|
AAMCO to Sponsor LM-E Race at
Lanier
February 2nd , 2009 - Mark Royer

The STPC front office is pleased to announce that AAMCO of Ft. Walton Beach
in Florida will continue its sponsorship of the LM-E series by presenting
the Ft. Walton Beach AAMCO 200 race at Lanier on March 16th.
Wayne Matherne, the AAMCO
franchise owner, stated "I loved season one and can't
wait for season two to start. I had expressed to Jeff that we (AAMCO) wanted
to sponsor some races."
Matherne doesn't stop at sponsoring a league.
He also invites any STPC members to stop by
the shop if they find themselves in the Ft. Walton Beach area. "We do
FREE Diagnostics for our customers and would extend 10% off to any member of
STPC or iRacing. "
Menghi Snow Removal to Sponsor Pro Cup Division B
January
30th, 2009 - Mark Royer
Today
the STPC front office announced that an agreement has been finalized with
Menghi Snow Removal to become presenting sponsor of the Sunday night Pro Cup
Division B series. The series will be called Pro Cup Division B
Presented by Menghi Snow Removal.
Matt Menghi, owner and President of New London, Connecticut based Menghi
Snow Removal, LLC explained that the business is a new startup.
"I have the truck, the plow, the spreader, and the confidence, just need the
name, tax info, and exposure."
If you are from the New London area of Connecticut,
consider giving Menghi Snow Removal a call for all your plowing, salting and
sanding needs.
STPC 2009-Season-4 Championship Podium
January
29th, 2009 - Mark Royer
Thanks to all the
drivers and all the series administrators for running a great inaugural
season for Short Track Pro Cup. The racing was plentiful and excellent
and great friends were made all around.
As we move towards the 2010-Season-1, which kicks off next week, I want to
look back to acknowledge and congratulate the top three drivers from each
STPC series and divisions.
2009-Season-4 Podium Awards
Pro Cup - Premier Division
1. Jeremy Davis
2. Reed Rundell
3. Craig Pearson
Pro Cup - Division A
1. Brian Keske
2. Glenn Jones
3. Jacob Guiher
Pro Cup - Division B
1. Jacob Klein
2. Mark Royer
3. Lars Nelson
Mini-Stocks (Jetta)
1. Richard Shomer
2. Jacob Klein
3. Frank Schwartz
Ultimate (Nationwide)
1. Levi Poland
2. Richard Shomer
3. Glenn Jones
Late Model - East
1. Kyle McCartney
2. Brian Whalley
3. Jeremy Davis
Dynasty Motorsports Modifieds
1. Mike King
2. Jeremy Davis
3. Glenn Jones
Web Racing Network to Launch First iRacing Broadcast on STPC
January
10th, 2009 - Mark Royer
Web Racing N etwork
will launch it's iRacing sim broadcasting service with it's innaugural
broadcast of the STPC LM-E Full Fender Frenzy 150 Tuesday night at 8:45 PM
EST. "The goal of WRN is to
provide the latest in web broadcast technology for all forms of racing
throughout the world." explained WRN producer Matt Thomas. Tune in on
Tuesday night for the excitement
here.
Pro Cup Premier and Modifieds are
Sponsored
January
7th, 2009 - Mark Royer
Two separate sponsorship deals have been concluded
today.
iRacersResource.com will be the presenting sponsor of the Sunday night
Pro Cup Premier Division. Starting with the 2010 Season 1 in February
the division will be called Pro Cup
Premium Division presented by
iRacersResource.com.
Meanwhile
Triad Auto will present the Wednesday night SK modified series which
will be called the
Triad Auto Modifieds Tour.
STPC is very happy to work with the
iRacersResource.com and
Triad Auto and looks forward to a strong partnership in the future.
Both sponsorships will be channeled through our
STPC Race
for Charity Program.
Please, support
our sponsors whenever you can!
STPC Announces 2010 Season 1 Series Lineup
January
7th, 2009 - Mark Royer
For the 2010 Season 1 starting in February, STPC will offer registered
drivers six different sanctioned short track series including
-
the multi-divisional Pro Cup Series
(late models),
-
the Atlantic Coast Late Model Series,
-
the Triad Auto Modified Series,
-
the Dynasty Motorsports Super
Truck Series,
-
the Ultimate Short Track
Series (Impala B), and
-
the Mini-stocks Series (Jetta).
For a single $3 registration fee, STPC drivers can sign up for any, up to
all, of the STPC sanctioned series.
Click
here for full details.
Whittier Service Center to Sponsor
Premier Division Race at South Boston
December
28th, 2009 - Mark Royer
STPC is proud to announce that Whittier Service
Center of Tamworth, New Hampshire will sponsor the Whittier Service Center
150 on January 3rd at South Boston Speedway. The Whittier
Service Center 150 is the Premier Division race of the Pro Cup Late Model
series that runs every Sunday night.
Jeremy Davis, public relations director for Whittier
Service Center, said "The STPC front office is
doing a great job and the league is run very professionally.
We would like to make the South Boston Premier/A race on January
3rd $15 to win." Davis added, "Whittier
Service Center is my father's business. He and I work there in
Tamworth, NH. We do Triple A calls, welding, fabricating, and I am
taking over the automotive repair part of the business; we kinda' do it all.
If you're ever in the neighborhood come check us out."
STPC Launches the 2010
Race
For Charity Program
December
24th, 2009 - Mark Royer
STPC is kicking off the
2010 STPC Race for Charity Program. I would like to
offer individuals and companies an opportunity to become
involved in the program for a very small, partially chartable
investment.
The Value
Proposition.
