Below is text from a letter sent to drivers participating in Hoosier Super Tour and Runoffs events in 2021 and 2022. 

Dear Fellow Hoosier Super Tour drivers,

I wanted to provide a follow-up to the e-mail sent a little more than a week ago, introducing the Green-to-Checker (G2C) concept. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can find a copy of that initial letter here.

Some of you took the time to offer a response or ideas directly back to us—thank you! Some of you took to social media to discuss it and some were able to have face-to-face discussions. Let’s keep the conversations going.

I want to share some thoughts based on feedback we’ve received, and provide an update on some things that are already in flight.

In the first e-mail, I shared the idea that all drivers, collectively, needed to work as one “team” to have successful, uninterrupted sessions. Goal #1 is to maximize our available track time and drive our cars into the paddock unscathed after the session. Goal #2 becomes more individualized, whether it’s hitting a target lap time, beating your chief rival, etc.

But as many of you have pointed out, the “team” responsible for getting our sessions from Green-to-Checker extends beyond the drivers. It also includes officials, corner marshals, safety teams, rules makers and event organizers. So, whether it’s driving on track; incident response and reporting; investigations, protests and hearings; driving conduct and penalty rules; or event scheduling—there are a lot of factors that can positively influence this G2C Movement.

The communication to drivers is only part of that effort. This discussion is being had within many of the groups I referenced above. Each one of us can make a difference.

The First G2C Change – Runoffs Test Days

Removing my driving hat and putting on my Runoffs race organizer hat, we’re going to make a change to Runoffs test days after our experiences in 2021. While the 2019 Runoffs test day sessions at VIR went considerably smoother than last year’s test days at Indianapolis, they can still be improved. Based on feedback and test session analysis over the last three years, to best position our drivers for success and quality track time, we’re going to expand the number of test groups each day and reduce the maximum car count per group for days two and three.

Compared to 2019 at VIR:

• Saturday’s test day will expand from four groups to five, maintaining a 40-car limit/group.
• Sunday’s test day will expand from five groups to seven, reducing maximum car count from 50 to 45.
• Monday’s test day will expand from seven groups to 10, reducing maximum car count from 60 to 50.

The benefit of additional run groups comes with a compromise, with Sunday and Monday dropping one session per group. But the number of sessions is consistent to the Indy test days in 2021 (four on Saturday, three on Sunday and two on Monday). Our goal is to provide less-congested sessions and better class combinations, with the expectation that these sessions can run uninterrupted. The draft test day schedule is available at the Runoffs event page here.

Summary Session Data from Hallett

*- Spins, metal-metal, barrier impact, stopped/mechanical – anything that either stopped a session or could have potentially stopped a session. Did not include calls of four-wheels off not involving a spin. The number should actually be higher than 212, but some of the hand-written notes were difficult to decipher.

Hallett’s numbers are not unexpected. It’s a different track than VIR and had fewer cars. While there are some opportunities for improvement, only three of the 28 sessions needed to be interrupted.

Up Next

Here are some upcoming items related to G2C:

• Pitt Race HST Summary Session Data
• G2C stickers have been ordered and will be available at events and through the office. Stay tuned!
• Overview/summary of some of the feedback received to date (including SCCA’s licensing process, mutual respect, 13/13, automatic penalties, publication of actions, protest process, groupings, split starts and more)

Whether you are headed to Portland this weekend or any other track with an HST, Majors, Regional, Enduro or even an event with another group, best of luck. Be the driver that you want everyone else to be.

See you at the track!
EP

Eric Prill
VP, Road Racing and fellow driver