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it was never about me personally but about a way to keep from red lighting and tied into the pro sportsman
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A Pro Tree introduces more problems than it solves, and excludes more than it includes, *and* it doesn't solve the red-lighting problem. You're going to have cars that can't hit it shallow, and don't have enough adjustment to keep from going red when deep staging. You'd end up pushing people toward building certain combinations to optimize their R/T's, just as eliminating deep staging did. IMO, a more worthy (and likely) campaign "for" the little guy would be to permit deep staging... but we've already been down that road, and the arguments on both sides have been beat to death, so the likelihood of it returning is virtually nil -- the same as changing the starting system.
If red-lighting is "the" issue, adjust the car and/or the driver, use a practice tree, use a blinder if that suits your particular style, ad infinitum. No offense intended to anyone, but a lot of drivers would see immediate improvements if they would approach their driving like they do building engines or setting up cars. Just as "the slow guys" are often admonished to "work on their stuff", the same goes for driving -- Do NOT accept that a driver is stuck at a certain level of ability. While some are going to be blessed with more innate ability than others, *everyone* can learn and improve. But, just like making your car better, it takes willingness, time, effort, and dedication. I've worked with a lot of guys over the years, to varying degrees, and *everyone* can be better than they are right now.
Unless you simply "outlaw" the Pro Sportsman, nothing you do is going to change anything. They adapt and overcome, and that is what makes champions. Even if you eliminated R/T's from timeslips or changed the rollout from one event to the next, you'd end up getting the opposite effect from what you seek, because the best would adapt quicker . Some mentioned that a Pro Tree would be better for heads-up runs... Again, quite the opposite, as the faster car would have less fear of red-lighting, and you'd see less holeshot wins.
In terms of people coming to the lanes late, that's been covered in topics here before as well. People will do as much as you let them get away, so until you put Nitro Joe in charge, well, that's what you've got. (Most of the hitters carry anyway and have pager weather stations anyway, so the argument about waiting to the end to have a better chance doesn't hold water.)
In terms of points and traveling, it sounds like IHRA's Tournament of Champions system is just what you're looking for.
For all of the above: You have to think long-term, past the immediacy of any given "good idea".
$.02,