STPC is in an ideal position to
display your company's branding within the burgeoning online,
simulated racing community to a very interested, highly
motivated demographic. Sim racers are a predominantly
male audience of motorsports participants and enthusiasts
ranging from young teen to over 70 years of age with a
median age near 40.
By providing a very low-cost, partially charitable sponsorship
to the STPC Race For Charity Program, we will insure
extended branding exposure for your company
on our website which receives over 15-thousand true
page-view impressions per month. In addition,
press releases to related sim-media sites will
prominently display your corporate
name and brand as a partner-sponsor of STPC.
Levels of sponsorship:
-
Pledge any amount to
become a sponsor-partner in the STPC Race For Charity
Program.
-
Pledge $25 or more to
become the presenting sponsor of a Pro Cup race.
-
Pledge $100 or more to
become the presenting sponsor of a Pro Cup division for
an entire 9-month season from February to October.
Presenting sponsors will be
prominently mentioned in every official communication
regarding the event presented by the sponsor.
What is
Simulated Racing
iRacing.com's
simulated racing software goes far beyond the traditional racing
video game. Simulation software and servers are dedicated
providing highly realistic, immersion racing over the internet
and is targeted to serious motorsports participants and
enthusiasts. The physics and graphics models embodied in the
software are exacting replicas of real life to the extent that
many professional drivers use
iRacing.com
for training
purposes. Over 13000 subscribers participate on
iRacing.com
servers.
Considering iRacing.com's recent
NASCAR and IRL partnership announcements, iRacing.com's
global subscription base is rapidly expanding.
What is
STPC
STPC
is the premier, virtual short track offering on the internet.
Over 130 iRacing subscribers participate in STPC events. They
range from top-tier drivers to every-day motorsports fans.
More than two-thirds of
STPC
drivers participate or
have participated in real-life motorsports at all levels from
the local speedway on up, including a former NASCAR Winston Cup
driver.
Our mission at STPC is to provide the best online
short track oval experience possible for our drivers. In
addition, we seek to increase the general awareness of local,
grass-roots motorsports within the highly-interested simulated
racing community.
To fulfill that mission, we are seeking to expand our overall
presence on the internet and attract the top short track drivers
to our Premier Division. In that regard, we are seeking sponsor
partnerships to help us attain that goal.
This is a win-win situation.
For a very small, partially charitable investment you can raise
awareness of your company's brand and product line among a very
interested and highly motivated demographic while at the same
time help us achieve our goals.
I welcome you to
the STPC Race For Charity Program and hope you choose to become
involved.
Thank you for
your time and consideration,
-Mark Royer
STPC
Administrator
stpcAdmin@comcast.net
http://www.stprocup.com
In Memory of Hailey Miller
1994-2009
December
22th, 2009 -
Troy Tompkins

As an STPC driver, I would like to dedicate the races
this week to Hailey Miller. She was a girl in my school who underwent
reconstructive knee surgery (for the third time I might add) because of
previous basketball and other injuries. She was doing fine throughout the
entire surgery and was sent home. A fairly routine surgery and nothing was
thought to go wrong. Something did, however...
Here is the story as written from close friends and family members:
As some of you have already heard Hailey Miller is in the hospital. She had
knee surgery again on Wednesday, December 16th. She was doing fine after the
surgery and was on her way home. In the car she stopped breathing and was
unconscious for 8 minutes. They airlifted her to Children's Healthcare of
Atlanta at Egleston where she is hooked up to a machine to help her breathe.
She is in a coma but has been receiving more oxygen. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER AND
HER FAMILY IN THIS TOUGH TIME.
We have been praying hard for her and had a group entitled Pray For Hailey
MIller on Facebook with 1,753 members. The comments left were nothing but
praise for this wonderful girl.
The remainder of the story is as follows and is deeply saddening...
Life support was pulled and the following was from Hailey's family:
"It saddens our hearts that at 12:16 today Hailey passed away. We Appreciate
all your thoughts and prayers and we want you to know Hailey knows she was
loved."
The stories can be found on facebook here:
Pray For Hailey Miller:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=213432532404&ref=mf#/group.php?gid=226150851976&ref=mf
Hailey Miller: always remembered, never
forgotten:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=213432532404&ref=mf
Please consider adding this week as a memorial race week. Just adding a
moment of silence before the race would be greatly appreciated. This all
happened within a couple days and it took us all by surprise...
Beachland Cleaning Services to Sponsor STPC iRace For
Charity
December
16th, 2009 - Jeff Wentworth
iRace
for a Cause today announced a partnership with Beachland
Cleaning Services. Beachland Cleaning Services is a commercial
cleaning business out of Florida that is owned and operated by
Tom Heveron. This partnership is for all iR4C events in the
future including the January 30th and 31st events.
Beachland Cleaning Services is also a big part of the charity
organization Cleaning for a Reason. This organization provides
house cleaning and services to women undergoing cancer
treatment.
iRace for a Cause is very proud and excited to be involved with
a company like Beachland Cleaning Services to bring our brand of
virtual motorsports forward into the future.
What this means for drivers
All purses are gurranteed, all laps will be sponsored, etc.
If only 5 people were to sign up for the SK race, the winner
would still get $80 (40 to their charity)
The payout is no longer based on the amount of cars that sign
up.
Season's Greetings Promotional
New STPC drivers save
$1.50 on Registration Fees
December
15th, 2009 - STPC Front Office
STPC is pleased to announce our Season's Greetings Promotional Registration.
For a limited time only, you can register for the remainder of this season
and the entire next season for just $4.50. This is a $1.50 savings
over the regular registration cost and covers you until the end of iRacing's
2010 Season 1 at the end of April.
Come drive with the best.... Where Pedal to the Metal Isn't Good Enough!
