NCR Announces New Series – Tarheel Cup Pro Series
Article by Steve Rose – TCPS series administrator
As newly appointed administrator, I am very proud to be a part of something truly unique and new to the Southeast division. As some of you may have not heard what we are doing in the North Carolina region, let me take a minute to explain, and what makes this series different from anything else you may have run.
The first thing I want to point out is the TCPS is not limited to a single run group. We have available up to five different groups to get everyone at the track a chance to get more time on a given weekend. Some have asked, why don’t we just have more double SARRCs? Well, I came to find out that we are only allowed so many of those a year and only one double per region a year which we already do in May. It came down to how do we get everyone more track time, and how can we do it different. What we have to offer are sprint races, 35 minutes in length for groups one thru four, and a 45 minute mini-endurance for group five with a mandatory two minute pit-stop. Groups will be listed below. When we first came up with this idea, we thought perhaps we will have all groups run the 45 minute races with a pit-stop, but as feedback came in, we found that many cars and drivers felt they could not make a pit-stop, while others felt they couldn’t make it on fuel. We took action and had those races shortened for the necessary groups.
Group 1 TCPS: AS, ASR, GT1, GT2, GT3, GTA, ITE, ITO, SPO, STO, T1, T2 (mandatory pit stop not required)
Group 2 TCPS: CF, FF, FST, FV, F5, F6, SRF (mandatory pit stop not required)
Group 3 TCPS: CSR, DSR, FA, FB, FC, FE, FM, FS, S2 (mandatory pit stop not required)
Group 4 TCPS: EP, FP, HP, GTL, SPU, STU, STL (mandatory pit stop not required)
Group 5 TCPS: ITA, ITR, ITS, IT7, IT7R, ITB, ITC, SRX7, SSB, SSC, SM, SSM, T3, SM5
The other neat thing about this series is that it is a pro series, and that means the top five drivers in each class are going to be getting paid for what they love to do. Rather than paying out a little for each race, and then a big payout at the end of the year, we are going to pay the majority of the money for each single event. Here’s how it works. For each car, an entrance fee is paid to the host region. Out of that money the host region will pay the series (TCPS) seventy dollars. Of that seventy dollars, 85 percent will go directly back to the drivers for that single race while 15 percent will be used for year end awards. Lets look at an example. Let’s say there are 10 cars in your class. The region will pay the series 70 dollars per car or 700 dollars. 85 percent of $700 is $595. Without getting too deep into payouts, lets just look at first place. First gets 45 percent of the 595 or a paycheck for that single race for $267.75. Not bad huh? It’s simple, the more cars in your class, the more money that gets paid to the drivers. Complete breakdown and rules are available on the regions website at http://www.ncrscca.com/news/2012/01/26/ncr-starts-new-series-tarheel-cup-pro-series-tcps
The next thing I want to point out is that there is a small fee to sign up for the series. The fee is only $10 due when you register at the track. No one is in anyway required to sign up for the series if you are racing in it, but you will need to register if you want to be eligible for prize money and year end awards. Note that if you don’t sign up, your 70 dollars is still paid to the series and will go to top finishers, so sign up, you’ll likely get it back. The fee collected will be used to pay for things like the checking account, stamps, envelopes, etc. Money not used for these types of things, or left over will also go back to the drivers at year’s end. We will be posting financial statements after each event on the region’s website, because we think it is important that each of you know exactly how the dollars are spent.
The last point I wish to make is that this is a new series, and I am new to being an administrator. I am sure there will be some growing pains, but I want to make it clear that we are willing to adapt the series to our drivers needs. If there is something you don’t like, let me know. I will take my time to get everyone’s feedback in your race group and change as needed. We are hoping to be able to expand the series over time and run different venues. For now, we just have the two races at VIR. Come on out and see us! We thank you in advance for all your support, and look forward to a very successful year.
Steve Rose – TCPS series administrator