I started my Club Racing efforts in IT over 20 years ago. IT was the entry level to Club Racing. There were several inexperienced drivers in the field at that time, much like Spec Miata has today.

At one of the early NHIS races (All IT cars were in one race group) the qualifying session looked more like a Mad Max highway scene than a road race. Cars were hitting each other almost everywhere on the course.

The Chief Steward, Bruce Kapstein, called all the IT drivers in after the session and read them the riot act about contact. The “talk” later became known as the “F’ing Ashtray Speech”. Those who were around certainly remembered it. Basically he laid down the law that any contact during the race would result in a black flag consultation for ALL involved, regardless of fault.

The race started with the field going thru Turn 3 on Lap 1, three wide, but there was NO contact. In fact the entire race was run without anyone being black flagged for contact.

For the last 2 years I have been racing in GTL at the National level. The Small Bore grouping at National races has accepted the no contact philosophy. In those two years I have had only one incident of car to car contact and that resulted in only a paint scuff.

The point I am trying to make is, if the drivers accept “no contact” racing, even novice drivers can race clean. It is a matter of establishing a mindset or culture within that racing community that contact will not be tolerated.