December – 2020

Hi NCRCers,

Welcome all to the final newsletter of 2020, the first year for NCRC’s new ownership team! We want to take a moment to thank you all for joining us at the track. We hope you found it to be as helpful as we did in making it through a trying year.

In 2021, we expect NCRC to be bigger and better than ever! Below you can find our tentative schedule for next year. We’re still waiting to finalize all of our dates, and we plan to share the final 2021 schedule in our January newsletter.

For now please mark your calendars for our first event of the new year, a weekend event at Laguna Seca on Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31!

The eagle-eyed among you will also see the return of a 105dB weekend at Laguna Seca, as well as – drumroll, please – some Sonoma dates! That’s big news for NCRC and we hope you’re as excited as we are about adding this iconic track to our schedule.

With the goal of continually improving your experience at the track, next year we’ll continue some things that worked and make some changes in other areas.

Chrono will be front and center! We’ll have prizes at each event, and a substantial 1st place prize to each class at the end of the season. Chrono will run in its own dedicated session, and AMB transponders will be required, (either rented or self-purchased). All vehicles will be gridded by lap times and the first lap will be led by a pace car, controlling the out-lap speed and allowing everyone to warm their tires and brakes. The result will be that even the fastest cars will get absolutely clean laps. The January Newsletter will go into more detail on our Chrono group and the 2021 Chrono rules, which will mainly be based on the current Chrono and Race ruleset posted on our website.

The largest change we are making is to our lower run groups. We’re revamping our Driving School group and renaming it the Novice Group. The Novice Group will be for individuals with 0 to 2 prior days of experience. Solo will be adjusted for individuals with 3 to 8 prior days of experience. Point-By will be adjusted for individuals with 9 to 19 prior days of experience. Open will remain the same at 20+ prior days of experience. Chrono will also remain the same with 5+ prior days of Open experience.

We’re making these adjustments because we want to spend more time with our newer drivers reinforcing the line. This will lead to more consistent vehicle placement and greater predictability of all drivers across all groups. (We understand some drivers will be ready to move up at an accelerated pace, and as before this will be approved on a case by case basis.)

Starting in March, the new helmet requirements come into effect. SA2010/M2010 and older helmets are no longer allowed. All helmets must be SA2015 or M2015 or FIA 8859-2015 or newer. All other certification types, including DOT-FMVSS 218 are NOT approved for use.

Also, starting in April (Covid permitting), we’ll be hosting beer gardens during weekend events after the track goes cold on Saturday!

We’re also starting the process of finding more volunteers to help expand our staff and run our grid. We’re looking for individuals to be at both our weekday and weekend events. You’ll help position cars in grid, check wristbands and stickers, as well as check basic safety items such as chin straps, etc. In return you’ll receive a free entry for the day. We’ll also be looking at your history with NCRC as we want to give priority to people who have been out to a lot of our events. If you’re interested in being considered or have any questions about volunteering with NCRC, please email Evan directly at evan@americanracingclub.com.

Thanks so much for a great 2020, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2021!

Happy Holidays,
The NCRC Crew

Paddock Profiles are brief profiles of NCRC drivers and their vehicles. At events we will be going around and asking if people are interested in being profiled, and if you are, you may find yourself here!

At one of NCRC’s late summer dates at Thunderhill, a bright red and box-flared car took up residence near the outdoor seating area of the Grill. Like many previous Paddock Profiles, it was menacing and it was loud, and as usual there was also an interesting story attached to it. This Chevy Monza was built in 1980 by Ardie Oji for the 1981 IMSA GTO class, and it had all the appropriate bulges to fit into that freewheeling series.

According to Ardie, the car did well with its 670-horsepower Chevy small-block, racking up a number of top 10 finishes in 1981 and 1982, when fields could consist of almost 50 cars. However, he decided to sell it to a member of the Isky Cams clan in ’83 when the pro level started making too many demands on his time and wallet.

Fast-forward more than 30 years, Ardie was reunited with the car in 2015 when a mutual friend of the car’s current owner, Bob Law, introduced the pair. They’ve since become fast friends, as Bob has restored the car to its glory days and Ardie has once again resumed his work behind the wheel of the beast. They plan to race it again in vintage events, with NCRC serving as a tune-up to that. We love these stories here at NCRC and we wish Ardie and Bob all the best with the Monza in 2021 and beyond.

NCRC’s Social Distancing Policy

The Mentor Program is suspended until April 1st, 2021 where it will be re-evaluated.
The meetings that will still need to be held in person will be outside as much as possible. Any meeting held indoors, including driving school, will have strict physical social distancing.
Masks are required until further notice. You will not need to wear a mask while driving. If you do not have a mask or face covering you will be required to leave and no refund will be given.
If you are sick, stay home. If you are sick on site, you will be asked to leave and no refund will be given.
If you are considered at high risk for coronavirus, due to underlying conditions or for any other reason, we strongly recommend staying away from events for the time being.
While overall our sport is solitary in nature, please understand that we cannot guarantee no exposure and we encourage you to practice heightened social distancing and to be mindful of vulnerable individuals after you leave an event.