Where do you go racing?
 

I am talking legally of course, I'm not looking to go down that road again.

I figured SCCA was the way to go, or at least it was all I knew about. I didn't find any info on here about them though, but I did stumble onto some stuff about redline time attack which sounded good? I'm not sure how many events either of them have locally though?
Where do you local guys go to the track, is there a group (or groups) I should sign up for? I just don't want to pay a membership fee or something only to find out there aren't many events within driving distance or you don't actually get to spend much time on the track you know.

I live about 15 minutes or so from the Pocono Raceway to give you an idea of location.

Usually head over to the giants stadium on sundays during spring and summer for auto crossing.
And also head over to poconnos for some track, also englishtown speedway is nice!
I will be racing this season.

I'm in Northern Virginia, and there's a Capital Driving Club in the area that arranges some occassional Auto Cross Events.
I think I might participate in some next spring.

If your intested in road course racing check out NASA Group. NASA NorthEast Region - Safe, Affordable Way to get on the Race Track. Free trackday for every 4 new menbers I refer.
NASA Member Flojo73 2009 Nismo #73

Thanks guys

Is there a group you need to join or can anybody just show up, where are the events listed?

That sounds good, is it really expensive though? I'll contact them for more info

Sure thing let me talk to my buddy and get dates for you.

Thanks, I'm trying to get all the info straight so I know what I need to do and be ready for race season :driving:

start to take out the things you do not need.
lol

:cool: I'm not looking to set any records here, it'll just be casual racing for the Z. It's a convertible anyway

I've got a project car to go crazy with... I just need to finish the damn thing :roflpuke2:

Ok sounds like your really interested. I've done 7 events with my Z, so this is what you need.

1-Join the NASA Northeast club $45 and register for an event $250-$350. We are not racing for points or money and is not timed. HPDE is High Performance Driving Education and is covered by many auto insurances if something happens, additional insurance is also available at the track, its not expensive. Beginners will join HPDE-1 Green Group. This group will have instructor in the car with you to teach and keep you out of trouble. You will have 4 runs for the day and they last 20-30 min. each depending on the track. Trust me this will wear you down by the end of the day it's not the 1 min. autocross run.
2- SA 2005 or newer Helmet. You can rent at the event if you do not have one for $20
3- For now regular cloths. You can get Race suits later on. Long pants, long sleeve shirt (cotton) and sneakers.
4- Car # decal 10 inches tall. You can buy at the event for $1 a decal. Pick a car # when you join.
5- Leave unnecessary items home . Car will go through tech inspection and must not have any loose items in the car including spear tire. Everyone will get a pit stall to park and leave loose items .
6- Pack a lunch, some tracks have concession stands. Lots of water, the adrenaline will dehydrate you. Pack some tools, air pump and tire gauge.
I fit everything in a duffel bag and it fits in the hatch.
7- Start off slow, ask other members questions, we all started the same way. We will show you the rope.

I will be at 4 or 5 events this year Lime rock, Pocono and New Jersey. I can meet up with you if you like, 2009 Nismo grey # 73. Don't forget the referral for the free track day.

THANKS
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE TRACK :driving:

^Thanks for the info, I to wanna get into it this spring.

I get to pick my own number, sweet :cool:

I was also wondering about helmets, I figured they would come up in conversation soon enough. I had started looking but wasn't sure what type I needed, just checking on the internet I saw a bunch of different kinds. Should I look be specifically sa2005 or are any others equivalent, rated higher, etc? They are going to be changing them soon right (is it sa2015?) but you can't get the new standard yet can you?

The prices are a bit higher then I expected though is that just while you have an instructor, do they ever go down? Gotta pay to play I guess, I guess I'll just have to put a little more thought into which races I go to.

Does anybody have any experience with, or know anything about that redline time attack I've seen posted on here? Or SCCA, I know their the big name, but I guess not worth it?

Hey flojo, I'm sure I probably missed it on their site somewhere but do you have or know where I can find the NASA rules? I want to make sure they'll let me on with a convertible and see how upgrading the brakes will affect that?

I'm still looking into this but one of my friends was in EMRA and they look pretty good. NASA has twice as much scheduled though, allot of it is the same and they just go twice but I bet watkins glen would be fun and EMRA doesn't have that listed.

