clarity there, Bennett!
What the heck is NorCal doing. They just announced that the Western Nationals are now a part of the Norcal Regional points in addition they just added a 3rd drop to the season points right at the tail end of the season. Unbelievable.
They can change it all they want, but it should be set at the beginning of the season and shouldn’t be changing it at the tail end of the season.
(In full disclosure: I am a close friend of Steve F. Also consider myself a friend of most of the other posters on this thread.)
On a last minute whim I went to Sonoma for the race this weekend. Did not have a car for Spec E30 so I ran in GTS to see if I still knew how to drive a stick. Had a blast and it was great to see all the guys! Sorry I missed seeing a few of you. Glad to see Spec E30 still has significant number of racers, around 25 I think, raced. I had fun watching the Spec E30 race Saturday.
Came home with the juices flowing, thinking about buying a car and getting back into it, now that the schooling I needed to complete over the last two years is behind me. So I open my spec e30 forum for the first time in 2 years to find this contentious thread, (I do not think the OP intended it to be) and I am reminded why I lost interest.
Not that I am foolish enough to think my opinion matters, but I’ll give you a few tidbits to naw on.
In any sport, consistency of the rule set is critical. If the rules are to be changed, it should be announced ahead of time with all competitors given plenty of time to plan for and make the changes or the time necessary to go in another direction. The timing of when the change will take effect, needs to be carefully considered and should be consistent with the timing of previous rule changes in the past. Ex: beginning of the season. Also before a rule is changed, the existing rules should be examined to determine if an existing rule simply needs to be enforced, instead of creating new additional rules, which often result in un-intended consequences.
$$$ spent by some competitors will always dwarf other racers. You cannot regulate that. As Ray said the best $ spent are on coaching and practice. The guys running at the front, spend a ton of dough on coaching and they receive the results they laid down the dollars for! Is it any wonder that the guys at the front on Saturday were all guys who do a tremendous amount of practice, receive coaching, rent tracks for private track days, etc. We should applaud their commitment, not try to regulate them or discount their efforts as somehow cheating, or create a “no offseason practice” limitation. Some guys will run new tires every session, some will have a coach at the event and on the radio with them, some will build three legal motors then dyno tune the three, and run the best of the three. Do you call all of these activities “CHEATING”? Some racers will carefully corner balance their cars, some guys will pay another accomplished racer to drive their car and identify weaknesses, is that cheating? Some guys will work out everyday to reduce the weight behind the dash on the drivers side, is that cheating? Some guys carefully comb through the rules repeatedly to find every possible legal advantage, is that time spent cheating?
Spec E30 racing is clearly some of the best in the country, no matter which region you attend. Guys who leave Spec E30 and move to another series, often win early and often. Some have moved to semi pro and performed very well. (as Ranger added, “pros” have raced with Spec E30, and their results have proved the quality of racers in the class) No matter where your “current” skill level sits, you will find people to race with in Spec E30, that to me is the beauty of it. I was happy to see a family of three now racing in NorCal and one of the members a young lady! To my memory it is the first lady in NorCal. She had a great attitude and I am sure will eventually give the guys a run for their money. Thus don’t try to “dumb the series down” artificially by constantly changing the rules under the guise of “this is a starter series”. Don’t try to move the bar 'Down". The bar is rising every year for those at the front. There is a series out there that is dumbed down, it’s called “24 hours of Lemons”. I raced in it, I should say driven in it. It’s fun but not going to make you a better racer. Spec E30 will make you a “racer”. Start to finish, from being a caboose to learning what it takes to finish on the podium! That’s the beauty of the original rule set.
Pay attention to why people are leaving through the back door. Every business has to bring people in the front door. But if you don’t pay attention to why they are leaving, you are fighting a losing battle. Some series make getting in through the front door so difficult that the series are dying. Look at BMWCCA. it is truly a joke! it is like 1st grade soccer, everybody gets a trophy! “We don’t want anybody to feel bad. Lets create enough classes that everybody gets a 1st place!” What a ridiculous series. I am ashamed my BMWCCA membership dollars help support it. They were not open and inviting to the huge membership that could have joined them in racing, they were worried about protecting their “group” and thus their group gets smaller and smaller and now they must do what they loathed, which is race with other groups! I enjoyed opening Roundel and reading how exciting the racing is, and reading the list of almost every racer with a P1 next to his name. Spec E30 will kill the series if not careful. They have damaged it. It ain’t dead, but there is a cancer that needs to be removed.
To the OP, Charles, sign up and I’m sure you’ll see a good size group at Nationals.
To those who think some racers are spending too much, get over it. It’s racing, time, effort, energy, intelligence, money, relationships, coaching, influence and talent have always been part of it and those with the most collectively of the above will win. Oh and sometimes chance smiles on you! BTW some guys have FAR out spent others simply because they have been wrecked by others! SO sometimes spending a lot is not directly related to winning. 
Simply enforce the Original Rule Set… done!
I continue to wish Spec E30 the very best, That’s why I composed this. I am very appreciative of what I learned, and the fond memories and experiences I enjoyed. Most of all I loved the racers. What a great group!
Hey look whos online (Shahawn) 
The rampant rules adjustment mid season will kill this class.
You would think NASA would already know this but maybe not.
Personally I wont be racing in E30 at Nationals if we are not using current National Rules.
To have the East and West run under different rules is just plain stupid.
I have a spare car (944) so I will be there but wont support a late rule change.
Charles Buzzetti
[quote=“Buzzbomb” post=78637]
Personally I wont be racing in E30 at Nationals if we are not using current National Rules.
To have the East and West run under different rules is just plain stupid.
I have a spare car (944) so I will be there but wont support a late rule change.
Charles Buzzetti[/quote]
You would you really do that Charlie? Let’s hope that statement is not put to the test…:whistle:
Notcal E30 rule change…
You did this to yourselves, begging for ‘different rules’ earlier in the season.
Y’all remember beating me up about it and saying pleeaaaasseeeee?
Now, suddenly it’s problematic, just as I warned.
