We are winning the BS game! (Page 2 of 3)

We take a lot of things into account when classing cars. If we've seen the same car with the same drivers a bunch of times and we're pretty confident we know how well that team does, we will sometimes put a Class B car in Class A (because the team organization is very good, car is reliable, drivers don't get black flags, etc), or we might put a car you'd expect to be in Class A into Class B if we know the team is a bunch of clowns who will lock their tools in their trailer and lose the key, get four black flags in the first hour of racing, etc. Raw lap times don't mean a whole lot when classing a car, but where the team finishes in the standings in previous races does mean something.

I'd say that if you want to make a case that your car deserves to be in a lower class than you keep getting, the worst way to go about convincing the judges is to whine about how other teams get treated better than you, it's all unfair, etc. (this is what teams in California and Texas do, and it doesn't work so well). Instead, print out the standings for the races you've done in the past, so we can see where the car has finished in those races. If you have a stock early Integra (a classic example of a car that can be either Class B or Class A, depending on team skills and equipment) and you can show us that you've just barely managed to squeeze into the top third of the standings at all your previous races, you can make a decent case for getting into Class B (if you have an E30, however, the only way to get into Class B is going to involve having a squishy stock suspension, automatic transmission, and verifiably skill-deprived drivers).

BTW, I am not complaining about Lemons classing.  I think it's brilliant.  Classing and rules will always come down to some subjective decision no matter how big a rule book you write.  I was just sharing the things that seemed to influenced our classing.  We have embraced class A.  In fact, I am adding more cheaty parts this winter so we can go for Class A dominance or more likely blow up trying.

That's what I was wondering.  If you change your theme every race TOO much, the judges don't know that you're a bunch of wiener-steppers..

cabinboy mentioned his team trying to get from class A to B.  Their top finish to my knowledge was 10th out of about 85 cars.  So ... you're a top tier team.  Whether you think your equipment is up to par or not.  I'd consider it a compliment that they think you're too good to be in B with no penalty laps.

I've had several bombed theme attempts that went nowhere...

That's what I was wondering.  If you change your theme every race TOO much, the judges don't know that you're a bunch of wiener-steppers.

What's really funny is that I spent years trying to get teams to care about classing, in an attempt to induce Class C teams to stop making banzai pass attempts on Class A cars, etc. Nobody did care until Jay started paying prize money to class winners. Now I deal with tremendous amounts of classing-related angst.

Class B in the Midwest has become a real fun class, its super competitive but in a fun way. We have faster cars that run shorter stints and slower cars that run longer and a mix of FWD and RWD so the weather can play a role as well. I'd like to see some of the class A cars like White Trash and Burnt Rubber Soul get some laps and come and play in B with us.

High-dollar bourbon (the kind that makes the teammate who didn't kick in for some spare parts -- so getting the bribe was his pre-event penalty -- ["holy shit, you know how much this stuff costs!"]) also makes Phil smile. Seriously, watching Phil's eyes bug out for a second and a half when he saw the Booker's was worth at least half the entry fee.

you can show us that you've just barely managed to squeeze into the top third of the standings at all your previous races, you can make a decent case for getting into Class B (if you have an E30, however, the only way to get into Class B is going to involve having a squishy stock suspension, automatic transmission, and verifiably skill-deprived drivers).

Judge Phil wrote:

We take a lot of things into account when classing cars. If we've seen the same car with the same drivers a bunch of times and we're pretty confident we know how well that team does, we will sometimes put a Class B car in Class A (because the team organization is very good, car is reliable, drivers don't get black flags, etc), or we might put a car you'd expect to be in Class A into Class B if we know the team is a bunch of clowns who will lock their tools in their trailer and lose the key, get four black flags in the first hour of racing, etc. Raw lap times don't mean a whole lot when classing a car, but where the team finishes in the standings in previous races does mean something.

I'd say that if you want to make a case that your car deserves to be in a lower class than you keep getting, the worst way to go about convincing the judges is to whine about how other teams get treated better than you, it's all unfair, etc. (this is what teams in California and Texas do, and it doesn't work so well). Instead, print out the standings for the races you've done in the past, so we can see where the car has finished in those races. If you have a stock early Integra (a classic example of a car that can be either Class B or Class A, depending on team skills and equipment) and you can show us that you've just barely managed to squeeze into the top third of the standings at all your previous races, you can make a decent case for getting into Class B (if you have an E30, however, the only way to get into Class B is going to involve having a squishy stock suspension, automatic transmission, and verifiably skill-deprived drivers).

Every race we try to talk Judge Phil into putting our Neon into class B. It's a pretty good car but we're a bunch of klutzes that like to step on our wieners multiple times over the course of a weekend. Will we ever stop trying to get out of class A? No way! It's too much fun to sit back and listen to Aaron weave tales and slip Phil some of the worst bribes known to man. I still chuckle at the thought of Aaron sliding a box of WalMart chocolates across the hood of the Neon as an early Valentine's Day bribe last year at Barber.