Age of Runoffs drivers

[hardingfv32-1]

G.B.
"I’m 45 and personally I prefer racing with drivers of my age or older, who understand that we all have to go to work on Monday and if you bend it, it will be you who has to straighten it out again."

Don't think for a minute that you are safer racing with older drivers. ALL race drivers are capable of risky behavior once the helmet goes on. I would say that a younger driver is physically more able to pull off some of these dump moves than an older driver. You are equating the loss of the drive to win with age and this does not always hold true. If you are thinking about work on Monday or your car, then you should consider vintage.

Brian

[Cooper 64]

I don't think that age has any thing to do with bad decisions, everyone makes mistakes and to say that you feel safer around an older driver is crazy. The older you get the slower the reflexes get. It's a fact. I feel safer around higher caliber drivers. It makes no difference in age. I have raced withsome of the younger drivers- Nick Maurus, Kyle Klein, and many other and they are all very safe and give lots of racing room. I am a younger driver and it does not matter if I have to go to work, if I wreck , I cant race and I lose- its that simple. I have not met a young Vee driver on an unlimited budget. I guess I am trying to say I dont agree!!!!!!!!

[maurus97]

I am confused. Where did this thread come from and/or what is it a reponse to? Who are you quoting Brain? WHO IS G.B.???

Nick

[fvkartguy]

I don't know where the post came from, but I also don't agree with it... mostly.
I've seen young drivers whose parents pay for everything and they can be reckless.
However, you can't make a blanket statement about all "young" drivers. I definitely understand about going to work on Monday because I'm going back to school AND work on Monday. So if I bend something, I not only have to find the time to fix it, but I'm also saving up money to buy the materials beforehand. If I had a bad accident like some other people, I probably wouldn't be able to pay for the repairs and my racing days would be over.
I've also seen some dangerous driver from some of the older (by my standards) drivers who pay to have their cars worked on. They don't have to fix what they break (like some kids) so take a lot of risk I wouldn't.

[Cooper 64]

NICK, It was quoted on the other page under speed channel coverage for the runoffs.

[G.B.]

I am confused. Where did this thread come from and/or what is it a reponse to? Who are you quoting Brain? WHO IS G.B.???

Nick

G.B. is Guy Bellingham. I mostly run FV (F1200) in Canada, but have run a season of FST in the GL division and this year thoroughly enjoyed running in an FV NYSRRS in the North East Division.

The quote is a paragraph taken from my post in the ‘Speed Channel Runoff FV Reminder/Tomorrow’ thread, and in isolation appears out of context. Here is the complete post:

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Run-Offs on Speed today. I did not record it, so I cannot check, but didn’t the commentator point out that average age of the drivers was 53! Whilst this is an amazing statistic, where’s the young blood?

I’m 45 and personally I prefer racing with drivers of my age or older, who understand that we all have to go to work on Monday and if you bend it, it will be you who has to straighten it out again.

Nevertheless, looking at the bigger picture, an aging population is not good for the long-term future of the formula. Who will be racing in FV in twenty years time?

I was marvelling at, what I considered to be, the high average age of the drivers in the FV race at the Run-Offs and wondering how / if this will affect the long-term future of the formula. (I’ve since been corrected, apparently the average age was 50.3).

The potentially quicker reactions of young drivers against the impetuosity and inexperience of youth (especially when Mum and Dad are paying the bills) is a whole different argument for another day.

Returning the average age at the Run-Offs, what is the average age of drivers in other formulae, is 50.3 usual?

[hardingfv32-1]

The key to your safety is to KNOW the people in your run group. Grab a drink and roam the pits. Visit EVERYONE in your GROUP. When a FF is back with the Vees, find out why. Find the top dog in FF, and get his opinion of all the FF drivers. Every driver has a history or story. The guys you are looking for are the one who think they can win or once were on top but can't drive anymore or have bad equipment. Give these guys the respect/attention they deserve when you are next to them on the track. If you do not have enough attention available for this task while doing your normal driving duties, then try vintage.

