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snk328is
05-08-2005, 11:39 PM
So I attended my first SCCA regional yesterday at Texas Motor Speedway. The course was the 2.3-mile "Roval", which consists of most of the NASCAR oval and a pretty mundane infield course.

I got there early in anticipation of a busy day. My group, which consisted of all Improved Touring cars and SRX-7's, was the second group to be on track for qualifying so I tried to get all my ducks in a row.

Here are some things I learned, which will hopefully be beneficial for anybody who is yet to attend their first SCCA club race. YMMV depending on the region.

- You don't need to get your car tech'd for the event if you have already done your annual. You just bring your helmet with the annual stamp on it and a small card with your car information filled out to the tech area and they will give you a sticker to put on your car.

- The schedule may not be published in minute detail, so you really have to pay attention to what run groups are currently out on track and where you stand relative to who's out there. I had gotten used to being given a schedule where the exact times of when different run groups were supposed to be on track were denoted. So when I didn't get a detailed schedule, I felt very disoriented at first. For example, the schedule says something like:

8:00 AM - 20 min. Regional/National Qualifying Groups 1-7
15 lap Group 1 race right after qualifying
Noon (approx) - Lunch
15 lap race Groups 2-7

Group 1 was the Spec Miata group, so I had to make sure that when the Spec Miatas were on grid, I began getting ready to get on grid.

- You may not have any practice sessions, so make each lap count. In this race, I only had two on-track sessions - qualifying and race. I had only driven the TMS Roval once before, and it was a parade lap, so I had no idea what lines to take. Fortunately, the layout is very simple and it only took a few laps to get a good grasp of it. I really had to concentrate hard and make sure I got a few good laps in. As I was taught in the BMW club race school, the easiest way to pass somebody is in qualifying.

- It is definitely good to have a crew. Although my crew friend didn't have to do much more than set tire pressures and check the fuel level, it made a huge difference in terms of getting mentally prepared for the next on track session. FYI, in order for your crew member to enter the hot pit area, he must not only be listed as a crew member in your race application, but he must also be an SCCA member.

- Don't forget to get your Novice Permit signed by the SOM (Steward of the Meet). After the race is over, you must get your Novice Permit signed by the SOM so it can count towards getting your full Regional License.

- If you finish in the top 3 of your class, you must report straight to tech for impound. There were only 3 ITS cars in the race, one of which did not make it out to the track. Thus, by default, I had to report to tech right after the race. They weighed my car and also took a fuel sample. After everything checked out, I was allowed to return to the pits.

As for the race itself, I qualified 10th out of 23 cars and finished 8th overall. I was second out of two cars in ITS. :stickoutt The first place ITS car was a 300ZX which was at least 3 seconds faster than me. An SP corvette, the 300ZX, three Spec RX7's and an ITA Dodge Omni (never seen or heard of it before) finished in front of me. The race was very exciting and I had a lot of fun dicing it with some SRX-7's. I once again came away with no bruises or bashes, so it was definitely a successful weekend.

In other news, the Spec Miata race was a great race to watch. There were three SM's that traded the lead position for most of the 15 lap race, one of which was a Wheels America SM, until a different Miata hit a tire barrier forming a chicane at the end of the front straight, bringing about a full course caution. It was a pretty hard impact but fortunately the driver came out unscathed. The race ended in a full course caution, which was too bad because the three guys up front were having such a great race.

I probably won't make another race until August, but I sure will miss the adrenaline rush... Man, this club racing thing is addicting! :redspot

Scho
05-09-2005, 12:39 AM
I was hoping to make it out there but didnt. I was really hoping to catch your race. I guess I will see you in August at MSR!

Are you going to race Hallett as well?

Conechaser
05-09-2005, 12:44 AM
Rule 1: Always go to impound even if you don't think you need to. I have seen cars get DQ'd for this. You should also go to impound after qualifiying to get weighed so you can check their scales. My SSC Neon usually weighs 2690 after a race. (it's a porker) I went to impound after qualifiying once and they scaled it at 2580 which was only 5lbs over minimum. It wasn't correct... but it was official. (yes, they were having issues that day)

Rule 2: Keep track of your laps. Make sure you finish at least half so you get a finish even if it means you trundle around the track slowly to get your laps in. If it's a 12 lap race then you need to do 6. If it's an 11 lap race then you only need 5 (you get to round down in SCCA) You don't have to win... but you should try to finish. Your license is kept by the number of finishes you have per year. They are important.

