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Hi all,
I just joined today and am looking for some help and info about SCCA.
What I am mainly looking to find out is how to get qualified to start racing, how much it costs, can I use my own car, is there racetrack car insurance available, and so on...
Anyone who could help me out or point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance,
Lance
These questions are asked frequently on the SCCA.com forum, which is more active than this DC region forum.
The basic advice is to start out running PDX. There, you can run a street car on a track at speed with an instructor. It's the best way to develop your driving skills. You'll learn a lot.
If you want to start racing, you'll need to buy or build a car. It's not cheap. Roll cage, racing seat and harness, fire supression, and window net are the minimum safety requirements. Depending on which class you run, you may need a fuel cell also. Some race cars are street legal and can be driven to the track, but this is rare. So plan on getting a truck and trailer. A race weekend will cost you anywhere from $500 - $3000 depending on things like travel, lodging, entry fee, and race car consumables (fluids, tires, brakes, etc).
Read the General Competition Rules for more info.
Thank-you for the response and advice; I will check out the SCCA forums.
Wow though, I had no idea how much is involved!
The money part of it is going to be my problem; I want to keep my car street legal.
I already have a truck but no trailer and I have no problem sleeping in a tent or even the bed of the truck.
Is there any reason I couldn't add the things you mentioned (the only one I am a little unclear on is fire suppression, I do already carry an extiguisher in my car) to my stock car and keep it street legal?
Thanks a lot for your time,
I'm new to SCCA and have only run my street legal Shelby GT in PDX events. I think you should sign up for the April 4th PDX event for the fun of it. It's a start and it's a great deal of FUN!!!!!!
Before you rebuild your car, come out to an event. In the last year I have upgraded my brake Pads to hawk HPS, install tow hooks, 4 point roll bar, 6 point safety harness. you don't need a race car to have FUN!!!!
Having FUN is the key for me
Lance,
There are a few classes you could probably race in and keep the car street legal; Showroom Stock (SS), Improved Touring (IT), and Touring (T) are the primary ones, or Spec Miata (SM) or Showroom Spec Miata (SSM) if you happen to have a Miata you want to race. Of those, SS or SSM are probably the most 'stock' classes, with more modification allowed in T, SM, and IT. You'll have to check the car classification section of the GCR to see where your car is eligible to race. As far as the safety stuff, a handheld extinguisher is all that's required in any of the above classes, but you will need a full roll cage (6-point min), race seat, and harness, along with a few other minor items that may vary from class to class. Definitely check the GCR, figure out which class you are eligible for, and read those rules (along with the general car prep rules) before you do anything. There is nothing worse than spending money on a roll cage, seat, or other piece safety equipment and then finding out it's not legal.
And by all means, do one or two PDXs before you go out and spend any money building a race car. You may learn that you're not really interested in going any further after you've been on track at speed.
Good luck.