Register here.
STPC is one of the first umbrella organizations using
iRacing.comTM
servers. We sanction five weekly series. Your single entry fee covers
any, up to all, STPC series.
2009 SEASON 4 SCHEDULE.
Tues. - Late Model East (Late Model)
Wed. Modified Super Series (SK Modified)
Sat. - Ultimate Nationwide Series (Impala B)
Sun. - Mini-stocks (Jetta) / Pro Cup (Late Models skill-matched Divs. A and
B based on iRating)
2010 SEASON 1 SCHEDULE. (Planned)
Mon. - Ultimate Nationwide Series (Impala B)
Tues. - ACLMS Northeast Series (Late Models)
Wed. - Modified Super Series (SK Modified)
Thurs. - ACLMS Southeast Series (Late Models)
Fri. - TBA*
Sat. - TBA*
Sun. Mini-stock (Jetta) / Pro Cup (Late Models skill-matched Divs. Premier,
A and B)
* - Other Series may be announced.
All STPC series run on short tracks 1 mile or less.
To Those Who Don't Feel Like They Have a Chance
December
11th, 2009 - Bill Beseler
I joined the pro
cup to race against the best. No matter what series you run there are going
to be people that are not up to speed and getting frustrated with their
racing endeavors. This is a lengthy post but to those that feel like they
dont have a chance I say this.
Prior to me getting involved in iRacing I ran one season in pavement oval
karting and the closest to a racing sim I had gotten to before iRacing was
Dirt to Daytona for the PS2. Needless to say, like real racing, it takes
time and experimenting with set ups to be competitive. Thankfully it doesn't
take much money unless of course you go out and buy yourself a frex wheel.
It's very rare for someone to be a "hot shoe" right from the git go. Even if
they are fast from the start they very very rarely perform well in a race.
It's like Days of Thunder where Rowdy Burns tells Cole Trickle, "You Run
good, now go get your own car and we'll see how well you do in a crowd."
My first season in the late models I was out to lunch. I couldn't figure the
car out. I'd make adjustments and the car would go from super tight to super
loose and I was getting big time frustrated but by asking guys like David
Cater, Rusty Greer and other top drivers I started to get a handle on the
car. Little by little I got better and better to the point where I didn't
feel like a hazard to the other drivers. That first season it took me until
the last week to get my first win in the LM and believe me if I had gotten
that first win within the first week of running the LM I know it wouldn't
have been as sweet as it was.
I started that first week in the first season of me running the late model
by pretty much just running around and trying to stay out of the leaders way
and finding battles with guys that were running the same pace as me. Over
time I moved my goal to get a top five, then once I got that I changed my
goal to a top 3. After I got my top three finish I knew I was ready and in
contention to win. My point is this, if you are fast right out of the box
then that's great!!! On the other hand how many people just get it right
away? Not to many I'm sure. So to those that are getting frustrated look at
your goals. If you find yourself running in the back of the pack make a goal
to try to get up to the middle of the pack. If you are a mid pack driver set
your goal to improve to a top 5 driver. You will find that if you accomplish
these goals you will feel like you have gained a small victory. Why would
you feel like that? Because you are seeing improvement in your driving.
Another point I'd like to make is that there are tracks I'm sure you really
like and other tracks you have a passionate hatred for. For me I love
running USA, I dont know what it is but I just feel good at that track and I
usually always run good there provided I dont run out of gas with 20 to go
like I did in the season opener. On the other side of the coin I hate Oxford
Plains!! I've never felt comfortable there, I cannot put a finger on it but
I dread racing at that track. Coming into last Sundays race I gave myself a
goal for a top five and I finished fifth. Believe me I was happy with my
finish and felt like I stole something from that track. Did I win? Nope. Did
I accomplish my goal? Sure did. Was I Happy? Sure was.
This works for me and maybe it wont work for everyone but when you sit and
watch a race on TV or at your local track watch the guys that are fast.
Watch how they set people up to pass, watch how they get through traffic. I
feel very lucky to live very close to where Steve Carlson calls home. For
those that don't know the name Steve Carlson is my generations Dick Trickle.
He is the 2009 ASA Midwest Tour Champ, 2007 Nascar Weekly Series National
Champion, 2008 Kings Ransom winner... the list goes on and on, this guy is a
heavy hitter to say the least. Anyways I got away from my point. When I go
to a Midwest Tour event I watch him and the other drivers, I put my mind
with where his car is and how he is going to make it through traffic and
make little notes on how he set up people to pass. Do this with your
favorite driver, you will find you can learn quite a bit by watching them
and at the same time you will find that watching races will become quite a
bit more entertaining.
In closing, start small and keep adding to your goals. If you are new to the
service it is very unlikely you are going to whoop guys like Justin Trombley
or the infamous Blake Brown. Set small goals and try to obtain them. I
really believe if you try that you will find new enjoyment in your racing.
Also, I am by no means the fastest guy out there but I like to think I can
hold my own if my car is set right. I've been on iRacing for more then a
year now and I'm still learning something every time I run. Racing knowledge
is a continual pursuit.
I hope some of this helps someone out that might be getting frustrated and
fed up. To the fast guys, help a brother out, if someone asks a question you
have the right to not answer it but just remember that the strength of
iRacing and that of the pro cup depends on strength in numbers. I've never
seen anyone turn away from a question but I'm sure there are those that do
but maybe by answering a simple question about what gear you run might save
someone from getting fed up and packing it in.
"It was a good race" Is An Understatement
December
7th, 2009 - Matt Menghi
(Click
here for Pro Cup Premier/A
Irwindale race results.)