Geo31
05-09-2005, 07:11 AM
Good job Nobu! Sorry I couldn't make it. We were getting my car into the shop this weekend which turned into a 14 hour oddessy (should have taken less than an hour - long story obviously).

Good job on your race.

The Wheels America SM was almost 100% certainly driven by Bob Stretch. Yes, that Bob Stretch. He lives in the DFW area. My last race at TMS we were garaged right next to him. Super nice guy. Despite being a pro racer and all, he is basically his own crew at the SCCA races.

That's the first time I've heard of fuel samples being taken. It was frustrating putting on the sample port when they never took samples. Glad to hear it's being checked now.

With any luck I'll be able to make a fall race (hopefully with my car).

krisko
05-09-2005, 08:30 AM
Congrats on completing your first race, sounds like you had a great time.


The Wheels America SM was almost 100% certainly driven by Bob Stretch. Yes, that Bob Stretch. He lives in the DFW area. My last race at TMS we were garaged right next to him. Super nice guy. Despite being a pro racer and all, he is basically his own crew at the SCCA races.

I saw Stretch at the WC race at Road ATL a few weeks ago. I walked over a few times to meet him but he was busy constantly. He truly is a one man race team, constantly wrenching his car, driving it obviously, then I saw him leaving the paddock before everybody else. He was driving a massive motorhome with a large trailer, expertly through the full paddock. He's amazing.

snk328is
05-09-2005, 09:26 AM
I was hoping to make it out there but didnt. I was really hoping to catch your race. I guess I will see you in August at MSR!

Are you going to race Hallett as well?I could have given you one of my guest passes. They gave me 4. Sean and Ray were listed as crew, but they showed up too late so they ended up using 2 of the 4 guest passes.

Next time there's a race and you want to come watch, lemme know and I'll put you on my "crew" list so you can gain entry into the paddock.

I don't think I'll make Hallett. I need to recharge for the next few months financially. If at all possible I want to get my permanent cage in... I've been putting it off long enough.


Rule 1: Always go to impound even if you don't think you need to. I have seen cars get DQ'd for this. You should also go to impound after qualifiying to get weighed so you can check their scales. My SSC Neon usually weighs 2690 after a race. (it's a porker) I went to impound after qualifiying once and they scaled it at 2580 which was only 5lbs over minimum. It wasn't correct... but it was official. (yes, they were having issues that day)

Rule 2: Keep track of your laps. Make sure you finish at least half so you get a finish even if it means you trundle around the track slowly to get your laps in. If it's a 12 lap race then you need to do 6. If it's an 11 lap race then you only need 5 (you get to round down in SCCA) You don't have to win... but you should try to finish. Your license is kept by the number of finishes you have per year. They are important.Thanks for the additional tips! If the ITS field was bigger, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have known whether I had to report to impound or not.

As far as weighing, I got my car weighed after qualifying, and with a 3/8 tank with driver, my car weighed 2940 (the minimum is 2850). After the race, at which point my fuel guage needle was at the very empty mark (I'm glad I didn't run out of fuel!), the car weighed 2911. So it looks like I can safely lose 60 lbs in order to get down there near the limit.

Here's another tip to add to the weighing part. Know your wheelbase! The tech guys obviously need to adjust the scales for every car, so if you know your wheelbase ahead of time, you won't have to get on the scales only to find out the wheel base was wrong because you guessed wrong. It might even help to have a piece of paper with some vital info written on it and taped to the dash or something. I even saw a car that had its wheelbase written on the body of the car with a permanent marker.


Good job Nobu! Sorry I couldn't make it. We were getting my car into the shop this weekend which turned into a 14 hour oddessy (should have taken less than an hour - long story obviously).

Good job on your race.

The Wheels America SM was almost 100% certainly driven by Bob Stretch. Yes, that Bob Stretch. He lives in the DFW area. My last race at TMS we were garaged right next to him. Super nice guy. Despite being a pro racer and all, he is basically his own crew at the SCCA races.

That's the first time I've heard of fuel samples being taken. It was frustrating putting on the sample port when they never took samples. Glad to hear it's being checked now.

