Now that I have a NASA race under my belt, I can highlight some of the differences with the way these two clubs operate. I should preface this by saying that I’ve run only one NASA weekend, and with NASA NorCal. Other NASA regions may operate differently, and in fact, other NorCal weekends may be different. I have done SCCA races with many different regions, so those impressions will be more widely applicable.
The most significant difference between SCCA races and NASA races is in the number of workers. NASA gets it done with, I would guess, about half the staff. There were, relatively speaking, very few people working in tech, on grid, and it appeared, fewer in the corner stations. Most corner stations this weekend had only one person. I also noticed very few stewards. At SCCA races it seems that no matter where you are, you are always within earshot of a steward. You can recognize them by their embroidered shirts, with their names and titles. Perhaps there were equivalent people with NASA, but without a uniform one wouldn’t know. I’m not sure. I did see a few people with similar clothing, just many fewer than I would typically see at an SCCA weekend.
The corner workers, in addition to being fewer in number, also seemed noticeably less energetic. They did not wave and cheer on the warm-up or cool-down laps, in general, except for the two people at turn 7 and the one at turn 11. I think some of them might even have been sitting down during the sessions, but I’m not sure. Definitely when we were shown flags, it all just seemed a little less crisp.
I should say, though, that I never felt unsafe or that the event wasn’t operating smoothly and efficiently. On the contrary, it ran like clockwork. And the lack of people on corners didn’t make me feel unsafe. I think that proves that you don’t need nearly as many workers as the SCCA has. But the SCCA workers seem to take their jobs just a bit more seriously and there are many more of them.
Drivers: it seemed like there were a LOT of rookies in our race group. Could be because it’s the first event of the season, I’m not sure. In general, they were well-behaved, but some of the slower cars made it hard for me to pass. I was given very few point-bys, even by much slower cars, and that was true even in the practice and qualifying sessions. I think part of the problem may be that the passing flag wasn’t used nearly as much this weekend. In any case, I was definitely more frustrated with traffic at this race than I typically am at SCCA races, even though I’m always on the track with similarly mixed groups.
Driver’s meeting: wow, a driver’s meeting! NASA held a real, honest-to-goodness, driver’s meeting right after the Saturday morning practice session. I think I’ve only ever had one real SCCA driver’s meeting (last year at Thunderhill for one race.) They went over the typical things you’d expect. Some of the information was quite good for the first-timer that I was. I wouldn’t have known where they post the results, or that they post grid sheets, without the meeting. Unlike SCCA, they didn’t have a fully-staffed information booth in the driver’s lounge. Instead, all postings were done on the door to the tower.
Grid: at NASA, you need to know your grid spot. You look it up on the posted sheet before the session starts, and then drive to your grid spot. There is no one there to park you, you are just expected to do it right on your own. SCCA, in contrast, you just drive over to grid and there are at least 10 people there with grid sheets on clipboards. One of them will look at your car number, figure out where to go, and then directs you to the right spot, where they pull you in and line you up. Grid at SCCA races takes a lot less space, because they can park you nice and tight due to all the help. Also, the number of workers makes communication to the drivers much more effective. When the 5-minute warning is given, everyone there holds up 5 on their hands. Same for 3, 2, and 1. At the NASA race, I could hear the whistle but could rarely see the signal.
NASA doesn’t tell you which side of the track you’ll be starting on. Like SCCA, starts are (usually) 2-by-2 rolling starts, but you have to work out for yourself, as everyone gets formed up in the last couple of turns, whether you are inside or outside. At SCCA, as you pull onto the track from the grid, someone is there to make it clear which side you are on (and, in fact, usually you stop behind the pace car, in formation, before going out on the warm-up lap).
Sunday, but not Saturday, NASA did a split start for us. Our group was split into 5 (!) groups, with 5 pace cars. The first part of the grid was made up of the Honda Challenge cars, and they did a standing start. The rest of the four groups did rolling starts. Our group was the 2nd group, made up of SU, PT, and 944Spec, I think. With 5 fields starting, I can’t imagine what would have happened if someone messed up and they had to do a no-start. I wonder if that ever happens. In any case, it did not take long to catch the back of the HC field.
