See you there. You'll want to get there between 7:30-8am. You can also pre-register on-line if you want to speed things up. (You pay at the site) http://www.ner.org/soloII/2003schedsolo.html

I drive a Silvuh wagon.

And thanks for promoting the NER Site.

--kC
NER SCCA Webmaster

 

count me in

 

few questions...im kind of a n00b

1)can i race with a passenger in the car that is not a member of SCCA?
2)what classes are going to be racing? do i stand a chance?
3)this is my first event, what should i bring
4)i just mailed my membership info in a few days ago, how long does it take to get activated?
5)do i have to pre-register

 

1)can i race with a passenger in the car that is not a member of SCCA?

No passengers unless they're a novice instructor. Your friend can still attend the event to watch, but will have to sign the waiver at the gate and cannot be in your car. Also your friend will not be allowed to be with you when you do your work assignment, so they need to be capable to entertain themselves for an hour or two while you work. (More on that later)

2)what classes are going to be racing? do i stand a chance?

All of them. Every class runs during the day in heats. There are 4 heats during the day. They are undetermined as of now because it'll be the 1st event and we won't know generally how many cars will be in what class yet. You and I and everyone else will find out who will run when at the drivers meeting.

About you standing a chance? Don't expect to win your 1st, 2nd or 3rd time out. You're going against people that have been going at this for years. Sign up for the novice class. That way, you run against all the other people who are new, or relatively new and have an equal shot at it. You still run in the same class, but your times are judged against those in novice. Enough points, and if you do well enough, you'll could win the Novice stock or Novice Prepared season championship (Like Darshu did).

Even if you don't win, stick around for trophies at the end of the day. It's nice to see people get rewarded, and it gives your something which if you didn't get a trophy, to work towards. Don't let your results get you down. It's your 1st time.

You should concentrate on learning the course. Walk it. Walk it again, and again. Don't talk too much or horse around when you do this. It may be a couple hours before you run it, and becoming familiar with the lay out and which way to go will prevent those dreaded off-courses that plague many new-comers.

One more thing to add that doesn't get realized until you're at the event. You get maybe 4-minutes of actual 'race time' (or seat time.... trust me, these 3-4 minutes will get your heart going and seem much longer. Some people are known not to breathe the whole time they are on course... I don't recommend that you stop breathing).

Your heat will run maybe an hour or two, where you'll be in grid (where you put your car before you run), or running, or just finished running and you go back to grid to rest for a couple minutes. After you do your 3 (or 4) runs, that's it... you go bring your car back to where you parked. And either relax a little before you work, or if you've already worked, pack your car and get ready for trophies.

But most of all, it's about having fun while in a safe environment to TEST the limits of your car in certain situations.

 

3)this is my first event, what should i bring

Snell rated 95 helmet if you have one. There should be leaners, or you might be able to borrow one from someone who isn't running. I'd suggest that if you're planning to go the borrow route from someone at the event, make sure they don't run in your heat.

For everything else: http://www.ner.org/soloII/whatis.html

Also bring a chair or two, some water or soft drink (hot days are better with water or lemonade vs. soda), maybe even pack a lunch. There's discussion about having a lunch break, but don't expect it. Also, be prepared for wet weather, or cold weather. You'll be outside. (I keep this stuff in my car at all times until I run).

Be prepared to spend the entire day there, and be mostly on your feet for the entire time. Everyone works some aspect of the event. This is not put on by people being paid to work the event for you, everyone shares in the responsibilities. To help the event run efficiently, pay attention to the drivers meeting in how they will be handling the work assignments. For example, I'll be working at registration in the morning.

Most of the people work on the course. If it's windy, cold, and/or raining, be prepared for that. Wear or in the very least BRING warm clothes to the event and bring rain gear. It's outdoors, in the open, nothing to stand under, and the event goes on rain or shine. Bring this stuff with you to the event. The same goes when it's 90 degrees out... you're going to be out in the sun for hours.... and working the course could mean you're out on the course, no where near your car, for an hour or two watching cars go by and running out to the course to re-set cones that get hit after someone like me goes by and tags one. (This will be explained at the drivers meeting.)

4)i just mailed my membership info in a few days ago, how long does it take to get activated?

A couple weeks. Without a card, even tho you mailed it in, you will still have to pay the extra $5 as a non-member ($20/member/$25 non-member... spectators are free, just need to sign the waiver).

5)do i have to pre-register

No, pre-registration is optional (http://www.ner.org/soloII/2003schedsolo.html). You will still have to pay at the event. We are hoping that pre-registration will help decrease the amount of time it takes to start the event.

Any other questions, feel free to contact me at kcasey@kcprod.com

 

Run orders have been posted on the NER Site at http://www.ner.org/soloII/2003schedsolo.html

A-B-C-D in that order with:
Group A = Prepared, ESP, FSP, Karts
Group B = Modified, ASP, BSP, CSP, DSP
Group C = ES, FS, GS, HS, Ladies
Group D = SM, STS, STX, SS, AS, BS, CS, DS

So if you're running in STS or STX (or DS), that means you'll be last run group out there. Read above what I said about walking the course more than a few times. It may be around 2-3pm before you get out there to run.