Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, while I agree with your general premise, the issue I struggle with is when one considers the overall skills "available" to a given driver: the fast guys will be able to "dig deeper" and will have a wider breadth of skills to pull from in order to maximize the s***-tastic cold karts.

Compare that with the slower guys, and they may not necessarily have the breadth of skills to compensate as appropriately. Sure, their differential potential is greater, but I still feel it puts them at an unfair disadvantage.



If we did a true sensitivity analysis on this we may find that your suggestion is, in fact, the most appropriate (wouldn't surprise me, at least). I'd still be concerned with the psychological impact it would have on the slower guys -- they may feel further discouragement than they were previously.

WTF! We are breathing down your necks and just waiting for the moment of optimal psychological damage to pass you! Seriously, cold carts would just be another excellent excuse. Also, we have more to learn and cold tires are like skid pads, right? Also, it means we don't run last after everyone has left. ;)

As one of the "slower" guys I have to ask "What psychological impact?", this isn't Little League where everybody gets a trophy. We don't even give a trophy to the winners. :lol:

Make changes you think will enhance competition, I won't pack up my cart and go home..oh wait it's not my cart to begin with. Just my 2 cents worth.

Stephen

This "ordering discussion" is only pertinent to the qualifying -- the order for the races is much less important (so I don't really care the order they put us in for the races!).



Ha -- Ok, ok! While you may have a thick skin, others don't. There have been a few people over the past few years who have quit the league because they didn't care for the skillset disparity.

While my initial reaction is to say, "Grow up and stop being such a wuss", I do want to ensure people enjoy the league and don't feel threatened. I'm still not convinced that having the slower folks first will actually do anything to help the competition.



Besides, the faster guys are typically FAR more eager to provide an excuse for why they weren't fast than the slower guys are! Having the faster drivers first is a way of saying, "Ok so you think you're good? Let's see." :twisted:

BTW, this is terrific feedback guys. Thanks.

Look at that, qualified slowest group first last night! :) Thanks to Jim for clouding up the whole how to yield the line issue :roll: Seriously, thanks for stepping in and running a great event!

Learned some important lessons for good last night and had a great time still on a buzz from VIR. Had a really excellent first race trading places in close quarters and decent speed with a well matched driver. Second race was a euphoric breakthrough - still lots to work on but not yet ready to kill the joy. Laughing the whole time I started a little Ken Block action around the hairpin onto the straight before I remembered I was supposed to go fast and began turning in later. No braking now. Feeling much better about passing now. Thanks to Mihnea for setting up the breakthrough feeling transitions, throttle control and opening the wheel under power. Headed in the right direction.

Didn't think to get out the camera until I had changed and the last race was almost over.

Fun at the Trak:
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Liked this one for some reason:
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This week's event was a blast. There was a lot of very clean and exiting action throughout the night.

Had fun relearning a few lessons last night with the new layout. Almost ten seconds faster than the previous layout, leading to a lot of lapping of blue dog cars by red dog cars.

Started to get the hang of it toward the end. Very slick track and Vranko and I diagnosed that one of the cars must have a broken tie rod (or at least a shot bushing) - when you went through neutral steering input making the first right into the slalom something odd would happen to one of the front wheels and it would snap left like a grocery cart. At first I just thought it was the front end washing out in the cold qualifying but John figured it out later and I agree. I was too busy learning that it is stupid to stick our hand out when collecting the wall sideways at speed in the slalom when that happens. Jammed my wrist pretty good and had to drive with one hand for the two races. So, practicing the wrist exercises Ion gave me :shock: and John showed me how to 'Do Danica', as he puts it, into the wall. :lol: Also, since I was out of town for the weekend, I now have an alibi for the scratches on my back and *ss...

Lots of 'spirited' driving I think led by our fearless leader after his excellent pep talk where he advised yielding the line to maniacs - guess he just wanted to make sure everyone was paying attention? :)

Congrats to Ryan for his five fast laps in between the parked cars on the grid during the unshown red flag! LOL. I was told once by a coach that "If you are passing cars like they are standing still then they probably are".

Missed Gary and Jim! Gary, it was a "911 Course" and not a "Cayman Course"! How could you miss the opportunity?

Damn. Couldn't make it last night. Stuck on the beltway for 1 1/2 hours. Turned around at River road. American Legion Bridge must have had a few lanes blocked and navigation had me ETA of 1930

Sounds like fun. I didn't even attempt to brave the traffic when the Waze told me that whites ferry was the fastest way to all sport.

I'll make it next time!