Everyone --
Well, having read through a whole slew of Hawaii-related material, I
feel I must add to the growing literature on the subject. There are
several issues I want to address:
A) SERIES vs. PICK-UP RACES
I think Series racing is a great idea, for the sole reason that it
gives people a chance to race against people they know and trust.
However, there is a tendency for series to become very exclusive and
cliquish, and this distances the series from the pickup racers, not
all of whom are kamikaze maniacs. I encourage all of the new Hawaii
series to maintain open minds. Don't introvert your series or flaunt
it -- give the pickup racers a chance. If I were a director again
(heaven forbid), you bet your booties I'd be scouting the pickup races
for new talent. Remember -- elitism is anathema to auto racing (heck,
look at IRL and CART). In short, equal billing needs to be given to
both pickup and series events.
B) COMPLAINTS, ET AL
Dangerous trend developing. New racers who make mistakes are being
ostracized. Sure, there are a few out there who are running around
bashing people for fun. But there have been a few incidents, like
pace lap wrecks, where inexperience is mistaken for stupidity. One of
the reasons this keeps happening is that more experienced drivers
aren't offering to help. Basically, it's "new-guy-thrown-to-sharks"
city. Winston Cup racing is unique because a new racer will get help
from the old hands. This is where I see leagues being helpful --
there should be a STRATIFIED set of leagues, just like NASCAR has set
up. There needs to be a Sportsman style league for 0 level racers,
where people can learn what it is like to get in the middle of things.
Once that training ground has served its purpose, you go on. But
there HAS to be something open for all levels -- it's really
ineffectual to say "Once you hit 5 you can join THE LEAGUE.. until
then, you're SOL."
I've heard calls for DAMAGE OFF races so that people don't get taken
out by boneheads. Well, the only way to learn NOT to be a bonehead is
to have to sit out a race or get many laps down from a damaged race
car. Learning involves disappointment and pain occasionally.
C) INDYCAR MULTIPLAYER
Every time I read posts calling for this, I laugh. Imagine the
carnage currently happening on Hawaii, and then put it in cars that
get bent by lightly tapping something. The multicar pileups would be
on the pace laps, especially at road courses.
I'd say a CTRL-A key is in order -- In other words, pace/yellow lap
autopilot. You can toggle it just like autobraking or manual
shifting. That way, the sim takes over the car on pace laps so nobody
gets rammed or spun out. When one-to-go comes out, people can then
switch it off and go racing next lap. Just a thought.
Anyway, I'm rambling. I just want to remind everyone that we're all
newbies to racing (even Nim, Rhawn, and the other hotshots) and
probably couldn't race a real car to save our lives. All this
"rubbins racin" and revenge crapola that "Days of Thunder" made trendy
might work on rec.autos.sport.nascar or whatever, but please don't
take it onto the track.
Ta-ta.
_________________________________________
Tony Johns
IWCCCARS Project Coordinator
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~iwcc/project.htm