To sum
up Irwindale by saying "it was a good race" is an understatement
in my eyes. This was one heck of a race, made VERY politically
correct.
I started by looking dumb by changing my setup three times. Not
once, but three. Just because I kept getting Irwindale and
Lanier confused by the way I named my setups. Big LOL on my
part. I eventually got my very strange dyslexia figured out, and
we all practiced.
Irwindale this week had a very unique qualifying style. Instead
of the traditional two lap run, it was two laps with all cars on
the track. Basically, everyone was on pit road. To watch it from
my point of view makes me say it was like watching it on TV.
Very cool, and very interesting. Watching live qualifying from
pit road must have been pretty cool as well. There was one
mistake where someone cut off the track without completing a
second lap, so I deemed it as an incomplete 2nd lap and allowed
him to make a second one-lap attempt. All in all, it went
extremely smoothly, so big props to the people who made this
possible by cooperating smoothly. We will see this again soon, I
think.
Again, to say "it was a good race" is putting it lightly. From
the driver's seat, the first run before a caution was rather
boring. The second run from mid pack was incredible. From first
through 15th was about a straightaway in length. This run with
further runs combined allowed for twelve lead changes among
seven leaders. That's incredible for a short track in my eyes,
considering there were no green flag pit stops.
Brian Cline qualified in the top spot and went out to gain a
lead for the first run. A caution and pitstops on lap 20 allowed
Jeremy Davis to take over the lead using strategy of staying
out. The gold flew on lap 36 again, with Davis still on the
point. He stayed out, as with most of the pack, and restarted
still leading on lap 40. There was a wreck on the lap 39 restart
here, with Kenneth Drake making a daring move to the outside on
the green. While it's a legal pass, the door was slammed in his
face pretty hard, with him finding himself dancing with the
barriers. Tony Dugan found himself in the wrong place, not only
hitting Kenneth in the rear, but also getting tagged in 1 as a
result of loss of control. I got taken out here, by not being
able to avoid two cars. While I just clipped Tony, I found
myself with a car that was magnetically attached to the wall,
thanks to a breaking RF suspension.
On lap 78, Bill Beseler took a peek to the inside and got the
job done, taking over the top spot. The side-by-side battle
raged for three laps, with a very hungry Justin Thompson having
the best seat in the house in third. The yellow showed its face
again on lap 85 for a spin. Green flew once more on lap 90, with
Levi Poland making it look easy by passing him to take the lead
on lap 91. Caution flew on lap 108, for the fourth time of the
race.
Lap 114 saw the green being flown, yet again. Until the caution
on lap 124, the top three could fit inside a pizza box. Poland
still held the lead, with a still hungry Thompson in second, and
an equally hungry Beseler in third. Restart on lap 130, with
Poland seeing nothing but Thompson in his mirror. The two
battled nose-to-tail for several laps, with Thompson peeking
inside on lap 135, but wasn't successful, ducking in line off of
2. For the next 7 laps, Thompson was all over him like mud on a
pig.
Thompson then made a very bold, yet clean, move going into three
on lap 142. The two put on a hard battle for the next two laps,
until Poland got a little slideways off of 4, with Beseler
occasionally peeking under Thompson. Thompson was able to
maintain his lead to win his second consecutive race. Belser's
race went downhill on lap 148, as he found himself in the grass
coming off of 4. This brought out the 6th and final caution,
with the final two laps being completed under yellow.
Top five was Thompson, Beseler, Jeremy Davis, James Paulson, and
Reed Rundell.
While words can't place much of a vision in people's minds, this
race was extremely hard fought. The battle up front was intense,
and was very fun to watch. This is the definition of short track
racing... hard-fought side by side battles with anyone having a
shot. This leaves me with high hopes for Stafford next week.
A Crash
Course on Turning Right- Lime Rock Park
December
2nd, 2009 - Matt Menghi
(Click
here for Pro Cup Premier/A LRP race results and
here for pics.)
I arrived on the server this week with one thing in my
mind, I'm going to wreck. I'm not the best driver on
road courses on the STPC tour, or iRacing in general, to
be entirely honest. It comes worse when it involves
turning right intentionally. And it figures, we were at
Lime Rock, which only has one left hand turn.
The stage was set for the race. 22 drivers were to take
the green this week, thanks in part to the combining of
the Premier and Division A classes. Kyle McCartney was
in the field as well, taking a provisional start. Justin
Thompson and Kyle McCartney spent the practice and
qualifying setting the fastest times, even competing
against each other for the top spot. It was just as
interesting to watch as you could imagine. Practice was
led with a 54.5 second lap, the fastest by two tenths.
Which is a whole two and a half seconds ahead of me.
Qualifying was out of the ordinary for us. Usually we're
all used to time-trialing to get the fastest time. We
did the typical road course open style, over fifteen
minutes. Justin Thompson nabbed the pole.
In the race, there were no full course cautions to
describe, as they were turned off. So I really have not
much to write about. It was a typical 50 lap race with a
stuff full of local cautions for spins and cars off the
track. I happened to cause three, when I spun twice and
eventually found myself planted under a Hemming's Motor
News sign just before the esses, ending my race on my
13th lap. I was already behind from spinning in the West
Bend and having to pit and inspect any suspension
damage. Anyway, race leader Justin Thompson pitted on
lap 31, using a rather interesting strategy. Instead of
the four tires and fuel, he pitted for just fuel. He
managed to make his iRacing racing tires last 50 laps on
his Georgia Chevy Monte Carlo. This may have helped him
retain his already long lead over second place, and it
shows the good work he had done on his setup to be able
to make his tires last.
