4Flyer

Well, I held off long enough, and I finally want to take the plunge and get a competition license. Not that I will neccessarily use it but if for some reason I decide to later on I will have the expereince and besides that I will be able to use the expereince at Track Time, Time Trial and AutoX events so there is no money wasted in knowledge correct?

I will be using the Acura 3 day performance driving course at Mid Ohio to get into the licensing class and plan to attend this April or May. Has anyone done this before? Anyone have any advice? I was going to use my car over the RSXs they provide but I was wondering if anyone would reccommend against this. I wouldn't use the 8, but a Miata I have better prepared. (Roll bar, seats/harness, rims/tires, etc...)

darnellm

iTrader: (1)

Once your get your license you need to race a minimum of twice a year to maintain it.
I would recommend that you have a plan to race within a year or post pone getting the license. There are many schools out there that have a good driver training format similiar to the SCCA drivers school. I attended the BMW drivers school last year and it reminded me of the SCCA drivers schools I have attended in the past.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I used to have a SCCA competition license. Is this what your shooting for? Usually, if you have no wheel-to-wheel experience, they require a SCCA accredited drivers school ,one regional drivers school and 2 regional races before you progress off a novice permit onto a regional license.
Then there is NASA with their own requirements.
PM me if you have any specific questions that wouldn't be of interest to the general members here.

4Flyer

This course will not end with me getting a license, however, it is a prerequisite to take the NASA licensing course. The good thing is that the expereince and knowledge gained from any type of learning like this has a lifetime warranty (stays with you forever) and can be applied to better help my other driving hobbies.

Racing in general, what do you guys reccommend as a good entry class? I have been looking a lot into Spec Miata given the relative low cost of the cars.

darnellm

iTrader: (1)

As I said before it is nice to have a long term plan. You stated that you wanted to get a competition license by taking this school and now it is a prerequiste to taking the NASA school. It sounds like you need to to do some more research. I currently hold a NASA TT license and find that it meets my needs I have also held an SCCA competition license for 8 years.

SiVisPacem

Hi 4Flyer,

I went through Comp School at Mid-O a few years ago. Completing this school will get you a NASA Provisional License. With a NASA Provisional License, you have one calendar year to get four races in, and if you complete those four races without significant incident, you will have a NASA Comp License. If you don't get the four in, you will have to retake the school.

So... if you don't plan to race four times (which can be two double race weekends) then I wouldn't bother. Nor can you get an SCCA Regional License with a NASA Provisional; you will need to complete your NASA license before you apply for the SCCA one.

NASA would prefer that you be graduated up to HPDE 3 before you take Comp School. With that said, NASA and Mid-O are both coin-operated. If you've completed two Skippy programs, or a 3-day Mid-O course, you could probably do it.

Take the Comp License school in the school car when you get around to doing so. Don't use your own car, because you won't be able to accurately measure your skills. As an example, I happened to "win" all but one of the practice races in my comp school; the one I did not win was won by a Spec Miata. Now, did that guy win because he was the best driver, or because a Spec Miata should be about 10 seconds a lap faster than a street-tired Acura at Mid-O? Hard to say But your instructors will be in the TSXes. Also, if your TSX breaks, they give you another TSX, but if your personal car breaks, you're done for the day.

For a good entry class, you can try Spec Miata, but don't expect it to be cheap-cheap. A competitive SM costs $15-20,000 to build, minimum, and you can expect to spend well over a thousand dollars a weekend to run the car exclusive of entry costs (which are $300-450 a weekend). Don't forget that in SM you are likely to be involved in some type of contact incident almost every weekend, sometimes twice a weekend, and that you'll need to fix that stuff before the next race.

The cheapest way to race in NASA is to buy an old SCCA Improved Touring car and race it in NASA Performance Touring. Understand that nobody ever sells a used race car because it's in top shape.

If you budget $1500 a weekend and already have your race car, safety equipment, trailer, and tools paid for, you should be able to squeak by in the lower NASA classes.

Alternately, you can build a sharp-looking RX-8 and run it in NASA PTC or PTD. Expect to spend $30K on the car and a fair amount keeping it going. But you will look good!

4Flyer

SiVisPacem,

Thanks for the information. Based on what others are saying maybe I will wait. While I have enough pocketed I could easily plunge and buy a Spec Miata (or build one since my car is 60% there) and other essentials, it would be one of those things where everything would have to go right that year or I would be selling it off just as fast. Your post provided a lot of insight.

darnellM, you mentioned you had a TT license. Can you explain the licensing procedures for this, the difference between a TT license and a wheel-to-wheel license, and what kind of car I would need for TT? Basically, I am doing AutoX, and track time at the moment. I want to take racing to a higher level. Maybe TT would be a good transition between what I'm doing and wheel-to-wheel.

Thanks.

darnellm

iTrader: (1)

Based on my previous track experience I was observed in one HPDE event and was granted a license. Typically NASA would like you to move up through the HDPE groups.