ddavidv wrote:
To be fair, SCCA went after NASA when they first started hosting autocrosses and NASA used the SCCA rules out of convenience. SCCA was not amused and gave them the legal smackdown.
Also to be fair There's a big difference in my mind between SCCA (a member driven club) going after NASA (A for profit business) and NASA (business) going after Keith an 30 buddies holding an autocross for the fun of it.
Not that I have any love lost with the SCCA and their rule book or events structure.
I now run Detroit Council events which are run when you like with the basic classing structure as follows
Stock - Similar to SCCA stock but a little more free, allows balance and blue print plus port match. More importantly it allows you to swap engines once a car is 20 years old for other stock engine from the same model. So you blow the engine in you 86 and can drop in an 89 without issue, yeah so the 89 model might have more power or ally ILO iron heads or some other mythical advantage worth 99 secs per min which would scare the SCCA into the court room, but it works and let's people play for cheap. They also allow braided brake lines, steering wheel swaps and a few other sensible mods that would send a national level SCCA driver heading for a CRAY computer to prove the 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001 per mile they unfairly give.
Street prepared - Similar to SCCA but a little more inclusive
Street mod A, B and C, based off street prepared classes (A is ASP, BSP CSP etc). Basically anything goes with a stock body and suspension pick ups. These are the most inclusive and popular classes with cars entering with anything from a stock car with a set of springs or an intake up to full on purpose built monsters. Guess what, everyone has fun and the driver is still 99% of the outcome.
Prepared, mod etc. Well they exist but other than a few FSAE cars are rarely populated when you can do so much with the stock, street prepared and street mod classes
The other nice thing is that around here with the SCCA your out $50-60 for 3 or 4 runs and have to be there all day (8-6 ish). You have to run and work when told, it's a far more uptight way to run events. With Council you turn up when you like, run when you like, work if you have time and leave having got in 4-5-6 runs for $20-25. It's a far more relaxed and fun atmosphere.
I used to run SCCA 15 years ago when I was serious, chased points, did divisionals, Nationals etc. Now I want a fun time with friends and go home to spend time with the kids so it's a no brainer.