Next week the action takes off from the Toyota Irwindale
Speedway on Sunday. A race I'm really excited about.
It's a really fun combination to race on. We will see if
Justin Thompson can carry over his dominant performance
from LRP over across the country to Irwindale, or if
someone else will take the crown.
TPC iRace for a
Cause, Jan 2010
November 6th, 2009 - Jeff
Wentworth
We have been working
feverishly for the past week to come up with a plan to
host a huge charity event using iRacing as the platform.
Our planned list of events for the weekend of January
30th and 31st include a night of qualifying events
varying in distance from 25-100 laps
Feature events that will
take place during the weekend include a 50 Lap Legends
Series race, a 150 Lap SK Modified main event and the
biggest race of the weekend the Late Model 250 lap race.
We are currently working hard to get sponsorship for
this event in the form of Money, Prizes and other
incentives for drivers during the weekend. We are also
working with a few companies to try and finalize a deal
to have the racing events professionally streamed over
the internet.
Click
here for
full details and schedule.
Modified Super Series Joins STPC
November 5th, 2009 - Mark
Royer
John-Michael Shenette
announced today that the
Modfied Super Series Presented by Dynasty Motorsports will be joining
and running under the STPC banner as the fifth STPC series.
"The STPC Modified Super
Series Presented by Dynasty Motorsports will be a sister
series to the STPC Late Model Series. We will run the
same tracks, much the same schedule with the same rules,."
explained Shenette.
The benefit to all STPC
drivers is that now their single $3 registration fee
covers five different series.
Atlantic Coast LM Series Joins with STPC
October 27th, 2009 - Mark
Royer
Jeff Wentworth announced
today that the Atlantic Coast Late Model Series (ALMCS)
will be joining running under the STPC banner as the
fourth STPC series.
"We decided that in the best
interest of both our leagues that we will be running the
ACLMS series under the STPC banner. Thus we will become
an STPC series. We will however still be running Tues.
8pm, still paying out the money to the champion etc."
explained Wentworth.
With the merger, the ALMCS will be renamed to "Late
Model - East Sereis" (LM-E).
The benefit to all STPC
drivers is that now their single $3 registration fee
covers four different series.
Ultimate Short
Track to Run Impala B Only
October 20th, 2009 - Mark
Royer
Matt Kingsbury announced
today that the
Ultimate Short Track
Series of STPC will run the Impala B
(Nationwide style) car every week, with two fun-week
demo derbies inserted, at a
schedule
of short tracks that matches the Pro Cup and Mini-stock
series. Originally, the Ultimate Series was
planned as a variable-car series, running a different
car each week.
"This way we offer mini
stock, competitive LM Pro Cup events and old school
Busch/Hooters Cup/Camping World racing. We sort of cover
it all for the short track enthusiast." explained
Matt.
Short Track Pro Cup's Triple Crown Competition
October 13th, 2009 - Matt
Kingsbury
The title says it all guys,
just like the infamous 4 Crown Nationals at Eldora or
the Prestigious Triple Crown sweep in horse racing, any
registered STPC driver who can take checkers in all
three series in one weekend, Ultimate, Pro
Cup, and Mini-stock will win triple-crown honors.
You do not have to be a regular driver in all three
series to pull this off; cross-over provisionals for
empty grid slots are encouraged and given to registered
drivers on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Can YOU pull off the triple crown of STPC?
(More
discussion here.)
JaxCoffee and STPC
Announce Sponsorship Plan
September 17th, 2009 - Mark
Royer
JaxCoffee Roastery
and Short Track Pro Cup have finalized a sponsorship deal
that is expected
to benefit both organizations.
JaxCoffee is
a small, socially-conscious California roastery run by Jack
Erhart. "Jack has been an excellent, proactive partner
for STPC" explained Mark Royer, the STPC Administrator.
"We expect Jack's sponsorship plan to help us run STPC and
have some exciting special events while at the same time
allow our drivers to enjoy the fine blends of fresh roasted
Pro Cup coffees from
JaxCoffee."
Jack Erhart added "You're buying your
coffee from someone, somewhere. Why not support STPC with
your purchase." Each time Pro Cup coffee is purchased
from
JaxCoffee, a
percentage of the purchase goes to STPC. Also,
consider registering for STPC through the special JaxCoffee
registration plan.
Open Letter to Prospective
STPC Drivers
September 11th, 2009 - Mark Royer
The following e-mail letter was sent to
drivers who've expressed interest in STPC. I post it
here openly for anybody else who may be interested in STPC
to read.
Hi,
My name is Mark Royer. I am the organizer for Short Track
Pro Cup (STPC). I have five years of experience organizing
successful short track leagues on NR2003 servers including
Hooters Pro Cup Online Racing Series (HPCORS) and a former
incarnation of STPC that pitted the best of the best of
various leagues against one another. Those, and other
lesser leagues and special events that I've organized have
all been great fun.
However, with the arrival of iRacing organizations in
November, we stand poised to surpass all previous levels of
excitement and fun as we rev up those engines for intense
bumper-to-bumper, fender-to-fender short track action on the
best online motorsports simulation physics in history!
Each of you has expressed an interest in STPC and therefore
are on this e-mail list. STPC will be an iRacing
organization that will launch it's first season in November,
2009. If you are no longer interested in STPC, please let
me know and I will remove you from my e-mail list.
Below is a long-winded introduction and description of STPC
and how I see it unfolding. If you don't want to wade
through my verbal diarrhea, I have
highlighted the essential elements in bold red,
so you can just quickly skim those and dispense with the
rest.