Results: NASA has results done quickly. They do a trophy presentation (like SCCA does in SoCal) within about 20 minutes of the end of the race. It often takes hours to get results at SCCA weekends, and I typically leave the track before they are available. Also impressive was that results were up on the internet and mylaps on Sunday evening. San Francisco Region SCCA usually takes until Tuesday or Wednesday to get them there, but it’s sometimes faster and sometimes slower.
However fast the results were published though, you need to know what you’re looking at. The make/model/color of car isn’t listed, so it can be hard to figure out who is who, and in some cases, the names aren’t driver’s names but are instead team names. I don’t know what that’s all about either. It’s a 30 minute race with no pitstops, so no driver changes, so why are their teams?
Tech/Impound: I was never asked to go to a post-session impound. I was never weighed or asked to be weighed, and my competition never had a formal opportunity to check over my car. But some classes were called into impound. I’m not sure if we were left out of that (not that I minded) because we were a small class, or what. As I do more events I’m sure I’ll get a better understanding of that sort of thing.
I’m aware that SCCA has a reputation for being stuffy and unwelcoming, and that NASA has a reputation for being laid-back and fun. But other than the number of workers, I didn’t experience that. For sure the people I ended up paddocked near were very friendly, but I don’t think it’s any different at a typical SCCA weekend — after all, racers are racers. The staff is more numerous at SCCA races and take their jobs seriously, so maybe that lends an air of stuffiness, but then I’ve never really understood that reputation.
But perhaps I do see part of it. This weekend, I registered on the web. I couldn’t have done that if I weren’t a NASA racer with a valid racing license, I assume. But at the track this weekend, I never needed to show my membership card or license. I never got a wristband or other identification saying that I was authorized to get on the track. At an SCCA event, that would have happened at registration — even though one pre-registers, one does a very quick activity to just “check in,” where those simple checks happen. The “OK to race” signature in the logbook also happens then, all at one place (it’s called “express registration.”) Then on grid, they check wristbands on the drivers and tech stickers on the cars. Maybe it’s these steps and checks that leads to the stuffy reputation? I really don’t know.
I will do more NASA races (at least the ones that are at Infineon). I think they aren’t quite as well “put together” as SCCA races, but that might be my bias showing. At SCCA races, everyone in the paddock is a racer though, so naturally, the club caters to racers. At NASA weekends, most of the paddock is made up of HPDE drivers, so naturally, that is more of the focus and although the racing is efficient, it’s just not quite the #1 priority of most of the staff.
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Josh - really interesting comparison. I’ve also raced with both organizations and have had a similar experience. I think it boils down to SCCA is a volunteer-run operation where NASA is a for-profit entity. How do you control costs? Push more of the work onto the customer and lower headcount. I, like you, don’t necessarily think that means the events are lower quality but it does impact the “culture” of the event.
I think the perceived stuffiness can be linked to two issues. One, the SCCA has an older demographic than NASA. Two, SCCA volunteers are serious/passionate about their roles and it’s reflected in the military-esque hierarchy of volunteers, chiefs, divisional administrators and national administrators for each worker specialty. I think the reputation is more stereotype than reality however; as you noted racers are racers. I’ve met great people (and not so great people) at both.
Having just returned from the SCCA National Convention in San Antonio, I can tell you that the volunteers are hard working folks who care a lot about the club for zero compensation. I don’t think it makes them better or worse than NASA - just different ideals and goals.
An excellent comparison. One point to mention that wasn’t clear; all NASA officials are also volunteers. My perception is that the NASA officials are very passionate about their duties as well and perform them to the best of their abilities.
NASA’s safety crew (glad you didn’t meet them!) are all trained professional EMTs and firefighters and also volunteers.
I’ve been running with NASA for a number of years now to the point of exclusivity because I feel truly welcome every time and I get value for the buck. Someday I might race but until then I enjoy HPDE.