2007 NASA Schedule and Info (Road Course Racing)
 

Take your car to the track and have a bunch of fun! I joined NASA last year for the event they co-hosted up at BIR and had a blast! I took my Conquest TSI in all of it's old glory and hit the track. For me this was my very first time out on a road course, and I must say I learned a lot. If you have never been out on a road course in the drivers seat you should try it. You can learn a lot about your car and how to drive, in a safe environment. You don't need to have a “prepped car” to have fun but some basic maintenance things should be done to make sure you have a safe time. Overall I think it's the best way to enjoy a sports car! If your interested you can find more info at http://www.nasamidwest.com/ or http://www.nasaforums.com/viewforum.php?f=45

This year's schedule!
NASA - Midwest Region – 2007 Schedule
April 28-29 – Iowa Speedway
May 19-20 – Putnam Park
June 30, 1 – Mid America
July 21-22 – Autobahn
August 4-5 – Road America
September 8,9 – Gingerman
October 8 – Autobahn
October 20,21 – Road America


Hope to see a bunch of Mitsu's out there! I better go get to work if I plan on making it myself.
And don't forget to spread the word.



Admin Edit :

There is a group going to the Aug 4-5 Event at Road America in WI. It's about a 5 hour drive to the hotel. We are staying at:

Super 8 Motel - Fond Du Lac
391 N Pioneer Road
US Hwy 41 ex Rte 23 E
Fond Du Lac, WI 54935-2006 US
Phone: 920-922-1088
Fax: 920-922-8897

http://www.super8.com/Super8/control...e_nostay=false

Those booked are:

Chris S2000
Allan Mazdaspeed 6

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Wow, I had no idea NASA finally moved out of the southwest and we have our own series right here. Awesome! I really want to get into this.

Ryan, would you mind posting this up on MNSC as well? There's plenty of people there that want to turn the wheel and not go in a straight line.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I might be down if i can get time off and go with a few peoples.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

How much does it usually cost for an event? I would love to go, but I know racing bikes was quite expensive, I would expect this to be similar.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Cool, I might have to take the Cavy down and see what all 34 whp of that beast can do!

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

ohhhh, something for the 6!

But is there nothing in MN?

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I'd love to hit Road America in Aug, that is a great track!

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Look at the schedule. No.

If you're lucky you might be able to get in on another club's track event at Brainerd or something.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Well I'm down to a travel date if people want to schedule something. This woudl be a good idea to really get my own handle with the 6.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Road America in Aug, lets do this.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

If we planned this ahead enough, i could be down, but all i have is the a DSM, well and a sweet corolla. I would actually take my corolla over the DSM for handling

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Its December and the event is in August, hopefully thats enough time for you.

That Corolla is a sweet ride, do it up.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I definitely want to do this sometime this year. I need a fast track though, my drag setup doesn't like tight corners and slow ess's of something like a low-speed autocross setup. Last time I tried that with my little 20G, I was fishtailing all over and even spun off track. RoadAmerica would rock.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Yeah, I'm all for setting something up, and getting hotel rooms booked again.

Chris, cordinate this shit. :D

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I'll talk with my dad and get some hotel recomendations. I used to go to the CART Indy car races out there with him, but I don't remember which hotels were the best/worst. We also did an 8-hour endurance go-karting event a few years back out there which CVD did with us. Its a great track though, long fast straights leading into hard tight corners. Something like 14 corners I think. This track really taxes brakes so if we actually do this I'll be putting on better pads and bringing spare everything.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I'd do this too, afcourse towing the car down there is the only way..

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Oh yeah, where the fuck is RA?

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Elkhart Lake, WI

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Snow States Auto Club and SCCA are working on 2 dates this summer at BIR. I don't have all the details yet but I know they will have HPDE's (High Performance Driving Education) up there as well as lapping. Lapping I think is for the preapred cars, but Donnybrooke might have cars to rent up there for that. It's gonna be exciting when they get all the track changes done. They're (BIR) talking about being able to hold more than one type of event at a time (i.e. drag racing and a road course simultaneously with a possible autocross as well) once the track is done.

Go to www.scca-lol.org for more details. They have forums on there as well to keep updated on events and such. I'll try to post more when I know more about it. BTW, Snow States Auto Club is the new subsidiary of the LOL region of SCCA. It picks up where SCCA dropped the ball. All the same people, just a branch off of the local region. That way we can still do the same thing that we did in SCCA before they dropped certain programs such as rally. Rallycrosses are still under SCCA jurisdiction.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

As far as BIR goes, they were talking about the possibility of adding a date. NASA worked with Snow States Auto Club last year, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them together again. It was mentioned that BIR wasn’t taking dates until their track modifications were closer to finished.

