SCCA Club Racing for people who have turned 14 years of age...........

[ddewhurst]

Within the July Fastrack thread there are a couple comments about the CRB proposal to the BoD for approval to allow 14 year old kids in SCCA Club Racing.

This process continues to be open at this time with a request through the Club Racing Board Minutes for members to send ALL comments to the Club Racing Board.

It is my humble thought that this subject requires MANY of us to send letters TODAY with our thoughts to the CRB & the BoD.

My thoughts are very clear. With a swipe of a pen the CRB has done away with the requirement that competitors hold a valid Operators Permit/State Drivers License from their state of residence. Do ya think their is a reason why kids under 16 years of age are not allowed a state drivers license. In the early 90's WKA Karting did not allow kids under 16 years of age to race in senior classes. Do ya think there is a reason for the WKA logic. Do you have a desire to race with a bunch of 14 year old kids.

[Joe Harlan]

Within the July Fastrack thread there are a couple comments about the CRB proposal to the BoD for approval to allow 14 year old kids in SCCA Club Racing.

This process continues to be open at this time with a request through the Club Racing Board Minutes for members to send ALL comments to the Club Racing Board.

It is my humble thought that this subject requires MANY of us to send letters TODAY with our thoughts to the CRB & the BoD.

My thoughts are very clear. With a swipe of a pen the CRB has done away with the requirement that competitors hold a valid Operators Permit/State Drivers License from their state of residence. Do ya think their is a reason why kids under 16 years of age are not allowed a state drivers license. In the early 90's WKA Karting did not allow kids under 16 years of age to race in senior classes. Do ya think there is a reason for the WKA logic. Do you have a desire to race with a bunch of 14 year old kids.
[/b]

Too start with David, there will not be a bunch of 14 year olds because there are not enough parents willing to pay for this kind of hobby. WHile I am not a big fan of the idea it will be no worse than the 16 year old deal a few years ago. There just is not going to be enough of them to really make a big deal out of it. The only issue I have with it is what does it do to our insurance rates and what happens when we kill the first one in a big wreck. I believe this is another piss poor marketing idea by a select group of ignorant BOD members that think we should be a pro-racing group that club races for fun....They forget (all too often) that we are a club racing group that is paying for everything this club does.....So there you go.

Lastly they can't hurt you if you never get that miaaaaater out there and race it....

[mbuskuhl]

It may sound like a bad idea at first but I have raced side by side in the same group as a 13 yr old at two NASA events (they have those mini type NASCAR's that show up), it doesn't bother me. This kid can drive better than most the adults, he could be an exception though. Kind of scary at first when you see him, he looks like a little kid - http://www.dillonspreen.com/. Forget about what the government says with 16 yrs of age for a DL, the government rarely ever gets anything right. No, I'm not 14 - I've had my DL longer than that.

[Sandro]

I think the kid will be fine. You just better watch out for his/her dad, have you seen what some of these parents do at little kids sport events?

[gran racing]

LOL! My parents took me out of travel soccer when I was young because of how seriously other parents took the sport. Crazy stuff.

[toddgreene]

I know to be competitive, you have to drive your car like you have nothing invested in it...

However, take a trip to your local go-kart track on Friday or Saturday. Fourteen year-olds will beat and bang the hell out of each other because they have nothing invested in the karts.

I'm 42 and just starting. My conceren is that a 14 year old will beat and bang the hell out of me and my car that I spent a year building, only for a parent to buy another car for them the next week.

Todd

[Knestis]

I suspect that most parents willing to pony up race car dough to put a 14 year old on track won't be building an IT car in their garage. This is likely going to impact classes like Formula SCCA or whatever it's called, that are perceived as being stepping stones to bigger things.

That said, I remember karting against kids and their driving abilities were generally not an issue. I'd be more worried about the 50-year-old CEO Novice who's renting an arrive-and-drive Miata, and has neither the time/money investment NOR the young reflexes to back up his enthusiasm.

K

[RSTPerformance]

I suspect that most parents willing to pony up race car dough to put a 14 year old on track won't be building an IT car in their garage. This is likely going to impact classes like Formula SCCA or whatever it's called, that are perceived as being stepping stones to bigger things.

That said, I remember karting against kids and their driving abilities were generally not an issue. I'd be more worried about the 50-year-old CEO Novice who's renting an arrive-and-drive Miata, and has neither the time/money investment NOR the young reflexes to back up his enthusiasm.

K
[/b]

Well put K...

To me the more high level "Pro's" whom have SCCA "club racing" in thier background the better it is for our entire organization. A 14 yr old racing will probably have a good chance at a future in the sport.

Raymond "Started racing at 18 when that was the age limit... It changed to 16 that same year " Blethen

[flaboy]

14 years old....maybe to young.But we need to remember we need all the new people we can for our club to thrive,young or old.

Maybe limit what class they can drive in?


Tim

[dickita15]

the problem is when you ask someone with a kart background how their new formula atlantic felt they say like a slow to react overwieght shifter kart.

I think these kid will mostly be in open wheel though I can see some in SM

[240zdave]

I have to say that I'm not all that comfortable with the idea of potentially racing against 14 or 15 year olds, much less teenagers of any age. There is a reason that the military recruits teenagers. They think that they are invincible, that nothing bad can happen to them, so they will obey orders without thinking, taking chances that someone older and wiser would not take.

Motor racing is a deadly serious sport. Bad things can happen in the blink of an eye. I am not anxious to be the victim of some teenager's bonzai move in a car that Daddy is paying for, so what if he bends it up a little. Daddy will fix it in time for the next race.

Also, heaven forbid if I do something stupid, I don't want to be responsible for injuring somebody's child or worse.

