So I've done a few HPDE's with NASA, and in my past job, I met many higher-ups in NASA and some of the SM guys (Lamb, Drago and a few others). I lurk a lot here, and when I return to gainful employment (currently underemployed near Detroit), I plan on building my '96 into an SM. Of all the classes I can think of joining, I think SM has the brightest future and highest car count.
With the USA being a big country, and having both NASA and SCCA (and EMRA, Waterford Hills, etc), it's difficult to "prove" who is the best SM racer. Then there's the complaint about budget racers (low vs. high/no limit). And placing high (like top five) in a field of 60 might still mean you're overall a better driver than the race winner.
Quarter Horse competitions score more when the number of horses is higher. So what if you place first when there's only one car in the class. See this link for an example of how AQHA scores their competitions:
Also, having points affixed to a car/driver combo, instead of just a driver, would ensure the drivers with access to the "Car-Of-The-Day" couldn't pick a '99 one day, and a '91 the other, just to have the best car for the track. (Of course, some clause would be allowed for wrecks, etc.--you can't shoot your car.)
It wouldn't be that difficult to tally points, and proving your finishing position/car count could be a simple addition to a logbook.
I'm sure there's a lot more that could be involved in this. I'd like to see a simple points system that would span all sanctioning bodies, and help level the playing field across the model years.
Call me stupid (or irrelevent due to my inexperience and/or non-participation), but at least discuss if this is a good idea that needs some more thought, or a bad idea that should go away.
Region: mid south
Car #: 2
Year : 1999 Posts: 4275
Status: Offline
posted
I know of atleast 10-15 guys that know they are the best, they don't even need a points system SCCA kept points for the supersweep and I think Matt Reynolds was the man and he backed it up wih top 5 at the Runoffs. I believe that only tracked SCCA Nationals Jim
Region: kc
Car #: 20
Year : 92 Posts: 1801
Status: Offline
posted
The supersweep awarded the normal race points, plus a bonus point for every car that finished behind the driver, up to a maximum of 10 extra points. The Runoffs scored double the regular points plus all the bonus points. So, Drago, whose best race, during the regular season, scored 12 for the win and 10 bonus points. At the Runoffs, he got 18 for 2nd, plus 36 for the cars behind him. These were national races, only, and only 7 races, plus the Runoffs were scored. So, you could get a DNF and it wouldn't hurt you, if you did 8 races.
It would be fairly simple to apply the same formula to NASA and you could get a pretty good comparison.