So last year a friend from work told me about solo events at the SCCA and NASA. I have always been interested in motor sports and thought this would be something I would really enjoy. I was just wondering if anyone can tell me a little bit more of the process and how I can get involved. Such as licensing, events, classes etc.

 

come to boondoggle at oakland coliseum sunday morning! pay for a wknd membership which will go towards the whole year membership. come autocross with us. run what you brung...

give us a mod list and we'll class you right here.

 

i wouldnt die hard track your car if its still your daily driver.

buy a miata or a civic and beat that to death. its way cheaper to repair than your wrx.

 

I saw that there was an event this Sunday, but can't make it because I have Super Bowl plans, however saw an event on Feb. 22 that I am going to try and go to. So far the only thing I have on my car is sway bars and 04 sti wheels. I plan to get springs, tbe, and apv2 with a tune. Nothing to crazy, but enough. How much is a weekend membership?

 

I think he meant the Solo events which are the Auto-x's in the parking lot. I've gone a few times and it's a blast.

So basically look up the schedule on their website, sfrscca.org. If you are sure you want to get into it, just get the membership online..which I think was like 70 or 80 and that's for the whole year. If not, you can, last time I did it, have someone "sponsor" you. It's just having a friend or one of the guys on here sign you in as a guest for one time only to get a feel of autocrossing. You still have to pay the entrance fee of like 35 dollars.

So once you have a membership or someone sponsoring, just show up at the site - usually oakland coliseum, candlestick park, golden gate fields, or one of the other sites. Go register early if you run in the morning classes or in the afternoon if you run in the afternoon classes. There is a schedule of classes that are running and times for registration. Once you register, just wait until your up. Take everything out of the car so nothing flies around. Have your car checked before lining up. You can borrow helmets from them. You wait in line for your turn and you run the coned course. Once you finish the course, you get 2 other runs depending on how many people show up? Also when you register you have to sign up to work. Work is just standing in the course and either picking up fallen cones or being the flag or radio guy for the other classes' run. They will let you know. After that, you call it a day. I think if there is time you can do more runs for fun. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff as I'm no expert. Others can chime in. But basically that's your day.

 

Awesome! It is always good to hear about another person wanting to learn how to properly use their car.

If you are a novice at motorsports; I would strongly caution you against going on any track events until you learn some solid basic car control; only exception probably being NASA HPDE days where you can get introduced to track driving even if you are a total n00b. Both SCCA and NASA have weekend autocross competitions where you can run your car, get advice from instructors as well as chat to more seasoned people. I would start by checking out the organizations websites first as they have tons of useful information. Some good ones are...

SCCA Main Site -- http://www.scca.com/home.aspx
SCCA SF Regional Site -- http://www.sfrscca.org/
NASA Main Site -- http://www.nasaproracing.com/index.html
Bay Area AutoX Forums -- http://www.baautox.com/forum/index.php

As far as fees; to run regularly you need an annual membership (~$80) + event fees (~$30-35). As above person mentioned, there is an auto-x even in Oakland this Sunday; I say stop by, see what it is all about, talk to some people and get a general feeling. Good luck.

 

it's something like $20, plus an entry fee of $35 per event. the yearly SCCA membership is $85.

unfortunately, as it stands with your sway bars and wheels you'd be in STU (damn 2.5L) running with the STi's. its a super competitive class. run STU-Novice like i did last year and you'll still have fun competing against other n00bs or just yourself.

take off the bars and put on the stock wheels and you're in t1-ds. stock cars on street tires.

run more boost and street tires you'll be in T2-ESP with me. T2 is very competitive and it's based on PAX which is sort of a handicap system.

classes and mods won't matter as much when you're starting out. just learn to drive.

we start at like 9am on sunday. if you're running STU chances are you'll be home before super bowl... but this weekend is usually pretty packed. just come by and check us out if you're awake. don't have to run.

 

Weekend memberships are $15 and it goes towards your regular membership. If you're under 24 you can get the 1st gear membership which is much cheaper than the $80 or whatever it is normal membership fee. If you changed the rear swaybar unfortunately the lowest class you'll be in is STU, but just come out and have fun. If you ahve any questions you can come find me (Karlton) and i'd be happy to show you the ropes

Edit: tree'd by piggy!

 

just follow karlton around... he'll be a national champion one day if they ever make a tire that can grip his throttle always on style.

 

karlton sucks :P... haha jk ya what pignose says

 

oh it's on now CiVak boy! hahahah

 

Haha. Edison is causing trouble again... huh?

 

I'm so tempted too, I really want to goto track days, &utox is the place to start?

 

Thanks guys for the advice. I think I will just stick with what I have on my car right now and just work on my driving, have fun and slowly improve my car/skills. I would love to stop by on Sunday, but I have to help my dad with the BBQ and he's up in Novato. Believe me it's worth it though, his ribs are amazing. He spends about two days making them. Anyways I will definately try to come out for the next event, which looks to be the 22nd. I noticed a novice handbook that I will study and look forward to meeting you guys.

 

Different venue. It is like comparing track days to rallies. Give a try to both. They are both unique in their own ways.