Thanks for your interest in STPC. I see this series as
having the potential to be the most exciting online short
track racing we have ever experienced! The time is finally
almost upon us - iRacing has enabled it - now it's up to us
to make it happen. Lets do it!
Mission Statement
Short Track Pro Cup (STPC) is dedicated
to providing highly-competitive, virtual, short-track oval
racing for all skill levels using the
iRacing.comTM
motorsports simulation servers. In addition, we will
endeavor to expand general awareness of local and regional
short track racing within the online simulated motorsports
community.
Series Overview
STPC will be arranged as a set
of skill-matched divisions. The number of
divisions will depend on the number of drivers who register
for STPC. There will be an entry level Mini-Stock
Division that will race the Jetta. Every week, you will
battle other similarly skilled drivers, not only for race
position, but for overall divisional championship points.
Divisions:
Premier, A, B, etc... as required (drivers matched by
iRating), and Mini-Stock
License: Oval C or higher
(Rookie or higher for the Mini-Stock Division)
Night:
Sunday
Practice Opens:
9:00 PM Eastern Time
Quals/Race: 9:45 PM Eastern
Time
Laps: 150
Cautions: ON
Max Field Size: 30
Setups: open (not fixed)
Entry Fee: $3.00 (USD)
per 12-week season.
Schedule - Race Day
I had previously announced that Wednesday will be STPC race
night. I fear I must change that announcement since
Wednesday night is iRacing's official Pro Oval Series main
race night for US drivers and a good chunk of the top 250
drivers on iRacing would be excluded from STPC.
Since Sunday was the second most voted night in the forums
poll, I am moving the STPC race
night to Sunday.
For drivers who've already registered and paid $3 but can't
race Sunday, I will be happy to refund your money. I am
very sorry for this change, but I feel the reason is
compelling. I do not change schedules or plans lightly.
If we are racing late models in STPC, which appears likely
(see next section), I plan to follow the iRacing official
arrive & drive schedule with a few modifications. Doing
this will allow us to use the entire week of arrive & drive
sprint races as preparation for the 150 lap STPC feature on
Sunday. However, in the interest in not running a track
twice in a season, I will substitute other cool short tracks
when the arrive & drive schedule visits a track a second
time.
If next seasons arrive & drive schedule is the same as this
season's, this is what the STPC schedule will look like.
STPC 2009 - Season 4
Speculative
Schedule
Nov 8 - USA Intl
Nov 15 - Oxford Plains
Nov 22 - Concord
Nov 29 - Martinsville
Dec 6 - Irwindale
Dec 13 - Stafford
Dec 20 - New Hampshire
Dec 27 - Lanier
Jan 3 - South Boston
Jan 10 - Richmond
Jan 17 - Phoenix
Jan 24 - Bristol
Jan 31 - Week 13 Special Event - TBD
Vehicle(s)
Two polls in the STPC forums ask (1) whether all
divisions should run the same vehicle and (2) if so, which
vehicle should it be. The polls
will be closed on Saturday, Sept. 19th. Voice your opinion!
As of right now, the poll is neck and neck regarding whether
we run same vehicle in all divisions or different vehicles
for each division is. However, if we do run the same
vehicle in all divisions, the Late
Model currently has more than a 2:1 lead over the SK
modified.
Should we end up as a late model series (as it currently
appears) and you wanted to run SK modifieds, Robert Rund is
running a similar SK series that you might want to check out
(
http://members.iracing.com/iforum/thread.jspa?messageID=639755򜌋
). Robert and I have been coordinating our organizations
so we should not conflict on nights and it will be possible
to run both, should you care to do that.
While I personally like the idea of different cars for
different divisions, it make sense to go with a single
vehicle, at least for the first season and until STPC is
better established. One issue with different vehicles is
that some drivers will find their preferred vehicle, or the
vehicle he owns, in another division from the one to which
they have been assigned (see Divisional Assignment below).
If I deny movement between divisions, some drivers may
become disgruntled at having to drive a vehicle other than
their preferred one (or the one they own). If I allow such
divisional shuffling, the integrity of the skill-matched
divisions becomes compromised. Since my mission for STPC is
to create awesome, skill-matched, short track racing in STPC,
keeping the divisional drivers close in iRating is
paramount.
So, the upshot is, unless the poll
shows an overwhelming support for different vehicles, I will
choose to use the same vehicle in all divisions.
As we grow, we can introduce more and different vehicles in
future seasons if it makes sense to do so at that time.
The Mini-Stock Division is a special case and will run
Jetta (see Divisional Admins below).
Registration
To register for the STPC 2009-4 season go to the
STPC website and on
the right hand column click the
Donate button and donate $3.00. That works out
to about 25’
per race. I know iRacing is expensive and it's a tough pill
to swallow to pay yet another charge to race in an
organization, but it is what it are - dedicated server time
costs money. I think in the long run it's worth it simply
because it'll keep the number of fly-by-night organizations
down.
On November
7th, the day before the first race,
I will assign
all registered drivers to divisions (see
Divisional Assignment below) thereby establishing
equally-sized, iRating-matched divisions.
Drivers will be allowed to register late (on or after Nov
7th) throughout the season. The $3.00 registration donation
will NOT be pro-rated for mid-season registrants. Late
registrants will be assigned to divisions as indicated in
Divisional Assignment below.
Divisional Assignment
If your license is Oval D or Oval Rookie, you will be
assigned to the Mini-Stock Division (Jetta). Drivers with
higher license levels can request to be placed in the Mini-Stock Division.
