You may see these posts alot but, i've been on the search browser for hours just reading up on things, so I'm not goin near it. Anyway I'm just getting involved in NASA and still a newb to the track. I'm also a Tractor mechanic for a living and happen to love cars and doing mods and such. My question is as far as nasa goes the only race events i seem to qualify to run in say pretty much no mods and restricts you to aero kits, suspension and wheels. Please correct me if I'm wrong. So what exactly can i play with on my car to get performance without breaking rules so i can run the races. also where else can i look for track days and races, like are there clubs similar to nasa that hold races that arent full of heavily modded cars? Just help me out with as much info as you mind giving i'd really appreciate it thanks

 

Theres a big difference between track days, and races. Then theres Time Trials (or time attack)

The evo only fits into a few "racing" venues that i'm aware of, and those are a fully caged car.

You can do HPDE, and Time trials with nasa, without a full cage.

Anything else is just an open track day and would be for fun, etc, no winning.

You can do all sorts of anything and run in NASA Time Trial, just have to count the points so you're classed properly.

 

I been road racing my evo for a year now and am in somewhat of the same boat as you are. It's either full out race car or Time attacks, track days or HPDE's. If you don't want to attain a license, you might want to check out www.redlinetimeattack.com. It is a time attack series that does not require a license. I raced at summit point, wv last year and it was a lot of fun. As for finding out what what you can and can't do to your evo, chek out the nasa time attack page and use their online car classifier. http://www.nasa-tt.com/ You can also try and decipher their classification rules pdf file. Good luck with that.

 

the only problem i see with redline stuff, is it's just a power fest. If you dont $$$ the money for a big turbo, and suspension, you're done.

Nasa's system, although still flawed, seems to work good. Makes you weigh modifications to the car per points charged.

NASA's list really isn't that bad. Just read through it a time or two, and start tallying. I guarantee the car won't be compeitive where it'll end up registered. It's real easy for an evo to get right into TTS and TTU category very quickly.

 

Go run some HPDE for a while. There is no place better than California. Since you live in SoCal, run with www.speedventures.com - they have 25 events this year, most of them 2-day weekend events. If you get fast enough to run in the Red group it's simulated race conditions. I know it's not true wheel to wheel club racing, but it's fun, and there are no limits on mods at HPDE events.

also try:

www.redlinetrackevents.com
www.opentrackracing.com
www.leadfootadventures.com
www.ncracing.org
www.trackmasters-racing.com
www.speedtrialusa.com
www.greenflagdriving.com
www.racerswanted.com
www.team-racing.org
www.lappingdays.com
http://srtmotorsports.com/srttrackda...calendar2.html
www.americancarracing.com (Feb. 7 event cancelled, unfortunately)

A good (but not totally complete) listing of Calif., Nev. and Ariz. track days is at:

www.racerguys.com

 

I am glad that you pointed that out. A while back, I was trying to find out if there is a difference between using the terms "Time Attack" and "Time Trial". After talking to some folks and reading various materials, I have concluded that Time Attack is whatever it takes to max out the car in the category to win. Or in other words, it's not a competition of driver's skills but, as you stated, who spends more $$$.

Time Trial, which NASA is based on, aims to equalize the car's performance as much as possible and compete on driver's skills. I am running with NASA TT and I tend to favor their sys.

 

I checked out some of the links you posted but everything seems to be west coast. Does anyone have any info on east coast websites or organizers that hold track days? I'm always up for anything I can get.

I do agree with you on Redline Time Attack.... If you don't have the bank roll $$$, it's not easy to pull out a win...

 

hmmmm... if you think that it doesnt take driver skill to win a TA event your smoking seriously good stuff...... You dont need all the $$$ in the world to win a time attack.. just a solid car & good driving.....

n hey.. the REAL difference between a Time Trial & a Time Attack is that in Time Trial you have all weekend to get 'lucky' with one good lap.... in a Time Attack you only have 2 five lap sessions to pull out your best lap.... in the end its about having fun.. and TA's are fun

n

 

yeah, but if you don't have 400+hp, you don't have a chance, despite driver skill, you and i both know that one.

If you had 5-600, it'd make your life a lot easier too, right man?

NASA does events all over. NASA-tt.com Chinmotorsports.com does some events (HPDE), mainly in FL, but has a few days up north.

 

It's easy to find stuff - just Google around until you find what you want.

Start with NASA - Mid-Atlantic and also check out Car Guys. Do HPDEs until you have a lot of experience and can move up to Time Trials. Don't do time attack events until you have built the proper experience.

 

LoL! Sorry if I meant it otherwise. I think it's quite obvious I am not putting down TA in any manner. So no need to use the "lucky" word really. Luck is needed for any kind of competitive event. It's one part of the formula for winning, besides strategy planning, training, testing, engineering and designing. Luck is a probabilitic parameter. To say that TT folks get a BL out of luck is a bit uncalled for.

Seems like you have done NASA TT before. Then you should know that you get a BL for each weekend day, not entire weekend. There are 4 sessions in a day. First session is not counted. TT folks usually use the 2nd session to get a BL. Relax for 3rd session and dish out again in the 4th if weather permits.

Of course it takes driver's skills to win in TA as well or for that matter any competitive driving events. What I meant was that if two drivers of equal skills are competing in TA. Under the Redline rules, engine/brake/suspension/aero modifications are allowed. The prize word here is "allowed". That indirectly translates to if you have $$$, you can do all that. If one driver has $500 to spend vs a competitor who has $50,000, then I don't see how having $$$ doesn't win the game conditioned on both have similar skills and still compete in the same class.

But hey, you don't have to win. It's all fun anyways.

 

alot of info here and im glad i sparked somthing because i'm learning from all of ot thanks guys...

 

Thats the good thing about NASA TT...you are competing with cars of similar power and preparation levels, so it does often come down to driver skill and suspension set-up. In my opinion, NASA TT is a much more legitimate competitive arena for TT that all of the other "Time Attack" events, which have basically degenerated into tuner shows. When you have 200 more WHP and 2 inches more tire than other cars, you SHOULD kick their butts if you can drive at all.

 

I won a Redline TA with under 300whp-just stay in Street class (it would be nice if they required stock turbos in street class, but oh well).
Redline doesn't have any Midwest events so I will be running with NASA this year. I am looking forward to the increased track time of a HPDE (I got less than 30 minutes of track time at Beaverun with Redline-I only attended the competition day), and the competition of the time trials.
Plus, it does make much more sense to guage one's driving ability in competition that is more likely to have more evenly matched cars. Although, C5 Z06s on massive Hoosiers, and heavily modded BMW M3s will likely be very challenging in TTA due to power/aero/tire issues (read-I want want more power, better aero, and wider tires ).
Part of the fun for me this winter has been setting my car up within the NASA TTA rules-hopefully I have made good choices and will be competitive by mid/late season

 

exactly