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So it was just announced that NASA Championships 2022 is going to be at Laguna Seca on September 15th through the 18th. Link to article at bottom of this post.
Figured I would post here to see if anyone else is going to try to make it out there. They're saying the sound limit will be announced soon so not sure what that's going to be yet.
It's going to be close for me because finishing my car AND hitting the minimum event requirement is going to be difficult because the NASA AZ calendar is a bit slim, but this is still a bucket list track for me so I'll hope for the best. The plan is to maybe be done by April, then hit Buttonwillow in April and Big Willow in May with NASA SoCal, I need a minimum of 3 races and 4 Time Trial days in order to compete in ST4 and TT4 at Laguna, or a minimum of 3 races and two Time Trial days to run just ST4.
Are you thinking of Thunderhill? I heard they're repaving.
Various track day organizers have said they were told by Laguna that there were fewer days available there next year because the track was going to be closed for a couple months for repaving.
Definitely some interest. Is there a minimum number of prior events to compete in TT only?
Yep. Four time trial days I believe, so two events.
The odds of me making it out there are looking pretty slim at this point. The schedule for my region sucks this year and there are barely any local events, I don't think it'll be possible for me to make the minimum event requirement.
Hmm two events isn't bad. Frustrating that your region isn't making it easy though.
This is on my radar with Hyper. We'll be up and running well before then... just a question of if we can get out to some NASA events prior to that - have been wanting to run some NASA TT for a few years now but that has always taken a back seat to event and down time scheduling for the primary SLB/GTA events, and every year they've conflicted so far.
I thought about it, but ultimately decided that with only 8 races under my belt I'm not ready for this level of event. A shame because it'll probably be a long time before it's local again. I may come down to watch sometime over the weekend though.
I thought about it, but ultimately decided that with only 8 races under my belt I'm not ready for this level of event.
Based on the carnage during the ST4 championship race, you were wise to stay away. But the flip side of that is there were plenty of competitors who were doing noob-ish things, so I'd say generally not to be too intimidated by the "National" aspect, it's still just people in cars.
I've never worked a national event like this before and it was certainly an experience. Only one competitor was so bold as to say nasty things out loud about Compliance (at least where I could hear him). He was understandably frustrated, but also very much in the wrong and easy to ignore.
I DSQ'd only one competitor for a single qualifying session, though I was also part of a post-race inspection that DSQ'd another guy from the championship race. There was a lot of really cool stuff going on with data logging and ECU analysis, but I only got a limited view into that.
I'm not sure I'll do this again - it was four days of non-stop work from early morning until evening. I got to watch maybe two laps of the Spec Miata race (which was surprisingly clean!) and that was about it for spectating.
Based on the carnage during the ST4 championship race, you were wise to stay away.
Yeah, from what I've heard and seen in videos, I'm glad I wasn't there. Even ignoring the question of car damage, the two ST4 races between them didn't get very many green flag laps due to all the caution periods.
NASA Nationals 2022 @ Laguna
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