1....Having been a Hoosier dealer for over a quarter century, AND being the person that Bruce Foss chose to test the VROCS (Vee Racers Of Colorado), I can tell (or at least opine to) you all a few points:
Most of us thought they were great. The better drivers loved them, while those that were uncomfortable with their car moving around a bit more, not so much. If you are a slug and you think by having a slippery spec tire is going to be an equalizer, you are in for an "awakening". The fast guys are going to leave you farther behind than before.
2....I read claims of the VROCs lasting 20 sessions. Try 41. That's Forty-One sessions with most of those being at Pueblo, back before the repave and having the justifiable reputation as the ultimate tire shredder. Actually, the tires went off at 37 sessions, so I treated them with the snake oil of the day, put my crew man out on them for a regional, and he thought I had treated him to new tires! Honest. I ran them that last session and am probably the only guy to have ever corded a VROC! Would you believe I still have a new set of VROCs mounted up in storage?! Can you imagine what they would be like today? Even with my pro tire machine, I couldn't break the bead 10 years ago! I use them as rollers. Nice to be able to grab on to one and skid that end of the car sideways
Anyhow the program was working well and I was even happy to sell them at a discount. Tire sales plummeted, but I didn't care. We had a gentleman's agreement to run them everywhere. Then came a race at Lajunta, and for fear of a lawsuit I won't mention the man's name, but he slapped on a set of GYs, followed by a response of another driver pulling his set of Hoosier gummies out of the trailer, and the program was shot down. Too bad.
I will add this: Up till that point CO drivers were also-rans at the Runoffs. That fall, we had either 7 or eight drivers in our division that qualified, and after becoming comfortable with cars that moved around a bit more, when we got back on the softer tires at the Runoffs, I believe all but one of us finished in the top ten.
I am not saying that it is the answer on a national basis, and I have to think that under certain circumstances (such as a damp or near freezing session) the tires would be less than fun if not a problem. Just what I saw.
Also, While it was a long time ago, I raced a few times in Canada. Twice at Mosport, once at St. Jovite. Great guys to race with! Back then the tires (tyres?)were Yokohamas. They even kicked ya $100 just for showing up, and while the tires may last much longer today, I remember the man who furnished the car I was driving coating my tires with acetone, explaining that that would make them faster for my race, but then they would be throwaways. I also remember the tremendous difference they made in the draft. Doubled the effect. Not sure everyone is going to be for that. Again, just what I saw.
In retrospect, it surprises me that any tire manufacturer would be anxious to build a tire that is bound to cut their sales in half, but if anyone would, it would be Hoosier. Great people!
BTW...although the American Racer is the evolutionary product that it is...M&H. McCreary, and now Amer. Racer, how many know that it was Bruce Foss that originally designed that tire over 30 years ago?
Nuther BTW.....I have not seen it mentioned, but let's hear it for Lisa Noble who is now, at least interim President of SCCA! Gee, doesn't she drive one of these "old, slow, ugly" cars that many of us prefer over anything else on wheels? Go Lisa!
Mike Palermo Jr.