Road race license

[Bobby Beyer]

Can someone explain the license school process to me? Reading over the instructions it says I need to complete 2 racing schools and only one is offered per year with calclub. So if my reading of the instructions is correct it would take me 2 years to obtain a license without going to a secondary driving school.

Am I reading the instructions correctly or will passing the CalClub school once be enough?

[Toby Larsson]

The March Superschool is all you need, if you pass the Thursday thru Saturday school you can race your first race on Sunday.
If you want to get your license sooner than next March you can take the Fastlane school at Willow Springs, they are open all year.

[Eric Clements]

Allen Berg Racing School (at AAA speedway) is also SCCA accredited.

[Mark Hazboun]

With NASA, you can work your way from HPDE-1 to 2 to 3 and finally HPDE-4. After HPDE-4, you can apply for the race license or do time trials. This will take longer than a weekend school, but I would think it is the better way to go as you build up your skills with each event. Driving on track is very different from solo. This is the route I chosen. Your yaris would do fine there. There is a Mazda2 in HPDE-3 and I take my Mazda3. http://www.nasaproracing.com/event" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you are in a hurry, you can do the SCCA weekend school in March. You will need to acquire or rent your own race car for the school.

You can also do the 3-day school at Skip Barber in Leguna Seca. Quite a bit more cost-wise than the school, but it is arrive and drive (they provide and prep the race car). They are SCCA accredited.

My plan is to do Skip Barber after I build up some experience with HPDE and after (or during) my first year.

For starting out in club racing, I am looking a Spec Racer Ford or Spec Miata. These will probably be the cheapest groups to compete in. There is also specE30, but not with SCCA. You may want to volunteer as a SCCA flagger for a few club racer events. I did.

[Ed Holley]

Can someone explain the license school process to me? Reading over the instructions it says I need to complete 2 racing schools and only one is offered per year with calclub. So if my reading of the instructions is correct it would take me 2 years to obtain a license without going to a secondary driving school.

Am I reading the instructions correctly or will passing the CalClub school once be enough?

Be aware that not EVERY student passes the school successfully after just one weekend. At least that is the way it used to be. Things have changed over time, but not by a whole lot. Back in the day, I spent a 5-day week as a student at the Jim Russell School when it was at Willow Springs. I actually motel'd it in Rosamond for the entire time...class room each morning, then out on track, then back to class room, then out on track...every day. All in a Formula Ford. Once I graduated, I just had to attend one weekend at a SCCA school and get my license. In my case, it was at Riverside Raceway. I say "one weekend" because back then MOST students needed more than one weekend. In fact, as I recall it may have been mandatory to attend more than one weekend.