I'm headed to Roebling this weekend for SCCA race school, and my first race is on Sunday. Car is currently at Atlanta Speedwerks having a few things done to make sure I pass inspection. Anybody here been through the school that can give me the basic lay of the land? Anything I need to remember to do or pack?
Sounds like you'll be doing the same sort of school we did with our Fiesta a few years back:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/2012-ford-fiesta/permission-granted/
I havent taken a school, but I have flagged them.
One observation was that it seems like the pace and instructors puts the students under some stress. Some people seemed to get antsy and crash because of this. Just remember to take a minute where you can and breathe.
Also: everywhere I turned one of the biggest recommendations was to bring a friend who is not driving that you trust to look after the car and have them nursemaid the car so you have one less thing to think about. The drivers didnt have much, if any, time for checking gas, oil, tire pressures, etc due to tight scheduling, so its almost critical.
I did a BMW Club/NASA school at Buttonwilliow early last year, before things closed down for the year. Lost of class time that encouraged conversations between the students and instructors.
The on track exercises encouraged you to get use to being around other cars, at speed. You are not racing in school. You are not rubbing, to get around the other cars. You are learning to be very close, the three wide through the turns is a learned and needs to be practiced skill.
I left the weekend with an invention to continue my "racing education", that in its self I consider that a "win".
I would concur with bring a friend if you can. When not in the car you'll be in class so you won't have a lot of time to tend to the car.
Drive within yourself; it sounds obvious but spinning or running it off the road is the last thing you want to do.
Also make sure you know the procedure for black flag, black flag all and red flag.
Other than that relax and have fun.
Tom Suddard said:Sounds like you'll be doing the same sort of school we did with our Fiesta a few years back:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/2012-ford-fiesta/permission-granted/
This is the same school I'm going to. Here's a question... I'll have three sets of wheels for my car (a Spec Miata). One set with Hoosier SM7's with four heat cycles, one with brand new Hoosier SM rain tires, and one with almost new RS-4 200tw track day tires that I had around for track days. I had planned to use the RS-4's for the training exercises and the Hoosiers for Sunday race day, but are most of the exercises done at racing pace? If I need to run the Hoosiers the whole time I'm wondering if they'll have enough life to get me through the weekend. I ran a set of SM7 take-offs for track days last season that got me through probably 25 sessions, but after 10 sessions they really didn't have any more speed or grip than 200tw tires.
Tom1200 said:I would concur with bring a friend if you can. When not in the car you'll be in class so you won't have a lot of time to tend to the car.
Drive within yourself; it sounds obvious but spinning or running it off the road is the last thing you want to do.
Also make sure you know the procedure for black flag, black flag all and red flag.
Other than that relax and have fun.
From a student pov:
X 3 on bring at least 1 friend/helper. My car was fully prepped before my school but the rear gear failed just before the second of 2 mandatory sprint races. The car wasn’t going to be fixed in time. But I had friends to help and knew others from my autoX and Solo 1 days, including my instructor. That got me into another car for the last sprint which belonged to friends / competitors. With the help of friends etc the car was taken off the trailer, I was fitted into the car (driver was 5.5 ft tall woman – I’m 6ft), instructed on how to drive FWD (mine was RWD), car was fueled, etc. I was told it looked kind of a “Chinese Fire Drill”. I was placed at the back of the grid and completed the sprint. Only ding on my race was I jumped the start – I didn’t want to rear-end the slower / smaller cars ahead of me.
From an instructor pov:
As Tom pointed out focus on learning procedures and the track (it helps if you’ve run there before). You do not have to be the fastest or first – you do need to be in control of the car and yourself. Race smart, but don’t be slow.
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
I'd vote to keep the car consistent all weekend and run the 200tw.
My other advice: Remember to breathe.
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
I would either contact the group and find out if the 200tw will be an issue or just politely let your instructor know what you're doing. I've not heard of any group that expects newbies to be anywhere near lap record setting pace. Most "school cars" are alarmingly slow in comparison to front running race cars.
Reality is that unless you're the next Lewis Hamilton, even driving at what you think is 100%, you'll likely be at 90% of a true race pace.
Breathe, hydrate, know where all of the flagging stations are, know where all of the flagging stations are in your sleep... Know what all of the flags mean, know what to do when you see any of the flags. Know the stewards favorite liquor (it will be brown)
All good advice above, keep your eyes on the flag stations when you can. They will do a red flag drill , you don't want to pass the station and keep going. Also there's a drill on the grid, after you're strapped in with the window net up they start blowing whistles. You have to get out of the car within 10 seconds I think it is , so you might want to practice that when you have the chance, good luck it's a lot of fun I know I had a blast!
David S. Wallens said:In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
I'd vote to keep the car consistent all weekend and run the 200tw.
My other advice: Remember to breathe.
This is my advice as well. The weekend is about you and your development. Ideally you won't have to think about the car at all.
I don't know what you're track experience is or how familiar you are with this particular car but I'd set it up with stability and predictability in mind. Run the front bar full stiff, rear bar full soft, 1/8" or less of rake, a touch of toe in on both ends about 2.5 degrees of camber all the way around and all the caster you can get. I've never run those particular tires but most 200TW tires are reasonably content with hot pressures around 30 PSI. If you've got extra wheels (and you should) bring the other tires as spares in case of damage or wear.
