[ESPCamaro]

MY GOD did anyone see what happened. The USGP started SIX CARS. All Michilin tired cars took a warm up lap then parked.

Probably the death of a USGP for a few years.



Sheesh and some people say that the SCCA and NASCRAP is a political mess.....

[sgarnett]

[devil's advocate mode on]

Ok....It sucks, I fully agree. But, what if?

What if you got to an event and were told that you could only run the track (road course) in 1st gear? Would you run?

How about them telling you to pit every other lap? Would you run?

Maybe on every lap, you (or all F-bodies on course) had to drive through the parking lot and then back on track (in a not F body only race). Would you run?

Or, you arrive at the track and find that every set of tires in the trailer have 1/32nd inch of tread left before hitting the cords (knowing that you could get through the race with 12 tire changes, thus using the remaining rubber on each of your worn out sets). Would you run?

Or, you got to the track and found that your box of new "super race pads" somehow had only a set of Pep Boys brake pads inside (no race pads). Would you run?
...
Would you have really done anything different? (If you can answer "yes" that you would run to every question above, then you are free to keep complaining  (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) ).

The answer is yes, with the possible exception of the brake pads (though taking care of the equipment to make it last was a normal part of racing until recently).

In the eloquent words of a Doonesbury character many years ago, "damn it, a gig's a gig".

The exception is of course pretending the problem doesn't exist, and letting drivers hit the wall - that clearly isn't an option.

Heck, I'd pit every other lap if I had to. That parking lot idea sounds like fun!

I have to admit, Stoddart's letter rings true. It's either credible or at least well-written.

It's interesting that apparently most of the teams, including at least one Bridgestone team, favored the chicane. Of course, this was written after-the-fact.