Newer and improvedier!

[John Brainard]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I ran with your club 2 years ago. It was my first track day experience, and I was confused. But after that I learned that for beginners, all you have to do is show up with a car that works and a helmet. and money. And all that other nice-to-have stuff.

Anyway, I was watching an episode of Roadkill and they autocrossed a van and a station wagon at El Toro, and I thought of you guys. After checking my schedule, I'd like to run with you guys on 22-23 of march. I'm in the process of re-uping myself on all the autocross stuff, but for now I just have two questions to throw out there.

1) As a stranger to your club, can I compete on these days? I doubt I'd be a contender, but I love competitions. It seems much easier to compete in autocross than CMC or chump car, LEmons, AI, etc.

2) Of course, What class? I'm sure that I've modded myself out of any chance of placing anything else than last, but who cares.
89 foxbody mustang, v8, 207 HP 248tq, (HELL YEA!), gutted interior, race seats, Subframe connectors, pan hard bar, Aftermarket control arms in rear, coilovers, Very stiff springs, Intake/exhaust, Brakes, 245 45 17 Z2s, battery relocated, and probably something else I've forgotten. It is street legal and I will drive it to the track.

Thanks for your help!

[Steve Ekstrand]

Our local California Street Touring class would probably be best.
Sundays are open to everybody.

[John Brainard]

Ok. When does registration open for these events? I cant seem to find this event on the motoreg site.

[Mako Koiwai]

Come by El Toro tomorrow ... racing ... the next event has been posted yet, probably

[John Brainard]

I would! But I'm out of town, I work offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm only in CA for 5 days in march, and 2 of those days are going to be at el toro.

[Rick Brown]

The next events, March 22&23, should be posted on motorsportreg.com within the next couple of days, we are finalizing the event Chiefs.

[John Brainard]

What are your rules on passengers? Can one green driver have a green passenger in the car, if he is signed up and gone through tech?

I've been slowly getting my brother involved in Motorsport, and I'm ready to try to set the hook with Solo2 events. He has never been to an autocross event, I've only been to one. And racing with my brother is more fun than racing itself, well almost. We are decent divers, as far as newbies go, and we are going to approach this from a professional stand point. And I guess that means no doughnuts after we spin out. }:)

Also I have another friend who may "come and see" during the day, can we get her a helmet and paperworked, fees paid if necessary and a ride along without much hassle?

Thanks again.
Edit: I took that Tire q post down after realizing its too technical for a casual response, and that I should just do the research the hard way.

[Jeff Stuart]

What are your rules on passengers? Can one green driver have a green passenger in the car, if he is signed up and gone through tech?

I've been slowly getting my brother involved in Motorsport, and I'm ready to try to set the hook with Solo2 events. He has never been to an autocross event, I've only been to one. And racing with my brother is more fun than racing itself, well almost. We are decent divers, as far as newbies go, and we are going to approach this from a professional stand point. And I guess that means no doughnuts after we spin out. }:)

Also I have another friend who may "come and see" during the day, can we get her a helmet and paperworked, fees paid if necessary and a ride along without much hassle?

Thanks again.

You're in luck, the rules about this were just recently changed to allow for this: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=7451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since you're a Novice/Student, you are allowed to have a passenger with you for your runs. Passengers do not need to pay, they just need to obtain weekend SCCA membership (which is free for passengers) at the registration table.

[John Brainard]

So student/novice drivers are allowed passengers during competitions. an extra 180 lbs in the passenger side could be a good thing.

[Craig Naylor]

So student/novice drivers are allowed passengers during competitions. an extra 180 lbs in the passenger side could be a good thing.

Re-read the rule... and your typed statement. Passengers are allowed, but by doing so your "competition" (your word), just became a non competition run. aka DNF. In other words, we used to run up to the car / flag you off etc, to assist you not loosing your timed run. Were not doing that anymore. It's your choice now if your running in a "class": no passenger, timed run... passenger, DNF run.

So, if class competition matters, don't have them with you. If your intent is just having fun and not class competition... well HAVE FUN! We won't stop you for that.... only if it's something else, like a safety issue... hands out the window etc, we'll stop that.

