Scca

[fusionsport]

its short notice but the SCCA is having their drivers school and race this weekend at second creek- if your interested in road racing and/or want to meet some of the local club racers and get their advice, offer to crew, whatever, it will be a good low-key weekend for doing it- I have a couple of customers that will be out this weekend and should make it out at least most of one day or the other

[wildfire0310]

haha, question were are the SCCA meets held and all, i am thinking of trying to get into it some, and want to know 1) were information about classes were and 2) were they are held and that thing of stuff. thanks

[fusionsport]

you can check the SCCA home page for the local region and contact them- I am much more involved in SCCA Pro Racing than I will ever be in club racing- so I am not the guy to give you those answers

[Hal]

The only thing they race at local SCCA events are the rule books.

We went to an auto-x one time, not knowing how to class the car we told them how it was setup and let them class it.

We got protested and moved from one class to another THREE times before the first green flag ever dropped.

All of the associated bullshit really ruined the day.

We'll never go back.

Hal

[fusionsport]

thats an auto-x- we are talking road racing here

[Hal]

So?

Auto-x or roadracing, it's all the same mentality (at least locally).

There is no room for people who just want to come out and have some fun. That was made quite clear by our one and only experience.

It's for the "nose in the air", wanna be weekend racers.

Then of course, let's not forget that the local SCCA chapter still holds events @ PPIR.

You know, the speedway whose owners financed the "anti-racetrack" groups a few years back.

The plan that would have brought a new super speedway and offered a new location for Bandimere, was opposed by a group that was financially supported by the owners of PPIR.

When I questioned it, I was told that there weren't any alternatives to PPIR.

Now that 2nd Creek is going away, perhaps the local racing organizations will realize just how costly it was to bury their heads in the sand over this issue.

The SCCA and the NHRA both, it seems, have lost sight of their roots.

Attitudes, classes, and rule changes combine to make racing less attractive to the "casual" enthusiast.

Hal

[v413nc3]

I'd have to agree, and what's worse is there isn't a good alternative for us. IDRC isn't coming back to Bandimere for a while if ever, and the local GP/GT races only happen at PPIR, even in the lower areas where one might be allowed to compete with a "weekend enthusiasts" car.

I really hate to say it, but from top to bottom we've got some lousy people controlling racing events for us. From The guys at the national level all the way down to our locals. And the funny thing is, I think our locals are the worst of the bunch.

[hoffman]

This may be my last season running scca.

I understand keeping it competitive, but don't hold back performance and technology. I'm already grouped in an insane class. Let me atleast use everything I can to find a winning edge.

Isn't that what racing is about?

[fusionsport]

yeah I am gonna have to go ahead and disagree- My experiences with SCCA have been up and down, but in the end they do a decent job making and keeping the classes competetive, which is a very very hard thing to do- I have run autocross, club racing, and Pro racing- I have also run PCA,POC,NASA,HSR,VARA,and EMRA. of all of those the SCCA has the most members and yet is still IMO deently fair- obviously they arent perfect but then who is?
Hal I honestly dont see your gripe about being mis-classed and protested- you showed up with a car having no idea what class you should be in, and were eventually put in the right one- wheres the harm? Now I could definitely see your point if you had built a car to the rulebook and brought it out only to be protested, but you didnt.
Jake build a legal car and you can race all you want- last I looked SCCA pretty much had a class for everything-including turboed CRXes and Supercharged NSXes so I think a turbo DSM shouldnt raise many eyebrows- unless of course you cant meet the safety requirements, in which case the car doesnt need to be anywhere near a racetrack.

[v413nc3]

Uhm, My car fits into the legality of many circuits which are more fun and have less local BS to put up with, why why would I want to waste more time making it legal to race cicuits that are the epitome of what I don't like?

That would be like me running out and making it legal to start making passes at NHRA events. Yeah that will happen.

I don't know how the legality of my car came up, but the events I drive mine in I don't have an issue, I have safety equipment aplenty, thank you very much.

And before you go on a crusade to defend SCCA, keep it to SCCA, and not my car, which btw, is fully functioning now :)

[fusionsport]

you said

even in the lower areas where one might be allowed to compete with a "weekend enthusiasts" car.


which infers a car that for some reson wouldnt meet the rules the SCCA has, hence the comment about building a legal car- not refering to the car you have now, but refering to the "weekend enthusiasts car" in which I take to mean a car that doesnt have a cage, proper fire/safety systems, etc.
Kinda like a couple of other "enthusiasts cars" I know of(not nec DSMs) that want to run track events or wheel to wheel with little or no safety equipment because gasp- they might have to cage thier car, or the cage they welded together out of muffler tubing in the dark with a flux core wire feed welder wouldnt pass any real tech inspection and they know it- those are EXACTLY the sort of people who bash legitimate racing organizations, the SCCA included. Having seen first hand what happens when a properly caged car gets hit at 130mph by several other cars at 130 mph I honestly have very very little tolerance for people who are not willing to put proper- and I do mean proper- safety equipment in their cars. Phil McClure is alive today beacuse of the cage struture we built, the HANS device SCCA mandated, and the very quick actions of the SCCA safety crews- I have the video of the crash somewhere kicking around here if you care to see it, it isnt pretty.

As far as whether or not your personal car is legal I could care less- I was making a point in general in reply to your statement and if you took took it to mean I was bashing your car then ummm ok- I will however state that if your car cant meet the SCCA cage requirements for club racing I would seriously rethink doing any track work with it, as I consider the SCCA club racing regs the bare minimum for a cage.

[wildfire0310]

Originally posted by v413nc3
Uhm, My car fits into the legality of many circuits which are more fun and have less local BS to put up with, why why would I want to waste more time making it legal to race cicuits that are the epitome of what I don't like?

That would be like me running out and making it legal to start making passes at NHRA events. Yeah that will happen.

I don't know how the legality of my car came up, but the events I drive mine in I don't have an issue, I have safety equipment aplenty, thank you very much.

And before you go on a crusade to defend SCCA, keep it to SCCA, and not my car, which btw, is fully functioning now :)

Question, I don't want to have to deal with BS, I just want to have some fun and be able to drive my car. I plan to drop a roll bar and 4 point harness in my car just cause, I watched a friend roll his car on back roads in GA. What events do you go to, other then strip, cause I would like to do other things then just strip? Thanks

[v413nc3]

That post was in reference to Hal's post first. Second, it meets SCCA cage req's just fine. What it doesn't meet are some of the requirements that are oddities (suspenion location, etc...)

Our point though wasn't bashing SCCA but rather their locals. The local SCCA groups just like many of the locals in just about anything out here are anything but cooperative, hell in most instances they're down right rude. I'm still going to have to side with Hal in saying that the local SCCA stuff out here is barely worth the effort.

[Hal]

Being moved from class to class at an auto-x is a pain in the ass.

Your class determines when you run on the track, and when you do your corner worker duties.

Having it changed around means you have to stop doing what you are doing (prep the car) and go do something else (work the corners).

It was really pathetic, having other competitors come over and look at the car... then go running off to "momma" because it wasn't fair putting my car in their class.

All we wanted to do was go out and have a little fun, instead we got treated to the stereo-typical SCCA "racing of the rulebooks".

I don't know how it is now, and I don't really care. The attitudes we encountered spoiled our first experience, and there is no need to go back for a 2nd helping.

Hal