Anybody here run NASA/SSCA races with your challenge car?
Yes. I ran last week at Sebring with NASA. I don't have plans to run with them again anytime soon however. Running all classes together (which isn't the norm) was pure chaos. Nearly got hit several times by miatas and a mustang as I was working through lapped traffic. There were several cars hit hard and one porsche totaled due to ****ty driving in the race. Also the competition isn't all that stout at least in the Florida region. I had a huge lead after only two laps and that included 5 or 6 super unlimited cars, a couple with over 800 hp. I had a 6 second lead after only two laps over these guys in my 360 which is completely stock. So being fairly underpowered and still being that far out in front just isn't much fun. I radio'd in half way through my second lap at bishop bend because I couldn't see anyone else and was wondering if the race had been stopped! No joke. In my class of st2 there was also only one other person who was in a Vette. If ur going to run nasa you need a mustang or a miata.
how many classes were in your group? Whether SCCA or NASA, neither can handle more than 5-7 groups a day, so they have to combine a bunch of classes in each group. NASA sometimes combines more race classes because they will have a couple groups just for street cars. My experience I always liked a disparity in classes vs. different classes with similar lap times. Much easier to pass than some heavy American Iron car holding you in the corners and then zooming down the straight.
We had 43 cars total I think and a ton of different classes because there were several with only one or two cars in them. In other words, every car there to race that weekend was on the track at the same time so we had quite the variety. They had to run all classes because they did a joint race with bmwcca which took up the other normal race slot and it was also a full DE day with 4 DE run groups.
20-35 challenge car grids in CCR. For 355 class, sponsorship pays $500 worth of tires per weekend. Check it out: http://m.youtube.com/watch?action_object_map=%5B848412828509288%5D&fb_action_ids=10152330311594648&action_ref_map=%5B%5D&fb_source=other_multiline&v=QbM6WtBujAs&fb_action_types=yt-fb-app%3Aupload_ne&action_type_map=%5B%22yt-fb-app%3Aupload_ne%22%5D
+1. CCR is a great series and while "merde happens" in any racing, most CCR people are motivated to keep their cars in one piece vs. trade a bumper for a position. Another alternative is the NARRA series, current and vintage Ferraris fit in to several of their categories and they are actively building the series. I've seen several NARRA races now and they are similar to CCR values in that it's about fun, not about beating up cars or each other's brains in for a trophy. Having said that, whether CCR or 458 Challenge, any time a Ferrari race car gets "hurt" and someone has it on youtube, it's a spectacle.
I'm doing my first CCR race this week at daytona and that's the main reason I brought the car in at the nasa race. Apart from not wanting a $30k repair bill due to miata strike, I also wanted to have the car ready to go for daytona. I'm hoping there's a lot more respect for the cars than with nasa and so far every one has told me that there is. I'm looking forward to daytona! For fun here's a shot from Sebring the day before. Image Unavailable, Please Login
John's better half has whipped things in shape now, but the inaugural season 2011 had a few people racing that shouldn't have been, they had no door to door experience and lacked understanding of basic things like flags or at least awareness of flags. There were several cases of people racing for 5 stations even under yellow or better yet the ones that warned against contact the most were the ones that had it. in 2011 I would say CCR would come in at a C or D for bonehead moves if on average NASA is a B or SCCA is an A. From what I heard at COTA it is more like a B now although bonehead is still hitting the wall on cold wet out lap. in the end if u don't want contact then don't race door to door, but 75% of race car damage I've seen is off track solo, drivers own fault and lack of skills.
That varies from region to region and race to race. In the SCCA shake up of 2 years ago a good local group now populates local NASA ST2. If you race here I would not be surprised if you get your head handed to you on a platter. These guys came in and broke track records and regularly lead the ST1 guys. Most of those guys now straddle the fence, seriously competing in SCCA and will be at the Runoffs at Laguna which seems still to be the crown jewel of amateur racing.
Rob, I was at Sebring that weekend too. The Nasa crew looked rough. I would not race a Ferrari in that crowd.