[Jeff Stuart]

Re-read the rule... and your typed statement. Passengers are allowed, but by doing so your "competition" (your word), just became a non competition run. aka DNF. In other words, we used to run up to the car / flag you off etc, to assist you not loosing your timed run. Were not doing that anymore. It's your choice now if your running in a "class": no passenger, timed run... passenger, DNF run.

Hmm, I think the rule as written is not entirely clear, but going by KJ's comment below it, I interpret it to mean that novices can now take passengers with them and not have that run marked as a DNF.

Maybe someone who actually knows can clear this up for us

[Craig Naylor]

Hmm, I think the rule as written is not entirely clear, but going by KJ's comment below it, I interpret it to mean that novices can now take passengers with them and not have that run marked as a DNF.

Maybe someone who actually knows can clear this up for us

I didn't like the re-write either... I missed the meeting it was approved at.

The change was to get rid of the ambiguity that ANYONE, including someone like yourself and myself, or even Tom Berry could have an instructor ride along with them on competition runs, so "Student/Novice" was amended/inserted/included (something like that). This change was the direct result of a protest of a very long time competitor taking an instructor with them on a competition run. The reps (actually more Board) wanted a rule that was more restrictive than the old one, but wasn't to restrictive at the same time. Aka the collective "they" wanted grey area in the rule... The result was rule #3.5.1.1

[John Brainard]

"Any driver other than a Student/Novice with a passenger during official competition runs will have that run and any subsequent official runs marked as DNF"

So unless you are a new driver and/or new to the sport, any competition run with a passenger results in a DNF for all your runs. That's clear to me.

"Any passenger who has not completed all of their official competition runs will have any subsequent official runs marked DNF"

Unless you are finished with your competition runs, a driver is not allowed to be a passenger in official runs unless you want to DNF all your other official runs. I guess this is to keep experienced drivers, or any driver for that matter, from "seeing the course" from a new drivers passenger seat and hence gaining an advantage.

Edit: windows 8 on a lap top.

[Bill Martin]

So John, back to your original Q regarding passengers for mutual support purposes, the answer would be to run time only, or add X-runs where passengers are not an issue.

We had an issue where my wife had been out of competition so long she needed navigation help. My solution is to take all my official runs first and then ride along with her running time-only.

[KJ Christopher]

Re-read the rule... and your typed statement. Passengers are allowed, but by doing so your "competition" (your word), just became a non competition run. aka DNF. In other words, we used to run up to the car / flag you off etc, to assist you not loosing your timed run. Were not doing that anymore. It's your choice now if your running in a "class": no passenger, timed run... passenger, DNF run.

Hmm, I think the rule as written is not entirely clear, but going by KJ's comment below it, I interpret it to mean that novices can now take passengers with them and not have that run marked as a DNF.

Maybe someone who actually knows can clear this up for us

In my opinion, the change was intended to allow new people to have some of their friends go along. Enjoy and get hooked on the sport. We have to leave part II of the rule in place or it could be abused. Nobody should care about the passengers it "allows". Other club reps should feel free to chime in.

[George Schilling]

It was me who initially proposed the rule change. I actually proposed a broader rule allowing anyone to have passengers. My thinking was and still remains that regional competition is about having fun in addition to competition. Part of that is sharing the experience with passengers. I believe that sharing the thrill of competition can and will "hook" more noobs to the sport. But change is hard. The best I could get was that students and novices could take passengers. My hope is that one day we can broaden that rule to include everyone.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Somebody really thinks that giving Tom Berry a passenger instructing is going to make him quicker?

[Craig Naylor]

Somebody really thinks that giving Tom Berry a passenger instructing is going to make him quicker?

Maybe not instructing, but some cars can use the weight balance aspect. Not all classes can corner weight.

[George Schilling]

Somebody really thinks that giving Tom Berry a passenger instructing is going to make him quicker?

Maybe not instructing, but some cars can use the weight balance aspect. Not all classes can corner weight.

If it were that advantageous, weight could be added. But what is more fun, demonstrating/sharing your skills with another human being or some lead weights?

[Kurt Rahn]

Somebody really thinks that giving Tom Berry a passenger instructing is going to make him quicker?

Probably the opposite