2006 Racing Schedule

Have I mentioned that I’m not a fan of snow and cold? I’m not. I would hibernate if I could. That is why so little has been happening in the garage this month, despite our current heat wave. It’s been in the high 30s the past couple of days, but the temperature is expected to drop again tomorrow.

So let’s pretend winter is over already and start thinking about next summer. Here is my not-very-tentative (and yet not quite firm) 2006 schedule. As I said before, racing schedules are always subject to change.

April 22-23 GingerMan (MI) SCCA National
April 29-30 Blackhawk (IL) SCCA National
May 13-14 Grattan (MI) SCCA National
May 20-21 Blackhawk (IL) SCCA National
May 27-28 Blackhawk (IL) MC Drivers’ School
June 3-4 Mid-Ohio (OH) SCCA National
June 24-25 Montreal (CAN) F1 Grand Prix Support Race
July 29-30 Nelson Ledges (OH) SCCA National
August 12-13 Grattan (MI) SCCA National
August 26-27 Montreal (CAN) CART Support Race
September 2-3 Nelson Ledges (OH) SCCA National
September 16-17 Blackhawk (IL) MC Drivers’ School
October 9-15 Topeka (KS) SCCA Runoffs

The Canadian organizers haven’t confirmed the two support races in Montreal. We also haven’t heard what rules they will use for those races, or if they would accept my license. It might be worth the 16 hour tow to race on the same weekend as F1 or CART, but I may find that I need to focus my energy and resources on the SCCA races instead. On the other hand, this could be my only opportunity to appear on their program. But I’d rather not postpone a promising SCCA season for the sake of one event that may not work out.

The Runoffs will depend on the points standings, as will the National races in Ohio in the second half of the season. The SCCA Runoffs is an invitation-only, “winner-take-all” race for the national championship. Only the top 10 drivers in each Division are invited, with each driver’s best 6 finishes counting towards the total. If I can earn enough points in the first four or five events, I may be able to relax the pace a bit. If I’m hopelessly far behind the top 10 by June, I probably won’t push too hard the rest of the season. And if that happens, then I won’t be attending the Runoffs.

Some other races that are on my “backup” calendar (if the budget allows, if other events fall through, etc) include an early April MC race at the Autobahn (good for a shakedown before the first National race), a June MC race on the Milwaukee Mile infield road course (and a Regional race there in September), and the June Sprints at Road America (on the same weekend as the Canadian Grand Prix).

I will have to miss the Central Division East-West Challenge series races race at Grattan on Memorial Day weekend because of the conflict with the Drivers’ School. The EWC Blackhawk race in July is unfortunately third on the list that weekend, behind the Classic Car Club of America’s Grand Classic event and a National race in Indianapolis. The EWC at Road America also conflicts with the Montreal CART race.

On a different subject, I plan to change the look of the site just a bit in the next week or two. Some people have reported that their browsers only show part of the page, so I need to adjust the size of the page. You may not even notice a difference.