Does NASA plan to step up to the plate?

[Carlo Monty]

With the SCCA basically putting the screws to the M1’s (Spec Miata 90-97) and its members in general, what does NASA offer the future refugees of Spec Miata?

 

Business is business, when a company screws over is customer’s usually someone steps up and takes advantage of the opportunity and most times it is a win-win situation where the only loser is the original arrogant party.

 

Spec Miata is the fastest growing class in the country (supposedly 900+), since NASA is next in line to the SCCA. Are there any plans to help keep the class stable and at the same time help improve and or bring NASA to the next level by taking advantage of what has to viewed as absolute arrogance by the SCCA and a total lack of respect for it’s membership.

 

With that in mind, do the member of NASA have any say in what the club does or is it more of a dictatorship similar to SCCA?

 

I am sure I am not alone in not liking the fact the SCCA is run like a corporation under the marquee of a club. It would seem the time has come for an alternative not just for me but many, a large percentage of the 900 or so Spec Miata racers are new to racing and could possibly be pulled away from the dark side with a logical solution. Yes the SCCA will always be strong based of the typical cattle mentality of the membership, but if a quarter of the of the racers make a change it would be a huge win for NASA.

 

So is NASA the alternative or is they’re someone waiting in the eves to be the next alternative, inquiring minds are waiting to see.

 

Looking for options,

Rich

[zuperdave]

I just received the current issue of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine and thought I read that SCCA is going to make Spec Miata a national class later this year or next year.

[Carlo Monty]

True, SCCA is planning on making Spec Miata National in 2006.

 

And this is directly related as to why options are needed, SCCA is also bringing in the M2’s (1999+) into Pro this year with the intent of having them in the National Class the following year (2006). This is being strongly fought by most of the current Spec Miata racers, but SCCA is choosing to ignore the racers and do what it feels will best serve the organization as opposed to what will best serve Spec Miata.

 

Rich

[chumpy36]

Rich,

 

As you know, I answered your question over on specmiata.com, but I will post the same text here so that people investigating Spec Miata here can get the same info. I will also put it in the Spec Miata section and the SE region section.

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

Jason

 

Start Quote

 

 

An open invitation to Spec Miata racers in the SouthEast and everywhere else.

 

 

I just wanted to write this post and introduce myself. My name is Jason Holland and I am the regional director for the Spec Miata series in the SouthEast Region of NASA. I am writing to invite you out to some NASA events in the SE Region and all over the country. As you may or may not know, the SE region is fairly new and after a very successful inaugural year we are set to have an even better second year.

 

I’d like to outline a little of the philosophy and the direction we’re trying to go in NASA SM. First of all, I’ve been talking with the leadership of NASA and we all agree that SM in NASA should emphasize what we feel is the intent of the class. That is, a class with low costs and high competition. To that aim, NASA SM will:

 

1. Use a spec tire – Right now that spec tire is the Toyo RA-1. It is used in both wet and dry and provides excellent value. Toyo Tires provides extremely good contingency (http://www.nasaproracing.com/news/Toyo-2005.html)

for the races and if you are in a class that specs the Toyo (as SM does) then there is an added contingency on top of the per race amounts.

2. Be very pro-active about metal to metal contact between competitors. We understand that most people don’t like paying for body damage. It is unnecessary, expensive and worst of all, dangerous. NASA Competition rules have very clearly spelled out guidelines for contact and for penalties for those contacts. I hope that there will be no use for these rules (we had ZERO metal to metal contacts in all four of the NASA events that I participated in last year), but if there is call, the rules will be enforced.

3. Have reasonable rules… As you may or may not know, NASA SM rules are a rule-set unto themselves. The rules spell out what you can do. If it doesn’t say you can do it, you can’t. However, the rules are open to member input and they can be changed when it makes sense. A very good example of this is when I asked NASA to change the rule concerning the heater core bypass. It is a very expensive and time-consuming job to replace the heater core when you have a cage that may interfere with the removal of the dash. As a safety and cost issue I asked that it be allowed that the heater core be bypassed if desired. The rule was changed within a couple of days.

4. Preserve competition… this means that there will be no 99+ cars added to the Spec Miata class. This means there are devices in place to limit the level of technical development in the class. The goal is driver development, not extremely high levels of prep. We understand that many of you want to challenge yourselves driver to driver, not prep guy to prep guy or engine builder to engine builder. Most importantly at the end of the day, we will be doing everything we can to make sure that costs stay low and competition stays up. We want home built cars to be competitive for wins and we don’t want people to have to spend thousands of dollars on dynos and test days to find the perfect tweaks to win.

