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Old 09-26-2011, 01:45 PM   #1
Bubs
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Default SCCA Rallycross - Fun in the Dirt/Snow With Your Daily Driver!

Video: This is SCCA Rallycross
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9e0S6Bk6kM


This video shot from the course does a great job at showing how safe and low-impact these events are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkfXQZF9_i0



My Versa at the New England Dragway event, NER@NED, in February 2011.

The New England Region of the Sports Car Club of America, NER SCCA, has been running a Rallycross program for the past several years. SCCA Rallycross takes place in dirt lots or fields, typically every month of the year with July being the off month. The Lakes Region sees an event at The Lodge at Belmont (aka "The Dog Track") once or twice a year. Other typical sites include Rochester Fairgrounds, New England Dragway in Epping, and others in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. This is a time trial event, and you are not racing wheel-to-wheel with your competitors. You get a number of runs over the course of the day, typically seven to ten, but often more. The times from all of your runs are added up at the end of the day, along with any time penaltys for hitting cones. Lowest total time wins!

Courses are set up so speeds are below 40mph. A roll cage is not required, but your car need to have working seat belts and you need to wear a helmet. These events are typically very low-impact on your vehicle, and many people (myself included) compete with our daily-driven, street legal cars. The typical fare include Subaru Imprezas and Japanese subcompacts, but it's very common to see people running pickup trucks, SUVs (a Tahoe ran at Slip-N-Slide at New England Dragway this year), and all sorts of interesting choices. Anything from a Subaru Forester, to a Hyundai Elantra or my $300 Nissan Sentra can be competitive if you are looking to win - but the most important part of the day is to have fun, and you can have lots of fun in any car!

Each event is a points event for the year-long championship, but anyone is invited to participate at any event with virtually any car, it needs to have a hard top (no convertibles for safety's sake) and pass a safety inspection. Loaner helmets are provided at events as well. Entry fee for an entire day is just $65 for non-SCCA members, and typically $50 for members. This is for an entire day spanning from 8AM to around 5PM.

Typical Race Day timeline:
7AM-8AM: arrive, sign in, prepare your car for tech inspection and walk the course.
8:45AM: Driver's meeting. Every event has a driver's meeting where one of the head marshals goes over the rules and answers any questions - particularly helpful for anybody at their first event!
9AM: First runs begin. Half of the competitors are out driving the course, while the other half are working - this consists of either standing out on course to re-set cones if they get knocked over, helping with timing or other positions. After 3-5 runs, the half working the course switches and they get to make their runs!
12PM: Lunch break, more often than not there is food available on site.
1PM: Another 3-5 (or more) runs for both run groups.
4PM: Runs finish, site is picked up and cars are prepared for the drive home.
4:45-5PM: Awards and departure

Vehicle classes:
Stock (As-is from the factory, snow tires are allowed year-round)
Stock Front Wheel Drive (FWD) - such as my old Versa or current Sentra
Stock Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) - Yes, your '88 Mustang can compete!
Stock All Wheel Drive (AWD) - Audis, Subarus, even 4WD S-10s and Tahoes!

Prepared (Your street-driven car with exhaust upgrades, short-shift kit, etc)
Prepared FWD, RWD and AWD

Modified (Cars with stripped interiors, roll cages, engine swaps, etc)
Modified AWD and Modified 2WD

These events are a great way to practice your ability to drive on loose surfaces as well, so even if you are not competing to win, you can have a lot of fun and learn some driving techniques in a safe, controlled environment. The events are no harder on a car than driving down a dirt road, and they always on wide, open fields or dirt lots so there is nothing to crash into. All and all, it is a safe and affordable way for anyone to have some safe fun in their car, and also a great starting point for anyone looking to get into off-road racing of any kind. Spectating at an event is always free!

That's SCCA Rallycross in a nutshell, feel free to ask any questions you may have!



Rochester Fairgrounds, 2011

Belmont, at The Lodge, August 2011
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Old 12-17-2012, 08:46 PM   #2
blownb310
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Looks like fun Bubs! Nice write up and pics. I'm looking forward to next month's event in Stafford Springs.



I'm signed up for Saturday for the NER Stafford Springs rallycross. Here are a few more details for the event:

The kick-off event for 2013 is here! We will be at Stafford Springs Speedway, CT the weekend of January 12 and 13.

Saturday will be a NER Championship event. Sunday will be a second, separate NER Championship event. Overlapping, will be the NER RallyCross Snowdown consisting of both Saturday and Sunday runs. We will crown an overall champion in each class for the entire weekend!

You can register for either Saturday OR Sunday.
Snowdown participants will be competing for an additional prize for the top driver in each class for the whole weekend. Anyone who signs up for both days will automatically be qualified for the Snowdown. There is no extra charge.

The smooth, hard surface makes this a good opportunity for cars that could not normally compete on softer surfaces. There may even be snow. Or, there may be A LOT of snow. To keep things moving along, we will be enforcing the "2-stuff" rule.

Details and directions: http://www.ner.org/rally/rx/event/20...afford-springs

Online Registration

Attendee list
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