East Tennessee Region SCCA

I plan to run my first solo event at BMS in March. I read the rule book regarding the classes for Solo and the more I read the more confused I got. I think my car will be in Street Modified but need to seek some help here. I have a 2008 VW GTI that has modifications including splitter, wing, aftermarket brakes, racing seat, rear seat removed, aftermarket wheels, aftermarket suspension, fender flares, ecu flash, engine mounts, roll bar. Am I close on the class I would be in? As a novice how do I determine my RTP/PAX?

Thanks.

Jack

Assuming you have an otherwise complete interior, your car sounds like SMF. It is the same as Street Modified, but for FWD. You also have the option of "bumping up" and running SM, SSM, or XP. You'll generally run against much faster cars in those classes.

Another option is a local street tire class called STM. Run 200 TW or higher tires and you are pretty much good. You'll get to run against a variety of cars in that class. With that said, there is no RTP/PAX for the class, if that is of interest.

I'm not sure if we have PAX on our site, but here is a link...

http://solotime.info/pax/rtp2018.html

Truthfully, as a n00b, you shouldn't concern yourself with indexes too much. Just focus on coming out, getting comfortable with how events work and how to learn/drive a course, and then you can kinda see where you want to go from there.

Thanks. I forgot the FWD classification. The interior is otherwise complete just the back seat removed and racing seat. To run as a novice I just need to put the N in front so the class would be NSMF?

NSMF would be correct.

If you plan on running on tires that are 200tw or higher, I would suggest the local STM class.

Either way, welcome and have fun. Don't forget to find Jim Simmons (black Cobra) as he us there to help the new people get acclimated.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

If you run STM, there's almost no point in running as a novice. Because the index for STM is 1.00, you likely won't be competitive against other novices running with much lower indexes. The index for SMF is 0.839. Your index time for a 60 second run would be 60 seconds in NSTM or 50.34 seconds in NSMF.

Perhaps ETR should think about adopting some of the CCR novice rules, specifically novices get an extra run and can also have an instructor drive their car in a run that doesn't count.

Also, the turnout for STM at Bristol has been low.

Welcome Jack; when you come to your 1st event I suggest you come early, between 7:00 and 7:30, and come find me. As Mark said I'll be in the black cobra, but just about anyone can point me out. I'll be happy to walk you through the whole process from inspection, to walking the course... I wouldn't worry to much about class selection your 1st few times out, learning to navigate the course at speed will be challenging enough, just remember to be safe and have fun.

Welcome Jack; I am the chief of tech so I will see you early on, Make sure you have your class letters then your number on the car when you come thru tech, Listen to Jim he is the man. Good luck and have fun.

Welcome aboard Jack…. I'm the registration chief and if you need any assistance getting yourself registered I'm here for you and all the new novice drivers . We have a great team to help you…Paul, Michael, Steve, Randy and Lisa.

Welcome! and by black cobra, they mean AC Cobra, not a Mustang

Novice gets an extra run over in CCR?? I keep telling y'all I'm a novice

dewittpayne wrote:
Perhaps ETR should think about adopting some of the CCR novice rules, specifically novices get an extra run and can also have an instructor drive their car in a run that doesn't count.

You also need to keep in mind CCR only gets 4 runs to begin with, whereas we normally get 6. So they're getting 2 extra runs by running with us.

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk

Thank you all for the welcome and help. Actually the tires that I have on the car are tread wear rated at 200 so one more thing to consider. Would be fewer letters anyway.

Challenger wrote: ↑Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:57 pm

dewittpayne wrote:
Perhaps ETR should think about adopting some of the CCR novice rules, specifically novices get an extra run and can also have an instructor drive their car in a run that doesn't count.

You also need to keep in mind CCR only gets 4 runs to begin with, whereas we normally get 6. So they're getting 2 extra runs by running with us.

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk

CCR courses are typically longer then ETR's, so seat time is about the same at a ratio of 4 runs to 6 runs.

Jack,

Here's a reason for you specifically to not run novice class. Nobody ran enough events in SMF to qualify for an ETR Championship in 2017. It doesn't matter how slow you are if there isn't anyone else in the class. But if you run as a novice, you are only eligible for the novice championship.

Welcome!

DeWitt, there isn't a novice championship.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk