NASA Autocross Classing

I was wondering if anyone had a local club that uses the NASA Autocross classing rules? How is it working out? I'm only familiar with the SCCA rules but I was reading the NASA rules (http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/nasa-x_classes.pdf) and they sounded great! It seemed like it would reduce the number of classes and let people build their car however they want. No matter what mods they have, the car will have a place where it can be somewhat competitive. No more letting one mod bump you all the way from ES to DP.

Last time I ran with the them, the Clemson University Sports Car club was using NASA-X classing. It seemed to work fairly well as building a car to NASA-X rules generally transferred to a comparable NASA Time Trial class when the time came to run for time on track. They are found at http://www.clemsonscc.org/

oh, and keep in mind that a club can't just "use NASA" classing systems … if NASA finds out, the club will pretty quickly receive a "cease and desist" letter … NASA is very protective of their ruleset

wbjones wrote: oh, and keep in mind that a club can't just "use NASA" classing systems … if NASA finds out, the club will pretty quickly receive a "cease and desist" letter … NASA is very protective of their ruleset

Wow...that's not how I would choose to grow my organization. I would think that more clubs using NASA rules would mean more cars built to NASA rules and that would mean more racers at national NASA events.
I'm actually surprised that something like that is even legal. I'm pretty sure the NBA can't try to stop youth basketball leagues from using their rules....

don't know the reason/legality behind it … just know that if you aren't a member of NASA they don't want you using their "stuff"

lopracer can probably step in here and give a more detailed explanation

I would point you in the direction of your local NASA Regional Director for use of the rule set and the requirements to do so. Clemson for instance is basically the outlet for NASA-South East regional NASA-X competition. Some regions of NASA are more active in autocross than others.

For a couple of ac's we ran and used NASA rules it worked fine. Some of the SCCA guys didn't like them

Some of the SCCA autocross regions I participated in weren't too strict about class enforcement unless you were winning or putting up a great Pax time. That one mod also must be very effective if it bumps you up 3 classes. I have that problem too so you're not the only one feeling the pain.

each ruleset has their problems … you should listen to the rest of my NASA buddies peeandmoan about the pts. assigned to certain mods

At least reading the bass rules doesn't make me want to scream.

I swear the first time I read the scca rules I thought they sure are going to great lengths to make sure no new people join up

wbjones wrote: oh, and keep in mind that a club can't just "use NASA" classing systems … if NASA finds out, the club will pretty quickly receive a "cease and desist" letter … NASA is very protective of their ruleset

when we wanted to use NASA rules, I contacted them for permission. Just had to mention that we were using their rules.

I agree, I think NASA is pretty good about letting people use their rule set if they have permission, and are using them in a safe manner. The organization needs to be serious about safety and professional if NASA is going to lend their rule set and name by default to the event.

guess I should have mentioned in my first post …it's the clubs that use their ruleset without permission that get the "cease and desist" letter …

Seeing that your from Connecticut, Motorsports Northeast is an official NASA chapter but they fell off the radar last fall; hopefully they'll reconvene in the spring. Somehow they classed a Nissan Altima 2.5 with a Jeep SRT8 and an Audi A4 S-line. Most relaxed people I've driven with and they gave 10 runs per autocross versus only 4 or 5 for our local SCCA.

Hmmm,

I'm going to have to look into seeing if they are running anywhere close enough to me in the Midwest. My biggest gripe about SCCA rules is cams. If I do a mild cam upgrade in my 84 GTI I get bumped right up into Street Mod. How is a mod worth 8-15 hp comparable to a forced induction upgrade!?

SCCA is a ruleset that you build a car to meet, NASA is a ruleset built to meet your car, however you built it. Depends on what your looking for in a ruleset.

wbjones wrote: each ruleset has their problems … you should listen to the rest of my NASA buddies peeandmoan about the pts. assigned to certain mods

The former drag/autox/show event we had here was run under NASA rules by a nasa region......I didn't really mind the rule set, but for the first year I ran the Saturn, it was F class +15 or something like that. The two Ion Redlines sufficiently dominated the class. The next year we were bumped to E class +0 and even with our cars in the exact same spec from before, both redline's dominated again.

You can ask Bobzilla about the rapage rendered upon the competition thanks to the scary soooopercharged saturns........

In reply to icaneat50eggs: Veterans at the autocross events help new people so it's easy to know what class they're in. It gets complicated when beginners start modifying their car.