There is no racing organization that exists where you can race a challenge car with a lower risk of car to car damage than CCR. As for Rob's grading, I must say I'm surprised by the assessment. Rob ran most of our 2011 races but not all.. Since then we have promoted 34 races since he retired. A lot has changed, the Rulebook has grown thick, and the staff is now run by an ex KGB officer in stilettos. While the 2011 season was green, to give it (from the perspective of car to car contact) anything other than an excellent review, is i think not looking into the record. 2011 was more exhibition than racing. I recall 8 straight races in 2011 without so much as a single scraped bumper. And I was quite proud of the drivers for that. As far as I've seen we have least car to car contact of any series I know about. Were vintage Ferrari challenge racers green in 2011, yes. Were they careful and display an excellent record of avoiding car contact, yes. It can be easily misconstrued that Rob graded CCR at COTA as a B. That one of course he didn't see, and I'm not sure who he talked to. We had over 41 challenge cars at the event practicing and racing. Even with 34 cars starting the first race, and 24 cars starting the second, in pouring rain, and temperatures were extremely low we had zero car to car contact. The track was extremely difficult, and well I would put the conduct (lack of car to car contact) of our drivers up against any series that is currently running. With 41 challenge cars on track in extremely wet and variable conditions two drivers I know when off in practice and damaged their car, ( not others) I've seen the same happen in nearly every single DE I've been to. With 41 challenge cars in wet and difficult conditions, not to have a single instance of car to car contact is impressive. And not just practice but races, one large one in the rain. And in CCR if you go off and damage your car, or even if you do something we don't like you can see the new "yellow cars" in our 2014 rules, even if there is no car to car contact. But for me, at least while I control CCR, my main focus is on you damaging some else's car. The entire philosophy and practice of the series has this as a main focus. We spend more time, more ink, more effort and more of our philosophy than any series I know of. And as a result we have the results. In 48 races we've only had to bring out a safety car 1 time I can recall and that was because of a car fire that was not the result of a collision. In 48 races we've had very little contact despite grids that are often 20-35 (up to 42 cars). Many of the drivers in CCR have driver coaches and the racing is excellent and among the most careful you will find anywhere. Its impossible to have zero contact in racing but CCR comes as close as any series I know of. And if you read our rules, and the amount of time and effort we put into making the rules and philosophy work, I think anyone would be impressed. It was my number one mission of CCR that the cars could be raced carefully without excessive risk of damage. And collectively since the debut of exhibition races in 2009, we have, after 48 races we have run, accomplished something extremely impressive. You should come out and see for yourself Rob. I think you would be extremely impressed.
Heading up today, can't wait!!! Btw Greg, I bought that bumper you told Bill about, turns out it is a factory GT bumper! Not too many of those floating around, so thanks for the heads up! I'm not running it at Daytona but will have it on at Sebring.
maybe the SCCA cheap car regional racing and then Runoffs spare no paint racing slanted me. NASA, especially with a 13/13 rule (until maybe recently?) didn't seem too bad except for average experience levels less. maybe it is those old SCCA guys that came over to NASA?
PM sent. from my post... I didn't speak anything negative past 2011 because I didn't attend any events, but from word of mouth I heard it has been great. I think B is a great grade for door to door racing organization. It is just my opinion, but with average experience levels and some out lap offs it would be hard to give it a A. Looking back though not sure I can give NASA or SCCA an A either. I always had some issues with them too and from what I've heard no reason to think CCR isn't better than NASA or SCCA now. ^^^Time Warp 2011^^^
In the past NASA was great. Last event at Sebring looked like a carnival with crap cars and drivers with bad attitudes. Nasa Florida region must be under new management or something.
Cool! I am glad the bumper worked out. Sorry you won't be at Daytona. Some good drivers are going to be there.
Thanks for chiming in. I completely agree about the mustang's and miata's. Good to hear that a few of you actually run some NASA events. I'm just trying to get some sort of a game plan together if/when mine is finally ready. I'd like to prep it for ST1 seeing as I have a cup car that I'll run in ST2 (both cars will probably see some time trials also). It is quite amusing just how slow a lot of the American iron is. Especially the stock cars (not that that should come as some big surprise). My co-driver has a TT3 prepped E36 M3 that runs circles around TT2 (and TT3) vipers and vettes. Thanks for all the input guys. Hopefully later this year I'll have mine out on the track.
really can't compare AI vs. Euro cars, each class has same HP to Weight and allowed mods. Any difference in the times is mostly driver skill and a little level of prep.
What was really funny to watch was some of the SU guys. There was an 840 hp Vette that I caught going into turn 16 at Sebring and he was going so slow I assumed he was going into the pits so I started to pass him. All of a sudden he's gone like he's shot out of a cannon once on the straight. I figured I'd never see him again he was gone so fast. Here's the funny part. He started breaking so soon and so much for turn 17 that I passed him by keepin it floored to the corner worker station on sunset bend and by the time I exited 17 he was probably 2 seconds behind! Must be frustrating to have have all that power and have to go through a turn slower than a school bus. I'll take corner speed any day
This, this right here. Completely agree. What's the point of all the power if your chassis can't put it down? There's a balance to everything.
