thetech

iTrader: (1)

Or if you're bored of racing with old men in old cars, you could always move to NASA (flamesuit on!!!)

Black91n/a

If you start with an ITS car then build it to EP you'll be missing out on some of the roll cage allowanges that they allow in EP that you can't do in ITS (unlimited attachment points, can penetrate the firewall) and that'll affect how you'd design the cage. For instance if you're doing an IT car you'll usually butt the tubes up against the frame to try and get a little extra rigidity, but in Prod you'd leave a space and bridge the gap to essentially form a web in an I-beam for greater rigidity. Then depending on the build you could end up having to re-do things like the suspension, as you can use remote reservoirs in Prod, not in IT, so it would likely add to the overall cost by having to do things twice.

I said it before and I'll say it again, there's no NASA around here (or SCCA for that matter), so we don't really have that choice unless we want to tow for a whole, long day to get to the closest race and tow for a day and a half or more for the farther away ones. I'd rather race in ICSCC and run at tracks that are mere hours away.

Boswoj

Hmmm .......

Been thinking about going GT racing and getting out of my 1st gen EP car. Might be available right here in the Northwest for a pretty attractive price ............

hhn2002

im interested too. do you have to take driving classes for ep?

dbgeek

As far as learning to drive is concerned, please do at least a few DE-type events prior to attempting for your comp license. The level of awareness that you NEED while racing is one that must be learned through practice. There are many ways to get on track, even with a street car (completely stock), so you may learn to drive all over again.

I am an instructor for NASA, but know it isn't the only game in town.

Chinmotorsports: http://www.chinmotorsports.com/
Usually run at tracks further down south. Rather pricey but they also give you the most track time available more than any other group. If you ran non-stop you could get 5 hours of track time...... per day... (yes.. that said per day).. Instructor pool is very restricted and they try their best to specialize instructors to cars.

Tarheel Sports Car Club: http://www.thscc.com/
They only run a few events a year. Value is slightly below averagee for cost. Run good events and are a good group of people.

Car Guys: www.carguys.com
Very pricey. Difference is you get an average of more track time and usually you get personalized instructors... ie. 1 instructor, 1 student. Since there's a smaller population the cost goes up but the tracks are generally slightly less crowded.

Tarheel BMW club:
I heard these guys run a good event but I have yet to be able to go to one.

NASA:
Good organized, event. Nice touch of racing to watch. Value is slightly below average if not on the bottom. Things can get hairy when there are major accidents during the racing parts. (The HPDE's usually suffer w/ time). One nice thing is the open passing anywhere w/ the more advanced groups.

BSR: www.bsr-inc.com
Summit Point based organization only. They run something call Friday at the track (FATT). One day event that gives decent track time but can be pricey for only one day. Good way to knock out the fix during the slow months.

MDA: www.mazdadrivers.com
Average value, extremely well run event. Good group of people. This group draws in a whole slew of people. Usually one of the last things you'll find is a mazda. Granted there are a lot of mazda's there are a TON of other marques also. By far I have met some of the most talented drivers within this group.

PCA: http://fst.pca.org
BEST value for your dollar. Like the new event coming up is $299 for THREE days. Each day entailing close to 1.5 hours a day. The only catch is that you have to have a BMWCCA membership ($40.. no you don't have to own a BMW). This is usually one of my favorite events to attend.

MIDAROC: (website currently under construction)
Mid atlantic Alfa Romeo Club. Run a few events a year. Average value... the neat thing about these guys is that they usually run vintage races w/ their events. It's neat seeing the older cars. Makes a good change every so often.

G&W: www.gandwmotorsports.com
Run only one HPDE a year usually called the fall fling. Fall fling is by far one of the 'neater' events whereas you do not get an instructor unless you ask for one. If you always wanted that solo time here's where you get it. Value is pretty cool b/c you get a banquet w/ the price of the entry... (free beer too). This is where I met some interesting 'people' for those of you who know my story.. 8)

Now those are the groups that generally run between VIR and Summit.

Black91n/a

The BMWCCA and PCA run schools all over the country and in my experience they're well run with generally good instruction. They're cheaper than any of the professional schools and are a good way to get your feet wet and get the car control part learnt, then when you go to a racing school to get your licence you can concentrate on the racing and not worry about the driving part. Plus if you stick with it long enough they might just invite you out to be an instructor then you can get really cheap or even free track time.

For any on track racing at a minimum you'll need to go to a racing school put on by the sanctionning body and pass, if you've got prior track driving experiance it'll happen faster, if not it may take a few tries. Then you'll do some novice races generally, and only once you've done those can you join the regulars.

hhn2002

very informative. thanks so much.