On November 7th, all registered drivers with an Oval C or
higher license (who haven't requested Mini-Stock
assignment) will be divided up into equally-sized divisions
in the same manner that iRacing does for the arrive and
drive splits (i.e., by iRating). However, unlike arrive and
drive, the STPC divisional assignments are for the entire
season regardless of how a driver's iRating changes during
the season. So, for the duration of the season you will
battle the same field of drivers for divisional honors.
Registered drivers will be split into divisions such that
each division is equally-sized and as close to 30 drivers as
possible.
Drivers who register late (e.g., on or after Nov 7th) will
be assigned to the division for which their iRating is most
closely matched. If that division is closed (i.e., the
division has 30 drivers), then the driver will be assigned
to the next higher division and so on. If all higher
divisions are closed, the late registrant's $3 will be
refunded.
Website and Forums
The STPC website is
http://www.stprocup.com
We have a forums on the website.
If you haven't signed up for the forums you should do so to
keep informed. To sign up use authorization code
STPC-FORUMS (all caps).
To avoid spamming everyone's e-mail boxes with STPC
information, I will use the forums for most announcements
and information and will only occasionally use e-mail for
very important issues. Please, do
NOT reply-to-all on STPC-list e-mails; use the forums
instead. Feel free to reply to me directly if
you have something for me specifically.
I view the STPC forums as temporary until iRacing provides
organizations with forums. If that never happens, then the
STPC forums will become permanent. I'd prefer to keep tied
in with iRacing as much as possible.
Divisional Admins
I am looking for help in the form
of admins for the various divisions. The duties
of a division admin will be very simple. A divisional admin
will be a participating driver who is an official presence
and voice in case any issues arise during a race. Also the
division admin will save a replay after the race and help
score the division. If you'd like to help in that regard,
I'd appreciate it VERY much; it'll help STPC run smoothly.
Dennis Heaney is the admin for the Mini-Stock Division.
Dennis is the architect of the concept to run the Jetta on
short track ovals as an entry level training series. I'm
very interested in how this plays out and it sounds an
exciting combination. My only concern is using a front
wheel drive car as a training vehicle for upper classes that
are rear wheel drive. But, lets see how it goes.
Unfortunately, Dennis has had recent equipment failure
(steering wheel pots or something like that) and he is
unable to race for the forseeable future. Hopefully he is
available for the season start in November. If not, I'll
need help in the Mini-Stock Division too.
Sponsors
Please support our sponsors as much
as you can. At this time, we have a single
sponsor,
JaxCoffee. Jack Erhart has kindly set up a sponsorship
arrangement that puts money into the STPC coffers every time
a bag of
STPC Coffee is purchased. I have heard only positive
reviews about JaxCoffee brews in the iRacing forums. I know
I'll be trying out a bag of medium (um... maybe dark) roast.
I also have established my so-called
Track Partnership Program. I had some success with this
idea in the past for my Hooters Pro Cup league. Only time
will tell if I can gather any interest from the tracks for
STPC. I am hopeful that with the weight of iRacing name and
servers behind STPC some real-life tracks will sign on. We
shall see.
If you know of any other potential sponsors, please hook me
up with them. I am thinking in terms of VERY small
investments from sponsors; investments along the lines of
prizes or merchandising for STPC drivers. In return, we
intend to make our sponsors very visible on our website and
mention them prominently in race-results announcements in
forums both inside and outside iRacing.
STPC is Not For Profit
STPC is not for profit and I will not collect or keep any
money for myself. Every cent collected, via registration,
sponsorship, or otherwise will be put back into STPC in some
form or another.
Protests - Penalty System
I do not intend to
become a full-time arbiter of spats between drivers about
who drove this way or made that mistake. I have done that
for too long and it's no fun, unnecessary and I'm not very
good at it.
Instead, STPC will take the
iRacing no-fault philosophy. Groan as you might, the system
works and is free from human judgment; we all get caught up
in other's mistakes from time to time. Take a deep breath,
suck it up and remember, every driver has paid a lot of
money to have fun racing on iRacing servers; it's very
unlikely they are intentionally trying to ruin your night.
That said, I will set up an STPC
protest system. However, the system will not be designed
for the purpose of arbitrating every on-track spat or
mistake. It will be used solely to judge a drivers "career"
performance. If a driver shows a continued propensity for
poor driving judgment, accrues a large number of incidents
race after race, engages in inflammatory or inappropriate
chat, or otherwise behaves inappropriately, then three or
more of his divisional peers can jointly or independently
lodge a protest against the driver.
If such a protest is lodged and
successful, the driver will be suspended or banned from STPC
at the STPC organizer's discretion.
Note: Three
drivers are required to lodge a protest. This is done
to avoid the personal-spat and grudge type of protest. In
order to protest a driver, there has to be a preponderance
of agreement regarding the validity of the protest.
I have proposed a no-fault penalty system whereby a driver
who gets 9 or more incident points in a race is
automatically penalized championship points. There is some
discussion whether this is necessary or whether 9 is the
right threshold for penalties to start. Remember, unlike
the arrive and drive system that has a max of 14 cars over
50 laps, we're talking up to 30 cars over 150 laps, so,
indeed, 9 may be too low - I'm not sure. I'm very
interested in discussion on this topic in the STPC forums.
In Closing
I am excited to get
STPC underway and I hope you are too. We have a great
opportunity before us for some awesome racing; but the
format of STPC depends on participation by a lot of
drivers. The more we have the better we can skill-match the
divisions. So, tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell
anyone who might like short track racin'. Encourage them to
check STPC out. The more, the better - for all of us!
See you all on the track November 8th!
-Mark Royer
STPC Organizer
stpcAdmin@comcast.net
http://www.stprocup.com
STPC Series Overview Updated
Aug 31st, 2009 - Mark Royer
I have outlined in detail the overview of
Short Track Pro Cup in the
series overview.
