I have been doing some reading online and once again the mired web of the internet has confused me. I have an ep3 that is the DD now, but does some autox and track time when I can. I dont want to search out an older car and sink lots of money into it to get it ready to drive, I did that with my DA, big mistake.

So I holding onto the ep3 with an eye towards developing it into a dedicated race car. However, I am confused as to which series to shoot for. The three names that keep popping up are SCCA, NASA and IT/IT2. I believe these are related to one another some how (sub groups of one another), but these different regional web pages dont clear things up enough for me.

As I continue to tinker with the car I want to add things that would be legal in a series that I could run fulltime. So I guess the question is where would an ep3 have its best bet on running? And what series is the closest to Kentucky?

Thanks for helping a racing noob out!

 

i would look at the track nearest you that you are interested in and then look at who runs there.

i could basically blow my annual racing budget racing regional SCCA with just a few local tracks.

also look at the series results for the different organizations and where you would be classed.

i am running some honda challenge this year to qualify for the nationals but will likely not do it again.

when i race with scca, there are 5-8 cars in my class normally entered. if i make it to nasa this weekend for the honda challenge, i will likely be the only car in my class. not near the fun and i passed up another race a couple of weeks ago that is just 75 miles away to go 300 miles away.

ymmv,

tom

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tom91ita &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would look at the track nearest you that you are interested in and then look at who runs there.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good idea!
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tom91ita &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i could basically blow my annual racing budget racing regional SCCA with just a few local tracks. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Is SCCA more expensive to run?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tom91ita &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
also look at the series results for the different organizations and where you would be classed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What would I be looking for?
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tom91ita &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i am running some honda challenge this year to qualify for the nationals but will likely not do it again.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
You dont want to run Honda Challange because of the lack of cars in your class?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by giff74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Good idea!


Is SCCA more expensive to run?


What would I be looking for?

You dont want to run Honda Challange because of the lack of cars in your class?</TD></TR></TABLE>

SCCA isn't more expensive to run, per se. The rules are different and depending on the class you're going to select, can be more or less money. Generally hondas are run in the IT classes in SCCA (which are usually slightly more restrictive about mods than HC), but for the most part is comparable to HC.

As far as what class you would select, you would look at race results (found online), rules (which can be found online for most series) and ask people racing these series about their opinions about a given car. The class will generally dictate the car one chooses to turn into a race car, not vice versa--it's more expensive when you've got a car that isn't raced much and have to do alot of the development on your own.

as far as why tom isn't going to run HC in the future, i don't want to speak for him (or anyone else out there, specifically), but i will say that there are "flavor differences" between NASA and SCCA. As far as why an individual likes one vs. the other, depends on a lot of things--this is general sentiment but it's usually that a) NASA is a bunch of wahoos or b) SCCA is a bunch of **** retentive meanies. Of course, stuff like that is often bourne of relevant and irrelevant reasons. And there are people that don't care and race both.

There's a good amount of politics as far as NASA and this board are concerned. Politics that i'd rather not talk about since well, aside from not knowing enough to be able to talk about it, it's irrelevant. Plenty of people are racing (happily) in both nasa and scca.

 

I would say you are looking for two things. 1) A good group of guys (and occasionally girls) to race with, hang out with, BS with. 2) A stable rule book written with participant costs in mind. You find those two and you'll be very happy.

 

Sell your EP3 and buy an already built race car. you can sell that ep3 for maybe 10,000 and get your self a front running ITA car. (integra GS/ls/rs, ect).


the used race car market is crazy. cars that would cost 15-20 thousand to build, will cost you less then 10,000.


As far as the SCCA vs nassa thing. Go hangout for a few weekend with both, read the rules, and then maybe even race with both. You might find you like one more then the other, or you may stick with both.

you will most likely find that there are plusses and minuses to both, and that it will be a comprimise of which to run.

 

So IT is a sub-group of the SCCA and NASSA is a different group all together? Is HC part of NASSA?

Before I can make any kind of decisions I want to be able to understand how the groups are broken up. Does each group have a substantially different set of rules?

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by giff74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So IT is a sub-group of the SCCA and NASSA is a different group all together? Is HC part of NASSA?

Before I can make any kind of decisions I want to be able to understand how the groups are broken up. Does each group have a substantially different set of rules?

Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Pretty much. The Honda Challenge is a race series which only Hondas run under, and is sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). IT is "Improved Touring", and is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). So, two different groups and two different rulesets.

You can read about more about the Honda Challenge here:

National Auto Sport Association:
http://www.nasaproracing.com

National site:
http://www.hondachallenge.com

East Coast site:
http://www.honda-challenge.com.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by giff74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Is SCCA more expensive to run</TD></TR></TABLE>

No. sorry if i gave that impression.

what i meant was that there are more than enough scca events nearby. more than i can afford to run.

to run the honda challenge series means going to more tracks further away. so my average commute in terms of time and money is more when i run with nasa.

most scca and HC classes allow for some cross-over but you will be limited to the (typically) more restrictive rules of scca. scca does not allow flywheel lightening and nasa does, etc.

go to the clubs sites and read the hc rules and scca IT rules.

tom

 

Sell your EP3 and buy my car

Seriously, once you decide to REALLY pop the cork and race, I would trade in your EP3 for a tow vehicle, buy a trailer and buy a car that can be classed in multiple organizations (NASA, SCCA, EMRA, etc. etc.). Similar to tom91ita's advice.

Cars that are affordable and can be classed in other organizations are usually those classified in SCCA ITA/ITB/ITC classes. The class ITS is also good to look into, but I believe more expensive initial and running cost.

I love my ITR, but only up to recently (possible new class in SCCA), the car was only competitive in one class in one organization (H2 in NASA).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sell your EP3 and buy an already built race car. you can sell that ep3 for maybe 10,000 and get your self a front running ITA car. (integra GS/ls/rs, ect).</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not only would that save you a ton of money, it would also save a ton of work building a car.

My suggestion is to get a car that can run with both SCCA & NASA. I'm a bit biased to IT (SCCA) and Honda Challenge (NASA). I also suggest you take a look at how many cars run in various classes. If you run in a class where there are consistantly only a very small few number of cars, it might get a bit boring after you been racing for a bit.

Before you do anything, go watch a few races and see what classes interest you (that fit within your budget). And don't be bashful about asking questions.

 

I have been doing lots reading for both SCCA and NASA. It looks like the rules are much less detailed at NASA. Am I reading those correctly? The rule books are hundreds of pages in difference. The SCCA rules looked and read like someone who in it professionally and NASA looked like they wanted to keep everyone equal and safe.

I didnt see the ep3 listed in the NASA rules/cars section. Does anyone know which class they are in without an egine swap?