Thanks guys- glad I made this post. Lot of good information here. Regarding track experience, I've been driving on the track for 3 1/2 years and have been doing roughly a track event per month that whole time, so 35 track days under my belt. I've been using this car at track days for about a year and I'm obsessive about taking notes on conditions, tire pressures, etc. so I'd say I have a pretty good feel for it and know how it responds to different tires and setup. I will start with the 200tw tires and run them for the race school. I may change up to the Hoosiers for the race, we'll see how it goes.
I also have a Cayman that I took down to a PCA event at Roebling in October and put myself in the novice group. I got great instruction the whole weekend from two experienced racers and left there feeling pretty confident. So I know the layout of the track pretty well and it's pretty fresh in my mind, even though I'll have to re-learn it in a new car this weekend.
Regarding bringing a friend with me to the track, it sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately I only have one friend that really knows the car well enough for me to trust, and he's tied up this weekend. I'll have to figure out how to manage solo or with the help of other crew/drivers.
Good point about the flag stations. Before leaving for the track, you should be able to point them out on a map--and for a few reasons:
That's where the flags are thrown. (The obvious one.)
If you have a fire in the car, that's where you'll want to stop.
If you have to stop on the track for whatever reason--spin, red flag, etc.--those workers will let you know when it's safe to get going again.
I have gotten red flags in real life and it will get your attention. You don't want to be "that guy" missing three red flags. Seen that, too.
In addition to hydrating, don't forget to visit the bathroom/outhouse/whatever before each session.
Don't forget about your mirrors, too. And gauges. On the straits, I do my best to make it a habit to breathe, wiggle my fingers, check gauges, and check my mirrors.
And have fun. :)
I've been the "crew" friend for a couple people now. Even if they're comfortable with a wrench it's best to give them an evening around the car just looking at things and learning how you like things prepped. That way they can just handle things without having to get instructions from you.
Checklists are king.
I always practice pointing at every tower on the warm up or cool down laps. Keeps them in my mind and people around you will notice the attention - including the guys holding the flags.
SCCA school is not about your instructir making you the fastest driver you can be. The biggest thing your instructor is looking for is if you are competant on track, and if they would feel confident racing in close quarters with you at speed. Don’t go off track, don’t ignore flag stations, don’t make contact, and make every session you can, and you’ll pass with flying colors.
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
It's a Spec Miata the only thing it should really need is to be topped off with fuel. You should be able to make at least 2 sessions with a full tank, so in theory you'd only have to fill it up at lunch time. Given your copious notes you should be able to set the cold tire pressures first thing in the morning and call it good.
If you have someone that can check tire pressures and put fuel in the car, then drag them along, if not you'll be fine.
Just to follow up on my thread- I went through the SCCA Hyler Craft Race School this past weekend at Roebling. The suggestions I got in this thread were very helpful. Recap:
My first step was to get the annual inspection and logbook for my car. I've spent over a year getting the car ready for tech, but it had never had a logbook before so there were some risks. Before I went I had Atlanta Speedwerks go through the car, and they addressed all the things that they knew would be a problem. My inspection went flawlessly until the very last thing- the kill switch was wired to interrupt the battery and not the alternator, and it wouldn't shut off the car while it was running. I spent two hours rounding up tools and wire and trying to fix it, but whoever installed it the first time made a bit of a mess and I couldn't figure it out. Fortunately the guys from Panic Motorsports were onsite, and they got it fixed for me in 30 minutes. I owe those guys big time. Logbook- check.
As described above, the school had a pretty packed schedule between classroom, car prep and track sessions. It would have been helpful to have someone with me to focus on the car, but I got through the weekend OK without. I came into this with quite a bit of track day experience but I was not that comfortable with lots of traffic and passing anywhere on the course. The school did a good job getting us all acclimated to racing conditions and rolling starts, and I was feeling really good by the student race on Saturday afternoon. Upon completion of the school on Saturday I was permitted to compete in the real SCCA race on Sunday. I approached this race with the primary goals of not crashing and not finishing DFL.
On Sunday I qualified towards the back of middle of the pack, which pleased me. I was very nervous about the race, particularly the start which I screwed up pretty badly. Once the brakes and tires were hot and I got my wits about me, I felt pretty good and even picked up a couple positions. Unfortunately I made a critical planning error and didn't have enough fuel, so I lost power on every left turn for the last four laps and gave back a bunch of spots. Nonetheless I finished the race with the shiny side up, and a few spots ahead of DFL.
Overall it was a very fun (and exhausting!) weekend. Major props to the SCCA Buccaneer Region who put the event on, and the race teams that helped me get my car ready. I would recommend this school to anyone who's interested in getting their competition license.
You know, in these days of zoom meetings and all that, I wonder if someone has started a business doing a virtual call to go over the car with the owner to increase chances of passing tech first time through.
Nothing sucks more than that last minute thrash and possibly missing out on a weekend of racing for something that could have easily been caught in a remote video conversation in the off season.
In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
Your are in detention; you will write on the chalk board 100 times "I will fill the car completely up with fuel becuase saving 12lbs isn't worth the risk."
Glad you finished and had a good time.
Tom1200 said:In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :
Your are in detention; you will write on the chalk board 100 times "I will fill the car completely up with fuel becuase saving 12lbs isn't worth the risk."
Glad you finished and had a good time.
Yeah stupid mistake for sure. We learn from the stupid mistakes though.
One of the guys in my autocross club ran out of gas on course at solo nationals. It happens.
Check that kill switch wiring. Intermittent kill switches cause all kinds of issues and will wreak havoc on your race weekend.
I like the old school Pegasus Racing 4430 switch. The big resistor is really important for anything with an ECU.
I do not like using the kill switch on modern cars, except to pass tech or if it's on fire.
You'll need to log in to post.
