Sean F

If so, could you PM some details about your experience? Particularly interested if you did it in the Northeast (Pocono).

Thanks

P.S. If you are my wife and you're reading this, please see the thread titled "Divorce lawyer group buy"

Cory M

I went to one on the west coast, so I'm sure your experience will be different because of the different instructors/track/etc. It was a busy weekend with all of the class room time, no time to tinker with your car, just enough time to check pressures and maybe clean your windshield. On track exercizes included driving the entire track 3 wide and 2x2 groups, practice starts, practice race. On the second day they threw a different lot of flags, had the tow truck on the track, etc, to see if you were paying attention and reacted properly. Classroom stuff included a lot of analysis of the exercizes and discussion down to how to prepare, checklists, etc. Don't be late to the grid and try not to spin. Have fun!

RICHVIZZ951

Sounds like some useful exercises. The alternative is experiencing all of that your first practice of your first race. I woulda done it had I known it was available at the time. If anything your comfort level will be much higher for your first event. I'd say do it no matter what feedback you get. My 2 cents.

d15b7

hi!

i've been to several of them and helped teach on track.... the ones i have been to were at Pocono (South Course). they were NASA liscensing weekends, and were taught/run by Charlie Greenhaus of Entropy racing.

the guy before had it right; bring a very reliable, practically zero maintenance car to this event. you will be very busy all day long! the experience is very very good; driving excercises take place in the morning, and drivers are observed closely. much side by side driving is done; off line driving; practice passing and being repassed. over and over and over. then, rolling starts are practiced. over and over and over. then with the grid mixed up; slow cars in front/fast cars in rear. then standing starts. over and over. after that; quite a few "very short" races. like only a few laps. then finally, longer races. it is a very tiring day, but very worth it. so much is crammed in; a new driver will learn ALOT. even a moderately experienced racer can benefit from the intense retraining....

during the excercises, there are usually several experienced racers (such as myself) circulating around the track, testing out the students; seeing what they have learned and how they will react.

i do strongly recommend the school!

todd

944Cup

Sean:

Agreed with what has been said here about the NASA comp school. Did it myself and everyone we have sent thru for the series says the same good things. They'll check alot for track awareness -- catch a bunch of people out that miss flags or do the wrong thing when they see them.

Enjoy.

sleder

Sean, +1 I did the comp school at VIR. WOW...I came away surprised on how much you can learn in a day. The exercises on track, side by side, alternating sides, starts, flags. The Best! NASA MA provided me the best comp school experience I could ask for. Highly recommended!

Sean F

Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm going to sign up for the Spring.

BrianKeithSmith

I went through the NASA school with Sleder last year. Definitely a good day!

The very first thing we did that morning, was met in the classroom and they welcomed us, then said, your first session this morning will be an actual race. No starting order, just a race. I can't recall if it was a standing start or a rolling start, but basically, we ran like a 15 minute race straight out of the gate.

Then at the end of the day, we had a rookie race.

Excercises during the day were interesting, and as one of the previous posters mentioned, make sure your car is 100% ready to go. The schedule is slam packed. I remember before arriving at the event, I made out my own schedule, to tell myself when I should eat, take bathroom break, fill car with gas, etc. Its a good time and a good day though.

Brian

smlporsche

How does one get into one of these schools?
Just sign up? Or do you have to be "invited"

Sorry for the stupid question...

Sean F

Does someone ride in your car or they just observe from the instructor cars and flagging stations?

Sean F

I spoke to the area director about my experience and he told me to go ahead and sign up online at nasa

Sean F

I'm assuming that you don't need a transponder for this...do you?

Sleder - where did you have your dyno done?

BrianKeithSmith

yes you need a transponder.
There will be veteran racers on the track, and they'll be watching everyone. The other thing they do is put you in situations wherey you have to make decisions, and they pay attention to how you handle that.

Dan Elam at the NASA MA school, pinned me in behind a slow car going down the back straight - my solution - USE THE GRASS - swung wide, passed in the grass, kept going.
So they'll do stuff like that, and they'll throw flags at various times just to see if you are paying enough attention to be able to respond quickly.

Brian

944Cup

No ride alongs. If not mentioned, your car must pass race tech and driver needs all the gear.

No stupid questions here. You must be preapproved by the NASA Director before signing up. You'll need to demostrate sufficient track experience. I can work with you in getting approval to attend a shcool if u need assistannce. If u have the experience already, there are schools coming at VIR in Feb and again in March and then July.

Sean F

NASA uses AMB, right?