I don't think it is too much to ask a kid to wait until he can legally drive a street car before he can get a race license. Either that, or create separate junior classes for kids under age 16. It's just another case of rules creep. The age limit was lowered to 16, now someone wants to lower it to 14. Where does it stop? Will 12 be next? Will kids be sitting on booster seats in order to see over the steering wheel?

[charrbq]

I was a pimple faced 14 yr. old kid when I got my license in Texas. They've since changed the age minimum to 16, probably largely in response to how children like my friends and I drove. As with most kids, we were invulnerable and had driving skills far beyond those of our parents and other adults...so we thought. By the time I was 16, my dad had considered putting a body shop on retainer to fix my dents and dings.

People like Lewis Hamilton and others are proof that age is not a limiting factor in a racing car, but then, even though I've heard of some bad instances, Paul Newman can still drive circles around me and a lot of other people. I just question the logic behind lowering the age and then placing someone so young in an automobile capable of tremendous speeds and placing him/her on track with others. I know it's done all the time with carts, and they are fast, but their courses are normally not in the speed range of our race tracks.

True, most of these kids will be driving exotic formula cars so Daddy can use up his 401K before he needs it in hopes that his little one will make the big time and be able to support him in his declining years, so I shouldn't be concerned as I'll never see them in my "old guys" group. But the impact of their being on the track can still have an adverse effect on my racing if things go wrong.

Don't think that there won't be a lot of kids showing up on the track. If you doubt that it exists now in great numbers, then hang around registration or the grid sometime and watch for them. They're really thick in SM, and all the big formula classes. I had to prevent a 16yr old from leaving the grid for quailifying once, because he had on regular athletic shoes rather than racing legal ones. Reason was that his dad didn't want to spend the money on race wear as his kid was outgrowing his clothes so fast. I asked him if he'd rather spend his bucks in the burn unit and physical therapy.

I suppose the same logic applied in allowing 14 yr olds to drive a race car is the same that requires us to wear seatbelts in cars, but not helmets on a motorcycle.

[BlueStreak]

I suppose the same logic applied in allowing 14 yr olds to drive a race car is the same that requires us to wear seatbelts in cars, but not helmets on a motorcycle.
[/b]

<_< agreed

This is a club where people and property get hurt. In a Pro series, I&#39;m OK with it because there are very few owner/drivers, so everyone knows the risk they are taking with their drivers and equipment.

As a club, we are primarily owner/drivers, and that changes things substantially. I don&#39;t like the idea of club racing with people who are not paying for the equipment, whether they are 8 or 80.

Somebody got a form letter I can use?

[JeffYoung]

This is nuts. the 14 y/o has no investment in the car, and no judgment. No way.

[7racing]

I thought I heard that this was in response to NASCAR allowing 14year olds and the perception that we were somehow "losing" to NASCAR in that regard.

If a 14 yo has been racing Busch cars for a year, is that enough to run an IT car a Regional? Is an 18 year old with NO experience better prepared for an IT ride?

I do not necessarily agree with the idea of 14yo, my qualification would leave it as the person must have a valid driver&#39;s license. If that is 14 in the state the event is run in, so be it, they can race with us at 14.

How will tracks like WGI that have age requirements of 18 (I think it is 18) to be in a hot area work with this? I remember watching a Daytona Prototype race last year and one of the Krohn racing drivers was too young to compete. I assume that will be the same with Club Racing.

[seckerich]

The Krohn driver was not allowed to race because of the restrictions on minors and alcohol advertising in Nascar who shared the weekend. Nothing to do with track rules. Still a bad idea to do it because others are.

[itracer]

So at 14 they can get a novice permit, but they cannot work a corner until they are 16? Doesn&#39;t the club lack workers more than drivers, or am I missing something?

You still need to be 17 min to enter the military and Nascar won&#39;t let you in the top series until you are 18.

I agree with the comment about levels of responsibilities. If we can&#39;t "trust" them to handle the flags, how can we race 100+ MPH with them at our door? We are not a feeder series, we are amateur racers.

[Knestis]

...Also, heaven forbid if I do something stupid, I don&#39;t want to be responsible for injuring somebody&#39;s child or worse. ...[/b]

Uhh, I&#39;m somebody&#39;s child.

I&#39;m not blindly advocating for this but you all are assuming that responsibility, skill, and judgment are proportional to age. Or necessarily come with age.

As far as "no investment," then my CEO example - for whom paying for a written-off Mee-otter is "front pocket money" - should be banned...?

I think the potential insurance/PR disaster is probably the most sound argument against but I&#39;m not sure it&#39;s as simple as some think. Of course, I coached girls gymnastics and have seen 12-year-old girls do lots of stuff that takes hundreds of hours of practice, good judgment, peak physical condition, and huge stones to pull off.

K

EDIT - and I&#39;m not sure it&#39;s quite right to equate what we do to "NASCAR&#39;s top series." There&#39;s a world of difference between a Cup car at Daytona and an IT car, even on the same track.

[gsbaker]

...I&#39;d be more worried about the 50-year-old CEO Novice who&#39;s renting an arrive-and-drive Miata, and has neither the time/money investment NOR the young reflexes to back up his enthusiasm.

K
[/b]

Hey, watch it there K. That&#39;s too close for comfort.

...and it was an SRF, dammit.

[BlueStreak]

As far as "no investment," then my CEO example - for whom paying for a written-off Mee-otter is "front pocket money" - should be banned...?
[/b]

If it were up to me, yes, but I know that isn&#39;t practical to implement. I don&#39;t know where the poverty line is in this sport or how to quantify it (but I&#39;ll bet I&#39;m under it!)

Seriously though, "front pocket money" is more painful to lose than "Daddy&#39;s money" (depending on the Dad of course )

Kind of like the old Humvee joke:

What&#39;s the difference between a military Humvee and a rental car?
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A rental car will go anywhere.