First SCCA Race at NJMP

[Greg Amy]

Terry, thanks for taking the time to respond. A couple of points.

You are NOT required to make payment *in advance*. As a convenience to our entrants, we have made arrangements to accept credit cards.

How is paying by credit card not paying in advance? I'm confident you're charging the cards at time of entry, and I'm confident my credit card company will require payment if my card comes due prior to the event. I I cancel I lose use of those funds until they are returned (minus a $30 fee).

If you chose, you can register online and bring a check to registration.

That's good to hear, Terry, however the supps read as follows:

Registration is not complete or guaranteed until payment in full is received. Payment may be made with Paypal, mailed to the registrar with a paper entry or mailed separately if registering online.

This does not necessarily "jive" with what you're saying here. But, if I choose this option of bringing a check with me to registration, how am I affected by the "not complete or guaranteed" clause, and if cancel my registration am I still subject to a cancellation fee? And how would you collect it?

A $30 administrative or cancellation fee is not out of line for an event of this type; a commercial enterprise would probably have a higher fee. There are costs involved in a cancellation including the bank fees that the region was assessed for the canceling driver's original credit card payment.

Well, this is not a commercial enterprise...And, if you didn't require prepayment then there wouldn't be cancellation fees to the region...

Terry, when I re-think my initial thoughts on the subject, as described yesterday, I think the part that bothers me the most is the requirement for prepayment and the cancellation fees. Maybe the vast majority of the club racers have excellent cash flow, and they can plan their lives weeks (or more) in advance, but as my close friends know I have a lot of irons in the fire in my life, with racing being a lower item on the priority pole than many others. I am perfectly happy with pre-registering online to give the registrar a "head's-up" that I'm likely to show, but that does not guarantee I can or will. Thus, I REALLY don't appreciate being required to pre-pay for an event when if, for whatever reason, my life changes a few days in advance. Instead of simply sending an email to the registrar to let him/her know I can't make it (which I've ALWAYS done) I now have to deal with pulling an entry and waiting for someone to return my money (and having part of it withheld from me).

The whole point of a pre-registration discount is to encourage drivers to enter early, in order to give the registrar the opportunity to get a lot of work done in advance of the event. However, if this new-to-us system in terms of late entry and cancellation fees is the way things are going to be from now on then, at least to me, that incentive is lost; you've effectively increased my entry costs because I will choose to paper-register at the track (increasing the registrar's workload as well as my costs).

If, however, I am to infer that, in deference to the supps, I can actually register with DLB online and bring a check to the track (with no real no loss in terms of the validity of my entry), and as a result I won't be charged a late fee if I cancel in advance of the event by notifying the registrar (which, again, I ALWAYS do), then it's a wash, and I'm OK with that. However, short of your explicit approval of this behavior, I'm doubtful that's what's intended or allowed.

As for the track's charges and choices, you're right: market forces will win. To that end, they're not getting my entry; scratch that marginal revenue from their books.

Terry, again, thanks for taking the time to address my concerns, I appreciate your clarifications.

Greg

[Chris Humphrey]

I was at a local race parts store here in Warminster, PA(A-1 Racing) buying new roll bar padding and the guy working informed me that they have a new law in NJ requiring the use of the SFI rated high density padding for all race cars racing in NJ.

Can anyone confirm this?

[wdether]

I was at a local race parts store here in Warminster, PA(A-1 Racing) buying new roll bar padding and the guy working informed me that they have a new law in NJ requiring the use of the SFI rated high density padding for all race cars racing in NJ.

Can anyone confirm this?

The regulations governing motor vehicle racing in New Jersey is covered under New Jersey Administrative Code (NJAC) Title 13 (Law and Public Safety) Chapter 62 (Motor Vehicle Race Track Rules) and can be found at: http://www.njsp.org/info/pdf/racing_regulations.pdf. I am not aware of any recent rule updates.

Road racing is covered under Subchapter 3 (Safety Requirements for Vehicles and Personnel: Road Racing and High Performance Driving Schools). Each type of racing (oval, drag racing, etc.) has its own subchapter.

After a quick glance through the rule, I could not find any reference to a requirement for SFI rollbar padding. Of course this is unofficial, and every driver is responsible for meeting the requirements of the rule (official disclaimer). I strongly suggest/urge everyone look through the rules since they apply to all. A section of the rule to remember is:

§ 13:62-3.9 Inspection of vehicles
(a) Vehicles participating in an event by a sanctioning
organization must meet all technical guidelines set forth by
that organization.
(b) Any vehicles to be used in a race or other type of
driving event are subject to unannounced inspection and approval
at any time, for compliance with this chapter, by the

Superintendent or designee.

This requirement is mentioned in the Supps in item 16, which of course everyone reads before the race.

[erlrich]

But, if I choose this option of bringing a check with me to registration, how am I affected by the "not complete or guaranteed" clause, and if cancel my registration am I still subject to a cancellation fee? And how would you collect it?

I'm not sure about SJR, but I can tell you that for the DC Region events if you register and choose to pay at the track with a check DLB does not even recognize your registration. I don't know for certain, but I take that to mean that neither your entry nor your car number are reserved, and if someone chooses to come in after you and pay at the time of registration they could take both your number and, in the case of a full field, you slot. The end result is that you have a shitload of racers who, rather than register early and pay at the track, wait until the last day to register, which IMO sorta defeats the purpose of early registration. But since we've used DLB in the DC region for as long as I can remember I guess we've gotten used to it.

One thing the DC Region does which SNJ apparently has chosen not to, is to allow you to cancel any time before Friday evening (I believe the cutoff is like 5pm?) the weekend of the event without paying a cancellation fee. And even then, if you come to the track and register, and then withdraw, there is no cancellation fee.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Can the DLB 'owners' program in a 'pay at track' option like on the NESCCA site? To me, it's the only beef I would have.

We have know all along that NJMP was going to be an expensive venue. See my comments in man of the 'screw LRP' threads started by others.



AB

[jjjanos]

Twelve days out and only 97 cars entered so far...

Inquiring minds want to know whether this thing is going to happen with so few cars and, if we run with so few...

what are the possibilities of adding extra sessions (either gratis or at a fee)?

Cars are already there and a huge part of the cost is the tow/hotel/food/leave time...

[Brian Holtz]

I was there on 6/28 performing the track review for SCCA. You guys really need to sign up for this event. The track is very nice. Fast and smooth with lots of runoff room, no gravel traps, excellent tire walls, just in case. Plenty of paddock space. South Jersey Region is working hard tio make this first event a good one. Don't miss it!

[Andy Bettencourt]

Is it possible there are a lot of paper entries? 106 as of now...

[erlrich]

Just to correct my earlier post - apparently for this event DLB does acknowledge your registration if you opt for payment by check. I just registered, and my entry does show up on the list. So if you're planning on going, and want to reserve your car number I would say sign up now.