5. Be receptive to your input. I am here to listen to any concern as is any NASA official. We want your input and we want your guidance in making NASA a sandbox you want to play in.

 

This is not just my personal opinion. These points have been discussed with NASA leadership (Jerry Kunzman) and we all see eye to eye on this.

 

I think that covers the main points as to our philosophy about Spec Miata. Now we’ve come to the nuts and bolts of it.

 

How do you race with NASA? The process has been made very simple, especially if you are already licensed with SCCA or other approved sanctioning bodies.

 

If you do not have a competition license

 

1. Become a NASA member - https://www.nasaproracing.com/joinrenew.html

2. Follow the guidelines in the Club Codes and Regulations at http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/ccr.pdf in sections 13 and 14.

 

 

If you do have a current competition license with SCCA, Grand AM, FIA or IMSA

 

1. Become a NASA member - https://www.nasaproracing.com/joinrenew.html

 

2. Submit a copy of their current SCCA or IMSA (PSR) license.

3. Submit a copy of their state driver’s license.

4. Submit a copy of their last Physical Exam Form.

5. Submit the appropriate license fee.

6. Submit an Application for Competition License - http://www.nasaproracing.com/images/rules-forms/form_comp_license.pdf

 

If you have an SCCA Novice Permit

 

1. Submit a copy of their completed Novice Permit.

2. Submit a copy of their state driver’s license.

3. Submit a copy of their completed SCCA (or approved) Physical Exam Form.

4. Submit the appropriate license fee.

5. Submit an Application for Competition License

 

If you are a procrastinator or you decided to race with NASA on the morning of the race…

 

We at NASA do allow SCCA (and other approved sanctioning

bodies) drivers to show up at the track and apply for their NASA license.

We have found that there are many drivers who wait until the last minute to decide to come and we want them to be able to have the NASA experience without having to worry about getting everything in beforehand.

We strongly encourage them to do it in advance to avoid having to wait in line and to make sure their documents are in order. But if they don't have time, we won't turn them away.

However, they do HAVE to have a current approved license which states that their medical has not expired. And, they will fill out an application form at the track and submit $50. After the event, we will mail in their paperwork to national with the check which will be cashed. It is their responsibility to submit the remainder of the paperwork before they get their license (copy of medical, etc.) If they do not submit the paperwork, they will not receive a license and they will have to pay at the next event as well.

 

 

Ok, that should take care of the licensing. If you have questions you can contact me or any other NASA official.

 

Now on to Rules…

 

Please read the NASA rules. They can be found at http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/ccr.pdf

 

These outline all of the club rules and it is analogous to the SCCA GCR. It has guidelines for metal to metal contact and just about everything else you would want to know.

 

There are specific rules for the different classes that are separate from the CCR.

 

For SM the rules are at: http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/Spec-Miata-Challenge.pdf

Please take the time to read them carefully. There are some major differences between the NASA and SCCA rules (I.E. Engine Claim rule).

 

 

Schedules

 

You can find the schedules for the different NASA regions on their websites. The Region websites can be found off of the main NASA webpage at http://www.nasaproracing.com/

 

The NASA SE region Schedule is found at the SE website http://www.nasa-southeast.com/schedule.shtml

 

NASA has a very slick central registration system that will give you an online shopping cart and allow you to pay online etc.

 

We have eight race weekends with a minimum of double sprints at each race. There is talk of increasing that to 4 races at the first race at Lowes (due to having no HPDE1 or 2 classes), but that has not been officially announced.

 

That’s a lot of races with a lot of contingency available. We also have socials every Saturday night with beverages and food provided. There are also giveaways at every event and you have the chance to win lots of cool gear from sponsors.

 

So I’ll end this novel by saying, come on out and try NASA. The atmosphere is laid back, the camaraderie is high and the program is growing at an incredible pace. Be aware that there will be growing pains. A lot of us are new to this and the program is young. I can say for sure though, that we are off to a great start and the future looks very bright indeed.

 

--------------------

Jason Holland

NASA SE Regional Spec Miata Director

http://www.nasa-southeast.com

http://www.c2racing.com