Did you see that several 5's registered for the 3/4 race? Does that still mean it's "full"?

Did you see that several 5's registered for the 3/4 race?

It wouldn't be difficult for them to upgrade to 4 by then. Even if they don't have the races, Parkside will give them the chance to get three (or maybe six or even nine) chances to race.

The great news is that it has filled.

The sad news is that they reduced race length due to the number of fields offered.

Not that it really matters unless the officials are strictly adhering to the rules (what a concept) but "Parksides" are not USCF and as such technically do not count towards an upgrade... Now we all know this ain't the way things work, particularly when moving from 5 to 4, but for other upgrades word around town is that ABR won't count any more...

That being said if I were a 5 who snuck into the 3/4 field I wouldn't be sleeping too well knowing that in the next few days one can imagine how many shut-out 3's are going to be sending e-mails to the race organizers... yikes!

A Cat 5 should not be allowed to register for a 3/4 race, regardless of his upgrade plans. Besides the fact that it removes a prereg spot for current-correct-category-license-holders, are they ready to echelon into the ditch confidently? I doubt it.

I think Julian is on to something. Word has it that the ABR road races up here aren't going to count anymore, in addition to the wiSPORT races that some use. I don't know if this will be enforced, but it seems like they are strictly addressing it this year, rather than in years past as they just discouraged it.

Also, in the rule book one of the biggest changes to the Track, is the refusal to use non-USAC licensed races for upgrades. This is a direct attack on Kenosha and a few others. So, in the eyes of the USAC you have to upgrade at Northbrook only etc...

Excellent. A good old-fashioned sanctioning schism is exactly what our sport needs.

I've heard of a handful of people having trouble getting into the 3's this off-season, supposedly because of too much reliance ABR results. I can't verify its efficacy, but one back door is to apply to ABR for an upgrade, and then ask USAC to honor it.

well, i was a cat 5 last night when i registered for the 3/4, and today i am a cat 4. so thats one less for y'all to worry about.

snip snip

Wow. We (CCC) did get smoked on registration. That was insane how quickly this thing filled up. Lesson learned for a new team. I'm pretty bummed we all won't be available to show out together. Here's to the support van I suppose...