Must a logbook be an official book, or can you document everything in a regular 3-ring binder or something?

And if that is the case, what do you normally document?

 

In scca or nasa you must have an offical log book.

 

and where does one obtain one of said books

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greyout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and where does one obtain one of said books</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you are racing with an organization for the first time or doing a competition licensing school, a logbook will be issued to you.

 

What information gets logged in the book?

Setups? Times? Incidents? Evaluations? Events?

 

Events, Incidents, Things to fix if your **** is busted and fails tech.

 

FYI: the logbook follows the car, not the driver.

 

If a logbook is lost, what does this mean to a guy who is considering purchasing that race car?

 

nothing much. You lost the racing history of the car, and if it had a yearly tech inspection, you lost that too.
Just means you need to get it completely teched to get a new logbook.
I don't think it's a big deal, but I could be wrong.

 

At least in SCCA (not sure about NASA's practice but would expect it to be similar) the rollcage gets a number stamped on it when the car is first inspected. This number coincides with that listed in the logbook, sort of like the "racing VIN" and follows the car wherever it goes.

If the logbook is lost - or ditched as may happen if someone has a vested interest in breaking the paper trail behind a car - the process starts from scratch. It is important to note that a logbook can assure that a car continues to be eligible (grandfathered in) if there are substantive rule changes. The ERW/DOM cage rule is a great example of this: If you buy an already-logbooked car with an ERW cage, you will be able to continue racing it. That same cage will keep inspectors from issuing a NEW logbook and rollcage number at this point.

If someone tries to sell you a racecar without the logbook, the price should go down since the dependability of the information they give you will do the same. You won't know if the car has been crashed, how many races it has run, when it was last on the track, or if it has ever had any technical inspection questions raised for it.

Kirk

 

You need an official logbook from the sanctioning body with whom the car will be raced. Notice I said "the car" and not "the driver". Logbooks go with the car (well, that's not really true, they actually go with the rollcage, since the cage IS the car when talking about purpose built racecars).

To get one, you need to contact a tech inspector for said club and set up and appointment. This is way easier than showing up at a race sans logbook and trying to get the car inspected. Usually, you must supply a few photos of the car to staple inside the book.

The logbook indicates the car is safe to take on track. It does not imply legality for any class. The tech inspector will be glad to discuss safety issues and classing/prep issues with you.

You must bring the logbook to all events and show it at registration. The registrar will note event time, location, etc in the book.

If the vehicle is in an incident during a sanctioned track session, the incident will be noted. If there is substantial damage, the car will need reinspected and signed off before returning to the track.

The logbook does not track practice sessions, non-sanctioned events, etc. Each club has it's own logbook. So a car could have quite a few (BMW 325 could have SCCA, NASA, EMRA, BMWCCA, etc). If the car was wrecked, the damage might oly be noted in one of the books.

If a book is lost, you will need to contact a tech inspector. Depending on the club, you may or may not have paperwork to fill out before being re-issued a new logbook.

Since the book follows the cage, you could in theory total a production based car, cut out the cage, install in a new chassis, and use the same logbook. You would be wise to have the new shell inspected and noted in the book so no questions are asked later down the road.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Crack Monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The logbook does not track practice sessions, non-sanctioned events, etc. Each club has it's own logbook. So a car could have quite a few (BMW 325 could have SCCA, NASA, EMRA, BMWCCA, etc). If the car was wrecked, the damage might oly be noted in one of the books.

If a book is lost, you will need to contact a tech inspector. Depending on the club, you may or may not have paperwork to fill out before being re-issued a new logbook.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This raises a series of questions. My assumptions are: (1) a car may have several logbooks for different series; (2) that the rollcage will be marked for each corresponding log book; (3) that any incident involving the car will be recorded in the log book for the series where the incident occurred.

If you bought the hypothetical 325 w/o any one of these log books, there is a chances it was wrecked in a different series and patched up for sale (unless it has an entry recently enough to put you at ease)

I guess my point is that it seems very wise to note all marks on the rollcage and to make sure you get a logbook for each. In the alternative, is there any way to get the car's history w/o the log book (i.e., is it recorded anywhere else if you have the number from the cage)?

 

in short, the official logbook is GIVEN to you when you have your car first teched and recorded to identify the car and rollcage. it records events youve perticipated in, and any incidents and wahtever notes the stewards want. its usuallly just a couple pieces of paper folded and stapled together.

as for having your OWN logbook, you can do whatever you want. i have a logbook ina black composition book that records all my laptimes, brake pad thickness, tire pressures and pretty much everything i can, so i have a good history of equipment usage and progress, instead of just relying on my memory, which is extremeley unreliable. now i just need to learn to write more legible....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HippoMark &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">In the alternative, is there any way to get the car's history w/o the log book (i.e., is it recorded anywhere else if you have the number from the cage)?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't know of anything official. The best thing to check is recent results and the posted laptimes. Doesn't prove if the car was crashed, but if it goes really fast, chances are it's well maintained and in better-than-average condition.

I've seen shells swapped in SRX-7, where replacing the shell is often less expensive than going to a body shop. Thankfully, I've never seen anybody do this in an effort to unload the car, but simply as a cost-effective way to get back on track ($1000 at body shop vs. $500 shell+weekend in gararge).