PDX your KID?

[Flyinglizard]

Before I go and make a lot of noise about the age requirements for SCCA PDX, is there a need??
Do you have a kid that might benefit from having an instructor in car at the age of 15 or16??
Please chime in. Thanks, MM

[CRallo]

I don't have a kid, but I recently was a kid that could have benefited from that. I had a Camaro Z28 that I bought when I was 16 and built up. I ended up at the drag strip when I would have rather been at a road course and would have been...

We are losing so many kids these days to drifting (and NASA) the sooner and more we can get in the better!

[SMac92]

I think it is hugely beneficial to learn what a car can do, plus it will be fun for them. After being on track they will be much more alert and focused drivers on the street. Also, if they're ever in a situation where they need car control (ice, heavy rain, avoidance situations) they will have the skills to do it. Our PDX's have a skidpad set up all day for participants to use, which is also beneficial as it puts the car in a slide. Once the student can control the car on the skidpad/track they're definitely ready for what the street throws at them. I just really cannot see any negatives, besides car damage, to doing on track sessions, it is a huge step from any state driving school they will take and is a few hundred bucks that can be used for the rest of their life.

Steven

[Flyinglizard]

The question is; Do you have a kid??

[mossaidis]

Kids: none that I know of. Yet, having 15 and 16 year olds at PDX is absolutely fine by me and having an instructor for at least novice, intermediate drivers regardless of age is a most. Even at advanced PDX levels and many club racers, instruction is needed sometimes if you want to improve.

[tom91ita]

our kids are now older than this (21, 24, 27, 28, 31).

but there were two things i tried to do with them:

1. large abandoned school lot after major snow storm to teach skid control. i'd have them turn and i'd pull up on the e-brake so they would know what it meant to turn into the skid...

2. local autocrosses with either my daily driver honda crx/civics, etc. or the IT/CSP crx.

i think they benefited from the above activities.

[Matt Rowe]

Before I go and make a lot of noise about the age requirements for SCCA PDX, is there a need??
Do you have a kid that might benefit from having an instructor in car at the age of 15 or16??

I am not sure why you would need to make any noise about 16 year olds as we have already established they are allowed, they just need a minor waiver handled by National. 15 year olds are a different issue.

[MMiskoe]

Two boys 7 and 9 years old. 9 year old is on his third season of go cart racing and will drive a car as soon as he can run the clutch and see over the dash at the same time. He and his brother sit in the racecars in the shop and prentend to race each other shifting gears and making engine noises. My guess is that once physically big enough to operate the car, they will be finding ways to drive and looking to forge birth certificates to drive on the street and track.

I instructed a kid at an SCCA race school who was 3 months into having a drivers license. He did fine, we signed him off after a two day school. He was fully engaged and knew that if screwed up his dad (car owner) would kill him. The combination made for a receptive student who gave his best efforts.

My opninion is that it is not an age thing, it is maturity and interest. Any kid (or grownup) who has an interest in driving and driving well can benefit from a PDX event. The converse is true too, if the person has no interest they are not going to benefit from track time and may well be a hazard to others. However when you are writing a policy it is hard to state a level of interest needed whereas it is easy to state an age requirement.

As far as age goes, my son does find it frustrating that he can't go into the hot pits or grid at a regional race. Even worse, he's been denied access to the staging area at autocrosses where he is competing!

[preparedcivic]

My son, who turned 15 today, raced karts from age 8 until 13, at which point he was just oo physically big to be competitive at 6'+ and over 200lbs, in a minimum weight class. So a bone got thrown out: straight A's 2 marking periods in a row and a 3-day Skip Barber school would be the reward. Due to a major football injury last fall that had him immobilzed on the couch with school via home instruction, he did good and made it happen.

So, back in April at 14, he got to do a 3-day MX-5 racing school at Laguna over Spring break. Zero issues at all, and with all the car control learned with the kart, he was among the most competent students there.

We are working towards going through the SCCA 15-year old licensing process; he "audited" a Drivers School earlier this month as he was 12 days short of being 15.

It helps that size and looks wise, along with how he carries himself he could easily pass for 18 or 19. For better or worse other's perception of age and maturity goes a long way.