With any luck I'll be able to make a fall race (hopefully with my car).Thanks! I didn't know Bob Stretch was local to me. I should've tried to talk to him. I saw his trailer though. I thought I saw a spare Miata in there if I'm guessing right... :eek:

They definitely took samples from everyone. I need to figure out how to get the fuel flowing without having to turn the ignition on and off repeatedly...

I thought I saw another TMS race on the calendar for October, so I will definitely try to make that. Get your ass in gear! :D


Congrats on completing your first race, sounds like you had a great time.Thanks!

maranelloman
05-09-2005, 09:43 AM
Nobu, congrats, man! Sounds like you had an excellent weekend!!

B.Watts
05-09-2005, 11:03 AM
Thanks! I didn't know Bob Stretch was local to me. I should've tried to talk to him. I saw his trailer though. I thought I saw a spare Miata in there if I'm guessing right... :eek:

Oh, that's nothing. He showed up to the Road Atlanta World Challenge, Pro-SM, and Pro-IT race with his two World Challenge cars, two Spec Miata's (a 1.6 and a 1.8 liter), and his ITA 240SX.

I suspect he'll have 3 Miata's soon now that the "new" Miata is eligible for Pro-SM.

Congrats on the weekend! Did you make it to the corner worker party on Saturday night? (I assume those happen in Texas as well). Around here, if you are in the last run group, by the time you are out of impound, out of your driving suit, and ready to walk down, the corner workers have already drained the 3-4 kegs of beer. :D

snk328is
05-09-2005, 11:30 AM
Nobu, congrats, man! Sounds like you had an excellent weekend!! Thanks! Two weekends in a row of racing is as much as anybody can ask for. Good times. :buttrock


Oh, that's nothing. He showed up to the Road Atlanta World Challenge, Pro-SM, and Pro-IT race with his two World Challenge cars, two Spec Miata's (a 1.6 and a 1.8 liter), and his ITA 240SX.

I suspect he'll have 3 Miata's soon now that the "new" Miata is eligible for Pro-SM.

Congrats on the weekend! Did you make it to the corner worker party on Saturday night? (I assume those happen in Texas as well). Around here, if you are in the last run group, by the time you are out of impound, out of your driving suit, and ready to walk down, the corner workers have already drained the 3-4 kegs of beer. :D :eek: My god, that is nuts! No wonder his trailer was so humongous...

I didn't make it to the corner worker party. I figured they were for corner workers only, and didn't want to stick around for the rest of the day after my race because I was really wiped out for some reason. Is the beer for racers too? If so, I will keep that in mind next time. :D

Geo31
05-09-2005, 08:29 PM
Hmmm..... several things.....

First, did Bob have the Toter Home? I saw he had it for sale after the ARRC. Those rock.

Second, if you're not sure there will be beer, or if it's for racers too, bring a case or two. You'll make some really good friends. Of all the people at the track, the corner workers are the people I'd most want to know and like me. :)

Third, October may be doable. You're right though, I have to get my ass in gear. The car is finally in the shop (over the weekend) and next weekend the local 944 guys are going to help me strip the doors, glass, fenders, hood, bumpers, etc, as well as prep it for removing the drivetrain, after which the suspension will be dropped. It may be possible. Just have to get the AC in the shop. I'll post some photos of the shop later this week. It's not big, but it's big enough and damned sure beats working in my garage.

Geo31
05-09-2005, 08:40 PM
Oh, and while I hate the TMS course, I love the way they put on an event. They are always great.

snk328is
05-10-2005, 12:50 AM
Hmmm..... several things.....

First, did Bob have the Toter Home? I saw he had it for sale after the ARRC. Those rock.I didn't look that closely. All I saw was the inside of the trailer in passing and it was humongous...


Second, if you're not sure there will be beer, or if it's for racers too, bring a case or two. You'll make some really good friends. Of all the people at the track, the corner workers are the people I'd most want to know and like me. To be honest, the combination of drinking beer after a long hard day of racing, then driving my race car home, is probably not a good idea. :nono :stickoutt


Third, October may be doable. You're right though, I have to get my ass in gear. The car is finally in the shop (over the weekend) and next weekend the local 944 guys are going to help me strip the doors, glass, fenders, hood, bumpers, etc, as well as prep it for removing the drivetrain, after which the suspension will be dropped. It may be possible. Just have to get the AC in the shop. I'll post some photos of the shop later this week. It's not big, but it's big enough and damned sure beats working in my garage. Sounds good to me... Looking forward to the pics.


