Not sure if this is new news or not but sure seems interesting!

https://www.scca.com/articles/201428...Hm9Hbv1lJfZ3vA

What's intriguing to me is the stepping stone from amateur road racing to the Pro level, be it as a driver, crew, worker. Very cool. As a former amateur racer and motorsports addicted spectator, I sometimes wonder if my life would be different today if I stayed with Nissan Motorsport ("Datsun Competition" then) and continued up the racing ladder. Regret? Nahhhh, just a curiosity.

 

That sounds like a great arrangement, way better than what we have in my part of the world.

 

Mic- it's an acknowledgement of what the state of racing is today. Rather than a ladder to progress upwards, many well-funded SCCA teams have simply moved into pro racing with IMSA . That pathway also moves both ways, as there are also plenty of pro racers who cherry pick certain SCCA races ,like the Runoffs every year. It'll be interesting how this partnership develops over the next few years.

 

Well, "amateur" road racing has changed a fair bit since I was involved (some 37 years ago). When you and I were at Sonoma, it was readily apparent there was some serious $$ and pretty much a number of highly competitive (as in winning) "Pro amateurs" around with the likes of arrive-n'-drive operations like Phoenix. While the spirit of amateur racing still lives on, there's clearly a lot more money at the "near pro level". Like you said, we'll wait and see.

And speaking of.... GOOD LUCK DUDE! Ship out tomorrow, eh?

People, in case you newer folks don't know it but David is a "genuine" racer and headed to the Runoffs! Wish him luck!!

 

Thanks, Mic and yes, I'm "genuine" in terms of doing everything from being the chief bottle washer, wrenching on my car, or driving the rig to the track. We're headed out today, and yes, the Runoffs is really a thinly disguised pro race for those at the front end of the grid. I still find plenty of challenge out of being a talented amateur racer taking on the bigger operations at races like this. I'll post updates as I can.