John Henry Outlines iRacing
"Organizations"
Aug 18th, 2009 - Mark Royer
iRacing's John Henry gave us all a peak
into the current internal thinking at iRacing.com regarding
league structure on the iRacing servers:
http://members.iracing.com/iforum/thread.jspa?threadID=47339&tstart=0
Join the STPC forums for discussion on
how to shape the best short track league on the internet.
(use
authorization code STPC-FORUMS while
registering). Joining the forums is not viewed as a
commitment to race in STPC, but merely as a statement of
your interest and that you are considering STPC.
Remember, it now appears we will NOT be limited to a single
league as previously suggested.
iRacing .com League Launch
Delayed
May 24nd, 2009 - Mark Royer
iRacing.com's league launch has been
delayed, we will not be going green in August:
http://members.iracing.com/iforum/thread.jspa?threadID=37296&tstart=0
Interested in STPC?
Sign up for Forums
(not a commitment)
May 22nd, 2009 - Mark Royer
If you're interested in racing in Short
Track Pro Cup (STPC) on iRacing, click on Forums on
the left-hand column of this page and sign up (use
authorization code STPC-FORUMS while
registering). I will
not consider this a commitment to run STPC, but merely a
statement of interest on your part that you are considering
running STPC. The forums will allow me a way to post
updates and contact interested drivers throughout the summer
as we wait for the launch.
Further, we can discuss details of how
the league should be run (there is several polls in there right
now).
Remember, you can only select one iRacing
league in August - so choose carefully.
iRacing Contacts Potential League Admins
May 22nd, 2009 - Mark Royer
Yesterday, Shannon Whitmore of iRacing
contacted prospective league owners who've submitted plans
to run leagues on iRacing servers. He made it clear
that we should begin preparing for our leagues and rounding
up our prospective rosters as soon as possible to be ready
for the planned August launch. At this time he was
short on details of how leagues would be implemented because
there is still a lot of difficult development work ahead for
the iRacing staff. He said he'd keep us informed of
progress as the time approached.
Thanks and I look forward to seeing you
all on the track!
-Mark Royer
Admin - Short Track Pro Cup
League Proposal to iRacing
April 30th, 2009 - Mark Royer
Short Track Pro Cup (STPC)
Where pedal to the metal isn't good enough!
Get back to roots racin' and experience the excitement of
high-powered stock cars on some of the finest short tracks
in North America. Like today's USAR Pro Cup (formerly
Hooters Pro Cup) or the NASCAR Sportsman Division of
yesteryear (forerunner of today's Nationwide Series), race
those 600+ hp machines in bumper to bumper, fender to
fender, knuckle-whitening action. The squeamish need not
apply....
League Format
There will be no invitees to STPC, no one turned away, no
cliques; STPC will take all comers. [See note 1 below]
At the start of each season, drivers who've signed up for
STPC will be split into grids (divisions) of 12 to 24
drivers based on iRating. There will only be one split for
the entire season - drivers race the same field (their
division) every week for 12 weeks for divisional honors.
Week 13 will be the race of champions - top drivers from
each division go head-to-head for overall league honors.
(See Note 4)
Car: Nationwide or Late Models or SK Modifieds, TBD
License: B (C 4.0+)
Schedule: follows late model short track schedule
Time: one week night
(Monday to Thursday TBD) evening 9:30 Eastern Time
[see note 2 below]
Laps: 150
Cautions: ON
Field Size: 24 (splits to 12)
Setups: open (not fixed)
Note 1: To do this, if we get more than 24
drivers we'd need a second server, more than 48 a third and
so on. All servers would be running at the same time slot.
From iRacing's perspective, it would look like two or more
concurrent leagues running at the same time.
Note 2: This timeslot is prime-time for the
entire western hemisphere and would be a mid to late morning
on a non-working day in the far east and Australia. Its not
so good for Europe (extremely early morning) tough to
cover the entire globe. Finally, of course, it works well
for me as the admin.
Note 3:
There is some conflicting information regarding whether the
Nationwide car can be used with the late model/SK schedule.
If not, then the LM or SK can be used instead.
Note
4: All of the parameters are subject to change based
on discussion and polls in the forums and how much
flexibility iRacing ultimately gives leagues.
iRacing's Golden Opportunity
A common knock on traditional leagues is that the finish
order becomes very predictable. With driver skills varying
widely, each week the same drivers tend to be racing for the
win, another group filling the mid-pack, and yet another
trailing the excitement. iRacing is in a unique position to
change all that. This is a golden opportunity to use the
iRating system to divide the league into similarly-skilled
divisions for an entire season. Every week, every driver
will have a realistic chance to take the checkers; exciting
battles and drama will unfold on every lap for every driver
every week.
Benefits to Arrive-and-Drive
To move to a higher division in Short Track Pro Cup, a
driver needs to improve his/her iRating via the main iRacing
arrive-and-drive system. In addition, to join STPC, drivers
need to achieve and maintain a B (C 4.0+) license in
arrive-and-drive.
Applicable Experience
I have been organizing and administering similar very
successful leagues using NR2003 since 2004:
Hooters Pro Cup Online Racing Series (HPCORS) - 5 years -
2004-2008
(HPCORS followed the real HPC, week-for-week,
track-for-track. Unfortunately, the website for HPCORS is
off the air)
Winter Short Track 5 years
(Fun league during HPC off season)
Short Track Pro Cup one year - 2007
(Team oriented, best of the best, short track series pitting
teams from various short track leagues against each other in
a once-per-month showdown.
|