Not that anyone else has mentioned it, but encase somebody else comes across this. I just saw redline says they plan to return to the east coast in 2012, so that's out. The only other place I know of left to check out is the SCCA, who doesn't have a schedule posted yet. Guess I'll email them now

Looks like EMRA's track fees are about the same as NASA, and they said my car probably won't pass. He said he hasn't inspected a 370Z yet but he didn't sound optimistic.

So NASA looks even better now, but I am more concerned about this roll bar nonsense? Does anybody know of a contact there that I can ask, or meet so he can look at the car?

Convertibles should not be a problem I see more Mazda Miata on the track then any other car. The rules you are looking for are CCR( Club Codes and Rules) they're on both the national and regional sites. You can contact Steve Lenz he is the chief Tech for HPDE. His link is on the contact us tab on the NASA NorthEast Region - Safe, Affordable Way to get on the Race Track page.

Upgrading the brake is good. The factory pads do fade as you get faster. I started off with them and change them after the 3rd event, half a pad left.
I am now using Hawk HP plus and they work great. I actually had more problems with the brake and clutch fluid boiling then the pads. I changed both to high temp fluid and that cured the problem.

Oil cooler is another upgrade you will want if you haven't already. To start you can do without until you get faster and push the engine . Just watch the gauge and back off that is when its time.

NASA has competitive pricing and organize the events well . Another site you can check is MotorsportReg.com : Online registration management tools for driving and social events. This is a site that almost all the clubs advertise there events.

New Snell rating is out for 2010. SA2005 will expire in 2015 and SA2010 will expire in 2020. Just ordered a new SA 2010 Pyrotect helmet from Racing Accessories for Drag and More, Seatbelts & Tiedowns! for $299 and only weighs 3.3 lb plus a free bag and shipping, can't beat that deal.

Hope to see you at an event. It's fun it's safe and you'll want more after the first try. :driving:

For track events there is also SCDA and COMSCC that have HPDE track events in the North East, COMSCC also does time trials similar to the time attack style events. Some of the events will be remote, a few will be at Watkins Glen and a couple at NJMP and Lime Rock Park. SCDA also offers the option of declared value track insurance.

Convertible can be a problem for the track though, most clubs will require a minimum of a rear roll hoop. I would recommend that you start out with AutoX and get a feel for the car, it also makes the transition to track events a little easier.

Thanks guys, I did eventually find the rules but didn't see anything besides that I need a roll bar. Hopefully the OEM stuff will suffice, the car is stock it should.
I emailed the generic email since I didn't know who to send it to so we'll see what they say.

If I have to start modifying this car just to get it on the track I might as well finish the one I already have... or get a viper :rofl2:

Welcome to NASA.

I run timing and scoring for NASA Northeast for the race groups. We've been instructing with NASA in HPDE for almost 10 years. Last year I served at Race Director!

Would love to see you out. Look for the Dark Grey STi Hatch or my 05 CTS-V near the timing tower!

Flojo, stop by and say hi!

-mike

Thanks for the welcome, although I haven't joined yet :tup:

I emailed somebody there but haven't gotten an answer yet, before I sign up I need to know that I will actually be able to race my car? (2010 370Z Roadster, Convertible)

Good to see somebody from there on here though :tiphat:

I'll be heading out to OH on Tuesday, so it would be great if I could get this figured out before that. Since I'm going out there I can stop at the Summit Racing store and actually look at/ try on helmets.

Thanks for the help guys, I just bought a helmet but I wanted to bump this since I still need to confirm I can take my car?

Do any of you NASA guys know who I need to contact, and how?

This is the contact list for contact NASA send an email to: info@nasane.com

Joe Casella Regional Director – 973-900-7272 (New Number!)
Joe Triolo , Regional Director – 201-529-3100
Suzan Casella , Registrar
Jay Tepper , Chief Instructor
David Deerson Chief of Race Tech
Steve Lenz Chief of Tech for HPDE

Thanks :tup: I sent an email to that address already though and still haven't heard anything back. Do you know who on that list would bee the correct person (or people) to ask? Chief of race Tech sounds like what I want perhaps?

I just texted my contact to see if you can run.

-mike

Oh, thanks Mike. I just saw your posted when I came in to update this but I just talked to the regional director at NASA and he doesn't think it will be a problem :D
Apparently he has been working on Z's since the 70's and is very familiar with them and didn't have any question about the roll bars or anything. He said their about as strong as you could ever want... so I just pried my roof open in the snow for nothing :rofl2:
But he seems pretty sure he'll get me on the track one way or another and is just waiting to hear back from the regional office.

