I'm planning on doing my first NASA event at Sebring this may. This will be my first experience on a road course. Besides having fun I do wish to gain a competition license down the road. I've got to show you guys in the ECHC what mad skillz yellow is all about . From looking over their site it seems I will be able to do this in my ITR as is with no roll cage. Although I plan on getting a harness/roll cage in the near future I just wanted to make sure what exactly is required car/equipment to petition for a license. Also just out of curosity what are the main things they judge you on during the competition license test (I'm assuming there is a test)? Thanks in advance.

 

To enter the comp school (either NASA or SCCA) your full saftey gear needs to be installed. Cage, fire system, window net, kill switch, fuel test port, etc, etc. When you enter the comp school all your saftey gear will be checked, your roll cage tubing measured, and your car will be issued a logbook. You will need to bring a crew with you to do things like rotate tires and bleed brakes as you probably wont have time to do this.

I believe with NASA you will have to have run a few events in their HPDE schools (novice, intermediate, advanced) before you can enter a competition school, or earn a SCCA license (2 2-day schools, or 1 3-day school), in which case you can get a NASA license with the proper paperwork.

Also, you will need to have a physical check up with your doctor, there is a form provided that your doctor will need to fill out as well.

 

To "go up the ranks" in NASA, you need to have run with the advance group before you can request observation for a comp license. If you are starting out with zero experience, you will start in Novice and move up through Intermediate to Advanced as your skills allow. Running in HPDE does not require anything other then a street car which will pass tech.

Once you are ready to get your license, you can either attend on a Comp School, held on Fridays, or be observed in the Advance group. The Comp School is a bit more structured, but you will have to show you can drive side by side under control in a series of drills. In order to do this, you will need a race rade car and driver. The car doesn't have to be 100% legal for any class, but it needs to have all the safty gear.

You can get mor details for NASA, check the website for your region for contact info.

 

So I can obtain a comp license by being observed in the advanced group? That would mean I would not have to have a full fledged race car correct?

If anyone has a turn key car setup for ECHC I'm all ears.

 

You can run the advanced group in a street car, I am not sure how the observation in advanced works.

 

Ask NASA to be sure. There are now 3 or so Comp School with VA, so I am not sure they are still doing the Advance group ovservation. I was observed and passed in the Advance group last year.

Car and driver prep rules are the same. Race ready car and driver.

 

When I inquired about this, the answer was no. You MUST have a fully-prepared car to obtain observation.

 

OK, I have to ask the obvious questions... "What the heck are you going to do with a Competition License without a race prepped car?" Also, would you really feel safe in a "race environment" without the race safety equipment? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Think about it.

r2x ~ who has her comp license to go with her SM car.

 

I could see why you thought my question is stupid, but I didn't know if during your observation for a license you were actually doing any wheel to wheel racing. I thought they might just observe your ability to be consistent and your knowledge of all of the rules and regulations required to race safely. I actually drive my R every single day so having it built to full racing specs is a little unreasonable. I was thinking I could use my R with the normal amount of safety equipment (roll bar, harness, proper seat) then once I gained my license decide on what type of racing I want to do then buy or build a car according to those series specs. I'm sorry for not knowing everything.

 

Rent a car. You can rent an old IT car for <$700 a weekend. Do the comp. licensing thing in that, then decide what car you want. Many renters will rent-to-own or work a season-long contract.

Or better yet, if you look really hard, you can often find orphan ITC/ITB cars for next to nothing. They won't be fast or pretty, but with some TLC they'll get you through a weekend. I know a guy who bought an ITB Datsun 200SX for $1000, did about $500 in maintenance, did a few SCCA comp schools, then sold it for $750. Not a bad deal at all (assuming you are mechanically inclined enough to risk somebody else's throw-away car).