Oh, and while I hate the TMS course, I love the way they put on an event. They are always great. I liked the fact that I could make up lost ground on the oval portion of the track, but I sure got my ass whooped in the infield. I really need to ditch this open differential and get myself a 3.64 Limited Slip Diff... The track itself is definitely not challenging, but winding out 5th gear on the oval was fun!

Geo31
05-10-2005, 07:11 AM
To be honest, the combination of drinking beer after a long hard day of racing, then driving my race car home, is probably not a good idea. :nono :stickoutt

True.

Last time I was at TMS we rented a motorhome and stayed right at the track. It was great. I got spoiled. :)

snk328is
05-10-2005, 11:29 PM
Here is an out of car video of the opening lap of the race. My friend captured it using his digital camera, so the footage is a little shaky; you have been warned. The video is 43MB and hopefully you won't need to download any weird video codecs to see it.

Please right click and save-as (http://www.snkracing.com/ITS325/SCCA-CR-TMS-May05.mpg)...

snk328is
05-10-2005, 11:46 PM
And here are some random pictures. Disclaimer: My friend is not a professional photographer.

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0003-01.jpg

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0007-01.jpg

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0009-01.jpg

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0019-01.jpg

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0020-01.jpg

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0024-01.jpg

http://www.snkracing.com/2005.05.07.SCCA-CR-TMS/IMG_0035-01.jpg

Seth Thomas
05-11-2005, 09:23 AM
Good job man. SOunds like you had fun and drove the wheels off the car. Have fun with your addiction and keep us all updated on how your season goes.

maranelloman
05-11-2005, 11:03 AM
Hey, Nobu....we gotta get you a lower ride height on that #99. Looks like a 4 wheeler!

;-)

snk328is
05-11-2005, 12:36 PM
Good job man. SOunds like you had fun and drove the wheels off the car. Have fun with your addiction and keep us all updated on how your season goes.
Thanks Seth! Good luck with yours!


Hey, Nobu....we gotta get you a lower ride height on that #99. Looks like a 4 wheeler!

;-) Yeah, I know, it looks silly, doesn't it? ;) I need to get me one of those $3,000 Ground Control coilover setups...

maranelloman
05-11-2005, 01:00 PM
It needn't cost that much. Buy one slightly used for much less than whatever GC charges these days.

snk328is
05-11-2005, 01:15 PM
It needn't cost that much. Buy one slightly used for much less than whatever GC charges these days.
There is actually a set for sale in the For Sale forum for considerably less than new, but I don't have the money right now. I'm thinking the money might be better spent on a custom weld-in cage anyway, not to mention some type of head and neck restraint. ;)

B.Watts
05-11-2005, 01:37 PM
I'm thinking the money might be better spent on a custom weld-in cage anyway, not to mention some type of head and neck restraint. ;)

Yes and yes.

buldogge
05-11-2005, 04:37 PM
I'm thinking the money might be better spent on a custom weld-in cage anyway, not to mention some type of head and neck restraint. ;)

If you have a decent bolt-in (for now) GOOD suspension and tires could be the difference between an off track experience or not!

Having said that...A H+N would be good as well (ordering mine this week)!

Of course, it never ends...another set of wheels, communications, and a lighter suit (to replace my very safe but very heavy Simpson 3-layer) all need to be ordered soon.

What can you do...

snk328is
05-11-2005, 05:35 PM
If you have a decent bolt-in (for now) GOOD suspension and tires could be the difference between an off track experience or not!

Having said that...A H+N would be good as well (ordering mine this week)!

Of course, it never ends...another set of wheels, communications, and a lighter suit (to replace my very safe but very heavy Simpson 3-layer) all need to be ordered soon.

What can you do...
I rather like the idea of having a whole bunch of excuses (yeah I know, excuses are like a**holes; everybody has one and they all stink). For example, the car is still equipped with its original 3.15 open differential and stock catalytic converters along with everything else I've mentioned already. :stickoutt

(Just don't mention the nut between the steering wheel and the seat.)

maranelloman
05-11-2005, 06:16 PM
There is actually a set for sale in the For Sale forum for considerably less than new, but I don't have the money right now. I'm thinking the money might be better spent on a custom weld-in cage anyway, not to mention some type of head and neck restraint. ;)


Good point.

pinoymcflurry
05-11-2005, 06:32 PM
sick duuudeeeeeeee