Brian

[brian]

From my experience, which is considrerable at 64, SCCA is greying and the majoritiy of drivers are older than 40. Most young drivers with pro aspirations go to the pro schools and race. Barber, Russell, BMW etc. This year, two great young drivers dominated FF so bad a Ford buddy said he was second in ARRP FF. Just a joke, but it does say something about youth and driving skills. We have some great young guys in vees and I love running with them because they force me to raise my game. I really enjoyed watching Jeremy Granier testing at Heartland. One of the best seasons I've ever had was when Jon Fogarty came through vees and we spent the year racing against each other. He handed me my ass on a plate, but I was a better driver for it. Same thing with Jacque Lasier. Just stink fast and fun to watch. I can assure you that retirement would have come years ago if I had to run against 20 somethings every weekend. Frankly their aggression may create more opportunities for incidents but, as someone said, their reaction times avoid most accidents.

[FV80]

In *MY* experience, it's not 'reaction time' that separates the 'crashers' from the 'non-crashers'. It's DECISIONS - like trying to outbrake someone into a turn on lap 3... or trying to FORCE a late pass (just BEFORE the braking point) on a competitive car on lap 3.... or dive-bombing someone on a wet or damp track on lap 3, or putting your car BETWEEN 2 backmarkers as you lap them - on the last lap when you have a 5 second gap on 2nd place. It's those decisions that make crashes and kill seat time - most are made by those '20 somethings' - not because they're 20 - but because they don't yet have the experience to KNOW how bad those decisions are. They can certainly also be made by older drivers, but who's $PAYING$ for those mistakes often doesn't enter into the equation (much). I *DO* remember a few times when it flitted through my brain ... "how much might this cost me?... in TIME and $$$ ??" ... but these days I tend to think more like "might it HURT ME if this didn't work out??" .

It's been said .. you CAN win a race on lap1 turn 1 - but it's pretty rare, you STILL have to finish the rest of the race and the likelihood of it happening (you 'winning it' at T1) is astronomically lower than a whole bunch of alternative endings . As Steve Oseth can attest, its the guy that leads the LAST lap that counts. In SCCA, even POLE POSITION is (almost always) worth ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!

As a recommendation to the 'younger' drivers out there. Work HARD on turning the FASTEST SAFE laps you can. You may not have noticed it, but it's the fastest AVERAGE lap time that wins the race. The fast lap is often set by someone running deeper in the field. If you can't turn your own unencumbered laps within a few tenths of each other ... you have work to do - and SEAT TIME is what gets it. Making those laps FAST laps are next ... and guess what gets you there ... SEAT TIME ... and, I guess there is 'that other thing' ... the CAR (and all those THOUSANDS of pieces that make it work)!! .

Steve

[Speedsport]

As Steve Oseth can attest, its the guy that leads the LAST lap that counts.

Hey!

[clubford00]

Always the bridesmaid

[Bill_Bonow]

Who will be racing in FV in twenty years time?

Oh, I love math questions. Well, if the current average age is 50.3, then in twenty years, FV's will be driven at the Runoffs by very old people.

[FV80]

As Steve Oseth can attest, its the guy that leads the LAST lap that counts.

Hey!

Sorry, Mike ... I guess I should have said 'Steve and Brad' - but Steve really WON his ...(at least ONE of them)? Without question, you have been BIT by the banshee .
GREAT interview on Speed BTW - you have really super intestinal fortitude after 3 times... (in a ROW, no less!!) I think I would've been throwing up in the bushes. Pretty fantastic finishes in my book, but I know they're not QUITE what you wanted ....
Steve

[tppj]

With regard to the aging of the sport, it is similar to something we see on the street all the time. Where are the twenty somethings driving around in Corvettes (the way they did in the 60's)? THEY DON'T EXIST. The simple fact is, they can't afford it. All the Corvettes are driven by white-haired old guys in baseball caps. I think you're seeing the same thing in SCCA. The costs, combined with the plethora of opportunites in other series', are changing the sport, probably forever. Bummer, huh?

Tom

[Speedsport]

Thanks for the kind words Steve. The losses in both '07 and '08 were hard to take, but at the same time 2nd at the runoffs any year is hard to complain about! 07' was tough since I lead almost the entire thing, and had it not been for the backmarker, I think it could have been different. '08 was just bad "race management" on my end. I was too willing to sit back and save the car for the end of the race. We never had a full course caution in 06 or 07, so I screwed up by thinking we wouldn't get one in 08. Oh well. I'm from Chicago, where the saying is among sports fans "There's always next year."

[clubford00]

And like all Chicago fans, Mike, Im confident that "next year" will be yours.