That's Joe C. He's our regional director. Great guy. I spoke to the chief instructor. He said basically as long as you pass the broomstick test you'll be good. Essentially that's a broomstick from the top of the windshield to the top of the rollbar. Your helmet must be below that line.

-mike

How am I missing these posts?!? Anyway, thanks Mike.

I just got an email earlier today from Joe that didn't sound as promising, he has final say right?

The roll bars stick up pretty high so I don't think that should be a problem, but my roof is covered in ice so I can't verify that yet :rofl2:

I was just checking out the Nasa site, and there is some really cool stuff, but its kind of expensive. Around 260 280 HPDE1 and over 500 for HPDE5... I would love to do this but those prices are way to high.

Yeah it's a bit expensive, although it's on par with anything else I could find.

Doesn't matter anyway since it seems their not going to allow my car :(

It's about $250 a day and that includes 2 hrs of track time with an instructor in your car, and 1 hr of classroom instruction. That's dirt cheap for professional level coaching on track!

Crash, you don't pass the broomstick test?

-mike

Thanks for your help, but it didn't even get that far and it doesn't look like it ever will. Joe says no, and never answered my last email.

I don't know where he's getting his information from but he says Nissan said the roll bar is only rated for side and rear impacts. Which of course is nonsense since it wouldn't do anything in that case. I haven't had any luck getting any information from Nissan either way, but their suppose to be calling me back.
It doesn't matter anyway since it looks like there is a good chance I'll be trading it in on a... mustang :eekdance: never thought I'd see the day, I guess everybody has a ford sooner or later huh :rofl2:
Anyway as much as I would like to tell NASA to **** off, just on principle at this point. They do have the best line up of races scheduled that I have seen so chances are I'll see you at the track anyway unless they try and screw me on my trade in.

Joe is an old school type of guy who isn't real e-mail/internet savvy. Great guy and knows a ton about Zs, he was the owner/founder of the original Z club in the US in the early/mid 70s!

The problem with a lot of popup/oem bars is that they are NOT designed for track use. You have to understand that in this liturgical society we live in now, certain things aren't allowed by our insurance company, in the event of an accident and your family sues, the insurance won't back NASA up if they allow certain vehicles with certain safety equipment to run.

It's a great club and I'm sure that we can work it out if you do decide to run the Z Worst case you may have to bolt in a 4-point to hit the track.

-mike

I understand all that, my complaint is that he told me I could race it. We talked about Z's and he was even more sure then me that the roll bar was more then up to the task, and we talked about insurance and he said even if they say no he can still get me on the track.
Then sure enough they said no, our conversation never happened, and he stopped answering my questions.
It's not a big deal though I just get the feeling nobody actually knows the answers so rather then finding them they just blindly stick to what ever they deem is the "safest answer" I'm talking more about people in general there then NASA specifically, but in this case if Nissan think's their covering their *** by telling me the roll bar will not protect me, all their doing is telling me the car is unsafe.

We'll see how things progress though, the ford dealer said they couldn't determine a value for the Z so their gonna call me back tomorrow.

Well first and foremost you would be doing a DE with it. Racing requires a whole other set of criteria (full roll cage, race belts, race seat, fire extinguisher, kill switch, etc etc). So the idea of "racing" should be out of anyone's head for the road course unless they've completed at least 1-2 years of DE and progressed up to DE5.

As for Nissan, they will NEVER tell you that it's safe to take it on track. Heck even Porsche specifically states in their owners manuals that their sports cars are not intended to be put onto a race track even in a DE event.

-mike

but they let you take porches on the race track, I'm actually looking forward to trading it in anyway now. I hope they call me back with a good offer, the mustang comes with free training and a track day... and I get to beat on their car instead of mine :D

We don't allow porsches that are convertibles w/o proper rollover protection.

-mike

I found out today we are still waiting for NASA Nationals to approve the rollover protection for the 350/370z convertibles. That is the holdup on approval for your car :(

-mike

So they are still looking into it then?!?

I haven't had any luck getting any information out of Nissan, no surprise. But that would be great because I was told they already said no, like I said though the reasoning was suspecious and sounded more to me like typical dodging tactics.

Thanks for keeping up on this.

Yeah Nationals is working on it still, as of now it's not sanctioned but a few regions are petitioning them to change that since the bar is as stout as other ones they consider "ok" for rollover protection.

-mike