Homestead - Feb 16-17

[Jim]

CCS opener. Anyone going?

I'm looking for someone with a trailer to transport me and CEO's bikes

[Jim]

and i'd be doing Friday practice (or track day)

[Brendin87]

Last I heard, the Ealy family was going. Not sure if that has changed.

[THE STUFF 187]

I just got back from Homestead. I would not go back. They are such a mess & unorganized. They lost my reg form & found it right before races started & just threw me where ever they could. Didnt even have me on a grid for 2 of my races. The grids are a joke you just line up at your cone # & people line up on top of you, wherever they want, they dont use the staggered lines that we do. They grid you only on how early you send your reg form in, if they dont lose it as a guy in my garage had same issue. They would say 3 waves race then your waiting for 3rd wave but it never comes, cuz they only send 2 waves but dont tell anyone. so your sitting there like an idiot, hoping not to get slamed from behind. In one of the races a guy crashed in turn 10 with bike stuck on top of him, which is a 140mph turn for 2 laps cuz there was no corner worker at his station. On top of that the riders there are reckless & im all about scrapping paint, but these guys are something else. Your at the apex of a turn & a rider comes into corner too hot sliding the rear end everywere, you either get off the line & let him go by or he runs right into the side of you. In my first race we had 5 red flags, with 4 restarts. guys leaving in med vac. Totaly crazy bunch of riders. Really makes you apperciate Loudon so much more after racing in Homestead. I didnt really like the flow of the track either, as did most of the loudon guys that came down to race. I would def recommend going to another track, but thats my 2 cents anyways. Sure others that went if on nesr will chime in.

[Jim]

justin, welcome to non LRRS events bud.
NJMP was very similar

[THE STUFF 187]

It was unreal. NJ is the same way? I really wanted to go this year, but WTF. Such a cluster fuck. Then LRRS till I die. LOL

[Jim]

it's how CCS operates.
all the forms have to be faxed in early, there's no online system like LRRS.
we line up without pre-grid. no staggered lines, the boxes are for the AMA races.
two waves, but only a 2 second break between flag waves. good launchers will catch the back of wave 1 going into T1.

i actually had a thead discussing this after doing the NJMP round last year, explaining how lucky the LRRS riders are to have such a good system.

[THE STUFF 187]

Very true. If you havent raced anywhere but Loudon you have no idea how good we have it & how well the staff runs the track. I did not know this before I went there so it really took me for a big surprise, since I have never raced anywhere but Loudon. Now I know what to expect. The first time was def an eye opener. But even Wood said the guys @ Homestead where wild too. They are totaly out of control in the AM classes.

[Jim]

good thing you wont have to deal with us crazy AM riders anymore

[Slowpoke387]

WOW ur story is an EXACT duplicate of my experience racing CCS 2 yrs ago in NJ. I would never go back and race with CCS outside of LRRS again. I have to say each and every negative detail you described happened to me in NJ, right down to the idiots crashing at the apexes because they were way out of control. Same ridiculous gridding yourself anywhere you like on your row and everything. WOW.

[Brendin87]

I wonder if this uncontrolled crashing and riding is the same in the EX class. I would assume it would be a little better since they "should" be more advanced. For some reason I tend to think this isn't the case.

[Slowpoke387]

No it just hurts more when u crash as an EX, lol.

[Johnny B]

Without delving into all the other gory details, I find it extremely strange that an organization refuses to use perfectly acceptable grid markings to line bikes up with.

In the past, watching the field line up on the hot grid at Homestead looked like a complete clusterfuck. This month I noticed that the markings from the AMA national were still there, but the bikes were being lined up in straight rows next to each cone. Proper spacing was not really being enforced. Scotty Thorton told me that the markings were confusing some riders and that they should have clarified at the riders meeting that riders were to line up next to the cones.

Now what was really strange was that the past three years at Barber, AHRMA was doing the same thing. A perfectly good AMA grid was marked on the track but they were lining them straight alongside their cones, again without proper spacing. When I asked Race Director Cindy Cowell why they weren't using the markings, she replied, "Because this is how we do it!"

Things are good at Loudon. Cathy and the pre grid crew make sure you know where you're supposed to be before you go out. Tommy had an AMA spec grid painted on the track, the same grid that I use for USCRA events.
When some guy from Ducati of Miami came to Loudon to wrench on Eric Wood's bike, he was amazed at how quickly you guys lined up and the green flag was thrown.

Unfortunately, I have learned that even the most helpful suggestions offered as a professional courtesy when at other venues are not usually gladly accepted by defensive officials.

So I just watch and learn what and what not to do. I will admit that I learned some things from Jennifer Reese (Florida CCS Starter) that I use when running USCRA races.
Something I picked up on this trip is that they require riders to put their number on their Go-Pros so that the cornerworkers can bring stray ones back to their rightful owner. This would be a good idea for all of you, as well as labeling your beacon timer dash units.

[Brendin87]

Now does Daytona operate the same way?

[union]

Let not forget not that long ago we had the fax war for grid spots and straight line rows. Ive only been racing a few years but LRRS has made some major improvements.

[csmutty]

Now does Daytona operate the same way?

Yup. Exactly the same. Everything ccs is the same.

I didn't think it was that bad at jersey or daytona though.

[Jim]

I didn't think it was that bad at jersey or daytona though.

same here. i just noticed the differences & will plan accordingly for the next CCS round

[Slowpoke387]

Let not forget not that long ago we had the fax war for grid spots and straight line rows. Ive only been racing a few years but LRRS has made some major improvements.

Even so, LRRS was running a tighter ship, even then. I never had any issue with the straight rows. I actually kinda liked that. The issue for me is letting all the yahoos line up scraping my paint trying to get some advantage without even moving yet. And then getting in waaay too hot into T1 and clearing people out because they couldn't get it turned (Usually it was the idiots with the stupid fake mohawks - shocker).

[csmutty]

Even so, LRRS was running a tighter ship, even then. I never had any issue with the straight rows. I actually kinda liked that. The issue for me is letting all the yahoos line up scraping my paint trying to get some advantage without even moving yet. And then getting in waaay too hot into T1 and clearing people out because they couldn't get it turned (Usually it was the idiots with the stupid fake mohawks - shocker).

From what you guys are saying it sounds like amateur is more of the problem. I have never seen this kind of stuff in expert.

[Jim]

so....who's planning on going to Homestead for the CCS opener?
i think it's me, CEO, and Patrice so far.

[CBR929RE]

remember that there's no CCS novice anywhere else so you have these guys who have potentially have zero racing experience lined up all around you. structured grids based off points would go a long way to improving safety.

[csmutty]

remember that there's no CCS novice anywhere else so you have these guys who have potentially have zero racing experience lined up all around you. structured grids based off points would go a long way to improving safety.

This.

I signed up early for Jersey and got 2nd row..

And I had never raced there before...

[THE STUFF 187]

I really thought this was just a fluke, but guess not. I'm going to stick with LRRS for now. Jim i'll still have to deal with you crazy AM when I lap your ass

[Johnny B]

Let not forget not that long ago we had the fax war for grid spots and straight line rows.

A-n-n-n-n-n-d, they're off!
In response to the straight line rows, I believe that the grid was still marked so there was no bunching. At Homestead I've seen four bikes bunched up
so that they were within the "C" and "D" marks on the grid.
I'm questioning the intelligence of winging it with the cones when there's a perfectly good grid marked on the track.

[Slowpoke387]

I'm questioning the intelligence of winging it with the cones when there's a perfectly good grid marked on the track.

Exactly.