Finnish Folk Racing

So I was watching the 3rd episode of this seasons top gear where Captain Slow goes to Finland to learn how to drive fast. Well he entered into a Finnish Folk Race which is a grassroots style of rally racing so to say. He mentioned that the cars are classed based on value. $1000 class, $2000 class, etc. Said that if someone were to come up and offer the amount the car is supposedly worth they would have to sell it on the spot..............got me thinking, if this isn't a rule already for the Grassroots Motorsports $200x challenge than it should be!

If the Challenge were a claim race, the crowd would grow by 500%, mostly with buyers. It would be a logistical nightmare.

Plus, as Per pointed out the last time this was brought up, a claim rule may diminish the creativity and effort put towards the builds. That is, if challengers know their car could easily be bought away.

I was convinced that part of the original rules included a provision that you had to charge yourself fair rate for any labor you did as well. I know that's not the case now, but I'd almost like to see that brought back.

Yes, we can go through the logbooks and all agree that no more than $200X dollars were spent, but how many man-hours do you have to be willing to invest to even think about being competitive?

I'm on the wrong coast to try and compete, so maybe this is just me sour-grapes-ing it.

Man hours is the whole point of the Challenge, though. It's about creativity in direct opposition to cubic dollars.

cat scratch fever....geez

Was still cool to see something similar to the challenge.

I have put a ton of man hours into my Trans Am, but that doesn't add to the value of it if I were to try and trade it in or sell it on autotrader.

I do understand that it could be a nightmare and there would just be people there who would buy cars, have the ringers drive them, and take pride in knowing they did absolutely nothing to win the event.

Why don't we have racing like that around here though?

alex wrote: Man hours is the whole point of the Challenge, though. It's about creativity in direct opposition to cubic dollars.

Creativity, and knowing the right people and/or having the right tools.

100 man hours for someone that only has access to basic handtools doesn't get nearly as much done as 100 man hours for someone who has access to a full shop, lift, and fabrication tools.

I dunno.

I think it works the way it is now and there's a lot of cool cars that are being created for the event, and more likely than not, any change would be bad.

"Cheating is racing"

As much as I love the idea of the $200x challange, let's not kid ourselves people do spend more money.

I think a claim clause in the rules would limit the number of V8 swaps we have seen in the past.

I think you should not be able to enter your car more than once, and that it could be baught on the spot at the end of the event.

But I am probably in the minority on those thoughts.

I think some people get too wrapped up in the 'competitiveness' of the GRM challenge. To me it's simply about cars, and wrenching on them, be it with Hazet, Snap-On, Craftsman, or Harbor Freight. I think it all goes back to the first term 'Grassroots'. To me that means I don't have to have put in 1000 hours on my car with a couple of professional buddies of mine in a fancy shop, but, I do get to share the same track as them, rub elbows with them, and not be barred from competing because I'm not 'at their level'. It's the difference between 'class/spec/controlled' competition, and a total free for all within some outer bounds. To top it off I can say I've never been to a challenge, but our XR4Ti was bought and worked on in hopes of the $2006 challenge. Instead, I've gotten 2 years of trials and tribulations that have made me closer with my friends, and taught me more than I ever thought possible about cars from custom fabrication to mixing-and-matching parts that were never meant to go together, to building and tuning a MegaSquirt on a forced-induction vehicle. I mean we've pretty much done it all now and I can say I'm that much richer for it, so don't loose sight of what 'Grassroots' really means...

I like it the way it is - I have not had the TIME to build a car yet for the challenge (because I keep building race cars and going to work in between) but that is my limiting factor. Its not about the money at all. If I spent 8 mos and $2008 to build a car and you told me I had to sell it to you for $2008 I'd punch you in the throat. I think the whole premise is unique and cool and I hope its still around when my kids get just a little older so a) I have more time, and 7) they can help.

walterj wrote: I think the whole premise is unique and cool and I hope its still around when my kids get just a little older so a) I have more time, and 7) they can help.

a) & 7) what's b-z and 1-6?