NERDS RACING - North East Recreational Driving Schedule

I always wondered what it would be like to actually race. At the SCCA Competition School held at Roebling Road in Pooler, GA, I had a small taste. It was a four day, double racing school, where upon completion I would have a novice permit. This permit would allow me to get into SCCA Club Racing events, but only if I could complete a few hours of on track driving without either (A), proving myself incompetent, or (B), toasting the car.

Roebling Road Raceway is a race track solely owned by the Sports Car Club of America. It's set a few minutes west of Historic Savannah, Georgia. The track is a fast, eight turn course with very little elevation change, boasting a good deal of "run-off" room. Runoff room for novice racing drivers is a good thing. Throughout the three actual days of on-course experience many of the school's attendees found themselves driving through the grass. Photo from the Roebling Road website.

The first day of school was held on Thursday, February 12th. Greg, Gayle and I spent most of the day in preparation for the following three days. We registered, pushed the car over to the annual technical inspection area and prepared the car. That evening I spent a better part of four hours in a classroom. I learned whom many of the volunteer workers, stewards, and instructors were, and we also went over flags and the written, open-book test.

On the second day after a brief driver's meeting, everyone walked the track. Eventually we were assigned an instructor for the remainder of the weekend, and these small groups of five or so drivers participated in "ride alongs". The four other guys and I joined Doug, the instructor, in a Chevy Suburban to be shown the ideal racing line. Most of the course's turns were long and sweeping, and best if taken with a late apex. That afternoon, we were took our first couple of track sessions under full course yellow.

The third day was extremely wet. All day it rained, so driving was a bit slower and a new set of Toyo Proxes were set to be mounted on the car. Gayle's two brothers, Greg and Gary both and her parents all came to visit me at the track. However our big get together happened instead that night in Savannah. I limited myself to one beer, and drank quite a bit of water.

The last day started off with quite a bit of rain, but after lunch the sky cleared and the track dried. After three more practice sessions, the last session started with a few practice rolling starts, then a five-lap race. We were lined up according to our best lap times from the weekend, so this time students would be driving with similar skilled/speed drivers. I managed to get a few great starts looking for the flag and not waiting for the other drivers. (Greg's advice)

Though out the five lap race I gained 10 spots, but gave back two. As the race went on, a couple of drivers settled in behind me, a Celica ITS and another RX-7 behind him. The Celica was about a car length or two behind me, with the RX-7 close on the tail of the Celica. As the laps continued, more and more drivers where "mowing the lawn". The thought ran through my head, "this is a battle of attrition". and I didn't want to not finish the race, or the school, or even worse ball up Greg's car. So I let the Celica and the RX-7 by entering into turn 6. Bonehead move on my part. Apparently I was not holding up the Celica even though he was classed in ITS, and the checked flag was waving just two turns later. Lesson learned, after-all this wasn't a "real" race. It was a school.

As far as leaning how to race, I became more confident with my abilities throughout the school including driving in the wet. I made a real conscience effort to pay attention to not just the flags, but the people flagging and how they were flagging. Awareness was stressed over driving fast, so that's really what I concentrated on. Seat time should help me become faster, so I'm hoping to do more track days then autocrosses this year.

I'm also looking to either buy, rent or build a car for this year. Buying a car already built is my first option. Renting has its benefits like having a crew chief, arriving and driving, and not having to buy a trailer or tow vehicle. Building just recently was reintroduced as an option, simply to keep entry-level costs down. This may seem insane, however the CRX I own now has some stuff done, I would need to basically make it safe and legal. However it wouldn't be very fast.

Some other things I learned:

How to get flat towed - foot on the brake
Wearing an admission "bracelet" not on your wrist is a good idea for a weekend race
The "egg shell" becomes thinner in the rain
Watch for the green flag, or for a dropped or dropping yellow
Corner workers are your friends
Where a great coffee shop in Pooler is
Western Sizzlin' is actually pretty good, just don't expect them to open on time for breakfast
Propane burners kick ass
An excellent crew can make all the difference
Get a scanner to listen into race control
Make friends with your paddock neighbors
Seek higher ground near the bathrooms in the paddock if it is supposed to rain
Some people's shit really doesn't stink

Special Thanks to:

My Crew! You two are the best!

The South Jersey Region SCCA: Meg Meyer for the race suit and bavaclava, J.D. King for making the novice permit process as easy as pie, Dave and Fay Teal for watching the flags advice, Ed Jenks for hitting the apexes, Jim Tornetta for giving me a 2003 GCR at the last minute.

Family: Greg and Kate D'Abate for allowing me to completely take a whole weekend, valentine's day weekend, the anniversary of the "proposal", away from you, Gary for letting me use your name to smooth things over, Suzanne, Michael, Bob and Fran... thanks for coming out and supporting your nerdy son-in-law!

Thank you to the autocrossers who "learned me": Perry Aidelbaum, Alan Pozner, Steve Ashcraft, and Mike "Junior" Johnson... Evolution Driving School, and BSR

My beloved wife, Gayle. It is because of your support and suggestion that I attended this school. You Rule Babe!

And thanks be to God for helping me keep my head on straight and not loosing cool.

Photos | Dave's Galery | Roebling Road | S.J. SCCA

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Favorite Links:

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South Jersey SCCA

AUTOX4U.COM

Honda-Tech.com

ImprovedTouring.com

WheelWeights.net

teambodega.com

OPMmotorsports.com

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UncleFesterMotorsports

SixFootTiger R/C Racing

PhotoReflect.com

GTPLANET.net

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Yahoo Groups

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Mid-Atlantic SE-R Club

South Jersey (Solo 2)

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