AFSAZ Posted November 19, 2006 Posted November 19, 2006 (edited) Hello all- Good news I have approval from management (wife) to go to racing school and buy a car. 944 spec looks like great fun! I am thinking about Bondurant, as it is close and I come out with my SCCA card. Should I condsider any other schools? Second what is the difference between this format (NASA and 944spec.og) and (SCCA spec-944.com). Kind of confusing for a dumb rookie. Are you all going to be at the AZ race 12/2? If so, is there anyone I should look for taht would be willing to sit down and give me an introduction to the game. Thanks in advance. PS can I be ready for the 2007 season? Which one? JD Edited November 19, 2006 by Guest Quote
Chuck T. Posted November 19, 2006 Posted November 19, 2006 JD WELCOME ! The forum here is a great place for all kinds of rookie questions. question for you ... What kind of racing/driving have you done in the past ? I really had a great time last year with 944-spec and have even thought of towing way down south just to get some more racing in. chuck Quote
944-Spec#94 Posted November 19, 2006 Posted November 19, 2006 I am thinking about Bondurant, as it is close and I come out with my SCCA card. Should I condsider any other schools? Second what is the difference between this format (NASA and 944spec.og) and (SCCA spec-944.com). Kind of confusing for a dumb rookie. Are you all going to be at the AZ race 12/2? If so, is there anyone I should look for taht would be willing to sit down and give me an introduction to the game. Thanks in advance. PS can I be ready for the 2007 season? Which one? JD JD, Welcome. I am the Az director for NASA 944 spec. I can answer any and all questions you may have. Let me answer a couple. Firstly schools. There are many ways to aquire competition license. Schools like Bondurant are good, but cost quite a bit. If you want to get a license fast with no experience they are ok, but I think you are better served with more gradual approach. NASA offers and High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) program at each NASA track day. At one of these events you bring a street car or race car and helmet. Cost are about $250 for a weekend and you get classroom and in-car instruction on the same track we race on. I along with many of the Az 944 spec racers instruct in these schools on the same day we race. These schools offer 4-20 min track sessions per day and are ideal for learning the basics of driving on race track. They are not racing schools and do not teach racing, but track driving basics. There are 4 levels of HPDE allowing driver's to progess in their skill levels and offer less restrictions on passing. HDPE 4 offer the fewest restriction and a time trial format were you can compete for times. After this you can enter a competition school to get into the racing program. I advise anyone who wants to racing to start in HPDE athough you can run 2 SCCA schools and get a racing license. 10-15 HPDE days are cheaper than Bondurant 3 day school and I feel can provide a better driver given the seat time being 5 times as much. Racing is much more complex thing than it appears on TV and a good racer know how to drive the car on the track with ease. This allows them to focus on racing. An analogy is Ice Hockey. If you want play hockey you need to know how to skate without thinking about it. The game is played at level beyond basic skating. Same for racing. Also driving on the street vs on a track is like walking compare to skating. Both involve balance and feet or cars and pavement, but that is about it. So I am not trying to scare you away, but I it very advisable to spend some time driving on a track to understand that before you start racing. The nice thing with NASA is that the Racing and HPDE programs share the same track on the same days so for 20 minutes a HPDE session is on the track then come off track and race group practice goes on track. Our next Event is Dec 9th & 10th at PIR. NASA will be holding an HPDE event along with race. The 944 spec guys will be out in force and often share our pit area with 944 spec guys developing their skills in the HPDE progam. Nearly all of started our track career in HPDE. I did my first HPDE event in Jan 99 at PIR. Now NASA vs SCCA. SCCA and NASA are different organizations, but both offer the 944 a place to race locally. The rules between the SCCA class and the NASA class are different. The biggest difference is that you can use any tire in SCCA, but only one brand, type and size in NASA. The Toyo RA-1 used in NASA lastest a very long time for race tire, but is slight bit slower than other tires on the market. However these other tires while faster cost more to buy and since the wear faster your tire bill to run at front of SCCA could be much larger than with the Toyo NASA runs. You can run the Toyo in SCCA, but maybe giving up some speed. There are also a host of small differences that a smart build can ensure that you are legal for both classes with little to no performance impact. We have a number of cars that have run both with NASA and SCCA. Some pick and choose NASA or SCCA based what dates work well for them and the track that is being used for that weekend. Dec 2,3 at PIR is an SCCA event. Dec 9, 10th is NASA at PIR Quote
AFSAZ Posted November 19, 2006 Author Posted November 19, 2006 Thanks for the comments..more quesitons As for my experience, I am life long car freak I have owned more cars than I would care to admit including several Porsches. I have no true racing experience although I have done a little karting and an autocross or two. Thus I do understand and agree with the hockey analogy and I am no hockey player. As for the HPDE direction vs racing school. The HPDE sounds like a good way to go except that I have to be patient, which means I wont be racing untill 2008 instead of 2007 correct? Should (can) I rent a 944 spec car for the HPDE or just bring the Boxster S? My inclination is rent and not the put hard miles on the Boxster S. Should I consider, after a few sessions, buying a car and using it for the HPDE sessions. The NASA -vs- SCCA issue is interesting. It make sense to me to limit, what I think is the biggest consumable, tire expense and even the playing field. Should I be considering other classes of racing or is the 944 spec class ok for first timers. Frankly I think I would rather drive a 944 than a miata. Are they seperate licenses, do people have both? Do NASA people mix with SCCA or does one pick a group and just stay in that group. Thanks in advance for your time answering what I am sure are stupid questions. I will plan to be at the track 12/9..I can't make 12/10 as I have to fly out to Atlanta that day for business. Can I do HPDE one day on 12/9 or do I have to do both days? I will pour over the NASA site and come back with a few more intelligent questions. Thanks again have great Thanksgving! JD PS - more reading: I just figured out I would not make the 2007 season with Bondurant anyway..found the schedule..looks like 2007 is a learning year and 2008 could be my rookie season. Looks like people sway between NASA and SCCA.. Very interested in the question of drive the Boxster S in HPDE or rent or buy now. It seems like I should do a couple of days in the Boxster and then consider buying a car, renting a 1k/weekend seems silly if I am going to buy anyway. Thanks again for the help. Quote
944-Spec#94 Posted November 19, 2006 Posted November 19, 2006 As for the HPDE direction vs racing school. The HPDE sounds like a good way to go except that I have to be patient, which means I wont be racing untill 2008 instead of 2007 correct? Should (can) I rent a 944 spec car for the HPDE or just bring the Boxster S? My inclination is rent and not the put hard miles on the Boxster S. Should I consider, after a few sessions, buying a car and using it for the HPDE sessions. You can start in the boxster S for a DE or two then get the 944 spec car. If you follow directions well the first couple days in DE are more like a spirited back road drive than even as hard as an autocross on a car. Only when you get faster and start pushing does the car begin to feel it. Best thing is to start with DE now and get built 944 spec car. Drive it as soon as you have it. Racing in 2008 is not a bad thing as when you get out there you will be 100times more comfortable and safer. The NASA -vs- SCCA issue is interesting. It make sense to me to limit, what I think is the biggest consumable, tire expense and even the playing field. Should I be considering other classes of racing or is the 944 spec class ok for first timers. Frankly I think I would rather drive a 944 than a miata. Are they seperate licenses, do people have both? Do NASA people mix with SCCA or does one pick a group and just stay in that group. 944 spec (either in NASA or SCCA is about as cheap as you can get into racing. No form of racing is dirt cheap, but this comes close. 944 spec is first time racing for at least 1/2 of us. The other 1/2 came from experience in faster, but more expensive cars and found the competition and lower cost much more fun than the speed of our previous cars. NASA and SCCA have seperate licenses however with one you can aquire the other with paper work. NASA honors and SCCA license. There are many people that run in both organizations. However if you want to run for a championship in either group you would need to focus on one or the other as while you could run both cost go up since you run about twice per month now. Th I will plan to be at the track 12/9..I can't make 12/10 as I have to fly out to Atlanta that day for business. Can I do HPDE one day on 12/9 or do I have to do both days? I will pour over the NASA site and come back with a few more intelligent questions. JD Yes you can do just one day. Better to do 2 days if you want to fast track a racing license, but one day is just fine. It is actually quite common for guys to do one day HPDE's. Quote
AFSAZ Posted November 19, 2006 Author Posted November 19, 2006 Ok, where do I buy a Helmet in the valley? Quote
944-Spec#94 Posted November 20, 2006 Posted November 20, 2006 http://aaroadracing.com/shop.net/index.aspx These guys are in Phoenix and support our local NASA chapter bringing their truck out to most events. PS.. get a full face helmet. Well worth it. Quote
ozz Posted November 20, 2006 Posted November 20, 2006 AFSAZ - If you want to go wheel to wheel racing, I'd highly suggest this book as good reading. It is called "Go ahead - Take the Wheel". Its written by Dave Gran, an SCCA racer and covers getting starting in HPDE and what you ought (need) to know to move to wheel to wheel racing. He also lays out the general costs involved with racing and what you ought to expect in the process. Good investment for $17. You can get it here: http://www.esells.com/ecitemlist11.asp?CO=NC&CMD=SRCH&AIMCID=5081&AIMDID=44576 FWIW - Gary Quote
topley Posted November 20, 2006 Posted November 20, 2006 I can't reccomend that book highly enough. I really wish it had been available before I started getting involved with this. There should be a banner for it on the 944 spec page and I think it should be required reading for anyone new to racing that is thinking about this class. -jay Quote
Utah944 Posted November 21, 2006 Posted November 21, 2006 AFSAZ You mentioned no patience- I don't have any either and a desire to race in 2007. From expeience I say it can be done in less than a year. I went from no experence and no car to licensed in the span of seven months in 2006. If you plan accordingly, it can be done. It may require some travel but that just adds to the fun. Quote
AFSAZ Posted November 21, 2006 Author Posted November 21, 2006 Thanks for the book rec...I will get it ordered. I am getting signed up for the DE on 12/9... Looks like 07 will be learning to play "hockey" and looking for a car. looking forward to meeting you all in person. JD Quote
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