T2

Daily Racers

One of the exciting things about road racing that not too many people know is how simple and relatively affordable it is. Unlike drag racing, which has been one of the favorites among so called “street racers”, road racing challenges the finesse and aggression of the driver.

SCCA has one of the most prominent classes nationally for cars that in most cases are actually driven to the track. The Touring class is divided into two separate groups T1 and T2

TOURING CATEGORY (information from SCCA.ORG)

In response to the ever increasing performance of today's street cars and to expand participation by various manufacturers, SCCA created the Touring Category in 1996 which was expanded in 1998 into two classes Touring 1 (T-1) and Touring 2 (T-2). T-1 reintroduces to Club Racing a venue for current ultra performance machines such as the C5 Corvette, the Dodge Viper, the Porsche 996, the Ferrari 355 and the Acura NSX-T. T-2 consists of vehicles such as the Z-28 Camaro, Mustang Cobra, BMW M-3, Toyota Supra, and the Honda Prelude. These new classes allow for aftermarket wheels and open muffler and exhaust systems as well as other options. No car may be more than five years old.

What makes/models are eligible for Touring? See SCCA's searchable database.

During one of our racing trips to Texas we caught up with Jeff Dole and J.B Stringer from Thundersports Racing. They campaign 2 beautiful Pontiac Firebirds in the T2 Class and a Porsche 911 in T1. “These cars are often driven by the guys at the shop to chase after lunch” said JB Stringer, “that’s how street able these cars are”.

Jeff Dole driver for the team also uses these cars to instruct in. Thundesports has a “U-Drive” program that gets you behind the wheel of one of these cars for about $265.00! What a deal! Drivers may also rent the car for about $1500.00 for a race day when in need to attain a racing license. If you are in the Texas Region of SCCA and want to drive contact www.thundersportsracing.com .

The interior in these cars are fitted only with safety equipment such as a roll cage, window net, 5 point harness belt a fire extinguisher and an optional custom racing seat.

Driving a race car once a month is not enough, we have decided to convert our ’01 Cobra into a “Daily Racer”. We will show you how easy and affordable it is to prepare and compete with your daily driver.

Online-Racer.com's new project race car:

This is our '01 Cobra as it was delivered from the dealer, its the

platform for the next T2 race car project....stay tuned!

The Super Bowl of amateur racing, the SCCA Annual Runoffs which take place in historical racetrack Mid Ohio. Only the best 10 of each region are invited to participate each year.

QUALIFYING FOR AN INVITATION (information courtesy of www.SCCA.org )

Each of the eight Divisions hold a minimum of six National events where drivers compete for national points to gain an invitation to the Runoffs. Each contender can participate in as many National races as they want, but can only count the points from their top six finishes.

Only the top 10 competitors per Division in each of the 24 classes are invited to the Runoffs, so competition usually comes down to the last National events of the year held over the Labor Day weekend. Many drivers spend the end of the summer "chasing points" by traveling to races out of their own Division and acquiring the extra points necessary to guarantee them an invitation to the prestigious Runoffs.

For specific qualifying requirements, please view the 2002 Supplementary Regulations (Adobe PDF format).

WHY GO TO THE RUNOFFS?

While the big names make thousands or even millions of dollars a year, normally club racers compete for trophies. There are a few classes supported by contingency sponsors throughout the season, but most of the time when a club driver is on the track it is for fun and to test himself against his fellow competitors.

Winning a National Championship at the Runoffs means defeating the best club racing has to offer as well as bragging rights to say "I am the best in the country." The long list of past National Champions reads like a "who's who" of motor racing. Bobby Rahal, Jimmy Vassar, Scott Sharp, Elliott Forbes Robinson, Skip Barber, Paul Newman, and Dave Weitzenhof are just a few of the familiar names. For many of these drivers, a National Championship was just a stepping stone on their way to making a name for themselves in auto racing.

A National Championship looks good on the racing resume and can help with sponsorship proposals for the following year. Securing a sponsor can help with a bigger and better season for the following year, be it in Club or Pro.