Um, Ok - Pete. For the record I don't think anyone on this thread disagrees with you, challenges your supreme authority or wants to argue with you about anything. You've made some good suggestions and I've enjoyed poking fun at your style, but overall this thread is kind of loooow key, dude.
Dirty Harry, I tried to quote you, but for some reason the computer won't do it - probably because I'm currently in a country that has no electrical grid and spotty satellite internet provided graciously the UN - haha!
Anyway, I agree with you - racing against one or two people isn't that great. I think I mentioned that previously in post # whatever (internet here is too slow to go back and reference) - that's why I believe that it _would_ be a good idea to combine some classes together to increase entries. Like I said, I think it would be fine to have some kind of a "Star Wars Bar" class that consolidates a bunch of trucks that have similar performance characteristics, so the classes that have been marginalized can have a place to play.
Nevertheless, for some perspective: In class 8 I always had a ton of fun racing against Mcrae Glass - even though sometimes it was just the two of us. In 2012 he beat me 4 or 5 times with our finishing splits falling somewhere between 30 seconds and 3 minutes - or something like that. Sometimes there were other entries, but we had a great time racing against each other because it was always really close and competitive. After Henderson, I think it was, he had beaten me by about 28 seconds. At the finish we were all stoked and hugged each other - both worn out and laughing about the how awesome it was to go all out the whole time. It was like two boxers in the ring thrashing each other. Just great sport.
I think we can all agree that more entries would be better, but that's not always _the_ prerequisite required for good racing. Good racing, as in the example above, can also be defined by how closely matched the vehicles and skills of the drivers are. In an ideal world you would have a lot of really good drivers with very closely matched machines. Spec and TT each contain probably 20% of this formula - IOTW, the preponderance of both classes are just driving around while only a select few are actually competitive and "racing." But on the other side of this coin, that's also what's paradoxically cool about desert racing. It's just unregulated mayhem - I mean, anyone can show up, pay money and race - no regulations, licensing criteria, nada. It fun and I love it, but for a lot of reasons, I can't take it too seriously. It's the best motorsport in the world, but at the end of the day it changes nothing, and with the exception of creating some fleeting micro-economies, it's not large or well-promoted enough to significantly contribute to any aspect of our world. NASCAR and F1 could be considered, "industries" the latter being of global significance, affecting emerging technology, charities and transnational politics. At best, no matter what class we're talking about, desert racing is a hobby-level endeavor. Respect? OK, whatever. (single rolling eyes emoticon thing here followed up by at least 3-4 non-smug smiley faces, so I don't reinvigorate the thread-wrath of Pete with my sarcastic condescension...)
So why Class 8 for me?
Like many of us, I already own the truck - and I don't even race that often. But I'm not compelled to race Spec because I dislike the motors; I find the experience driving these trucks to be disagreeable and uninspiring. And I haven't angled toward TT because doing so would require much more time and financial output than I'm willing to invest in order to be competitive. This year I raced my Class 8 at BAP and got 3rd in TT and it was fun and all, but I actually don't wake up every morning from the dream of winning the Baja 1000 in a Trophy Truck. Desert racing isn't the central theme of my existence - it's actually just a small and highly incongruous (but dearly loved) facet of my totally weird life.
These days, Class 8 is probably not for everyone; maybe not anyone but us "illogical dillholes" haha! - but I like it and I like the small group of people who race it.
It's the perfect class for me.