RA would be some serious fun, and is one of the closest tracks to us. I would love to see a big group there. Chris is right on about it being hard on brakes though. If you have a quick car, it’s will put your brakes to the test.

Cost is ~$150 for a 2 day weekend depending on the track.

Matt, I’ll post this up on MNSC too.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I doubt you'll see NASA and Snow States working together this year. That was something last year that kind of had to be done to pull it off. NASA didn't really come through with everything they promised. From what I heard it was a good event, just not everything that was promised from an organizers standpoint. I wouldn't totally rule it out, but I doubt it will happen.

I think they are working on 2 dates right now whether the track is totally done or not. I will find out more within the next 2 weeks. When I find out, I will post up about it.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Is there any Rally X shit still going on locally Eric?

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

There is always rallycross locally. The only problem is finding eventmasters to plan them. They are also looking for a Rallycross Chairperson for the region. There just hasn't been very many people stepping up lately and the old eventmasters are tired of doing everything all the time.

We need to find more venues and more people that would like to step up and plan them. It doesn't mean they have to do all the work, just make sure all of it gets done. And there are people to help them out to guide them as well.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Who is actually interested in doing the Road America thing on Aug 4-5? Only post if you will actually come; none of that "maybe" crap. I'm not going to put in the effort to help arrange this unless people are actually truely genuinely planning on attending.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I'm in 100%. Even if I don't actually race for some stupid reason I'm in for the road trip and weekend of fun. I need something cool to replace my Shootout Bug.

get me a hotel we all want to stay at and I'll book today. I'm hoping to have a few funds soaked into the brakes on the 6 before the event.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Alright, I will talk with my dad about hotels tonight when I meet him for dinner. There is this one hotel that we have stayed at many times that is very nice, but for the life of me I can remember which chain it is.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I'm in as long as my class reunion doesn't fall on the same weekend.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I'll bust out the Quest if the Stealth isn't running.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

How do we go about actually signing up for an event and when will exact pricing be released? I assume the $40 annual membership is required?

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

The $40 membership is required to run at NASA events. NASA has a few member benefits, one is a years subscription to Grassroots Motorsports Magazine ($19.95). This is were they publish their news letter. You can see more details on what you get from the membership here: http://www.nasaproracing.com/aboutna..._benefits.html
And get your membership here:https://www.nasaproracing.com/joinrenew.html

As far as event registration, you do that here, under the Midwest section: http://www.nasaproracing.com/nasa_event/list_events
Other areas have their registration open already, and the page says registration for Midwest events will be open soon. The NASA midwest page will also have the regitration info on it, but when you go to register it will take to you the same place the above link will.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I think our hotel of choice should be the Days Inn in Neenah, WI. It is about an hour from the track in a good and convenient location. I've stayed there many times and have always been happy with it; free breakfast, highspeed, pool, etc. We are looking at about $50/night. This thread should be moved to the Events section.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Any reason why we'd want to stay so far away from the track?

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

There isn't a whole lot nearby the track since its in the middle of farm country, and what is there will be much more expensive. We've stayed at a bunch of places out there and this Days Inn is the one we continue to like as the best. I can look into more options if you'd like.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Ahh, i didnt' know this place was in the middle of BFE. Hour drive aint bad.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

I bet we'll be able to leave the cars at the track overnight and all pile into a larger vehicle to get back to the hotel Sat night and then back to the track Sun morning.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

All real tracks are BFE due to noise.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Remember that shithole Knights Inn we stayed out when out there? Thats what happens when you get to close to the track....and it cost a lot more too.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Well I'm in. I really want to do this and I now have a car that can handle it. A set of springs, upgraded sway bars, and good brakes and tires will allow me to be able to handle the event I think. And won't cost all that much.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

Tires first, brakes second. Nothing else makes a big difference. Springs arent all that necessary, and sway bars can help, but they can also hurt. They reduce chassis roll and help stiffness, which can improve your confidence, but beyond that the sway bars are questionable on a street car. Specifically in the world of racing Miatas and Colts the experts and hardcore cone/open track racers recommend strongly against rear sway bars. Also, I have found little difference when using strut bars.
What you really want is to start with a car that is as close to stock as possible with some decent tires,a good set of pads, and an alignment. This way you can work on your driving, and not sit scratching your head wondering what's wrong with your setup. Also, you can save a lot of money by finding out first hand what your car is weakest at, and replacing those particular parts as needed.
When autocrossing, I did far more with my stock Colt than most people could do with a bunch of money tossed at their tyte jdm civic with coilovers and strut/sway bars everywhere.
Even on tires, feel free to go with whatever you have. If I had jumped straight to a set of Azenis the learning curve would have been pretty steep. By starting with something that was more middle of the road, I learned much faster how to push a set of tires and where to find their limits.

Re: Have some REAL safe fun with your car this summer!
 

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks CVD.