This is my good friend Alex who is working towards his SCCA amateur racing license. To keep you a bit of background, I went through this same SCCA racing school back in 2012 and have done some SCCA and NASA spec me out of racing since. I have a pretty good idea of the process of getting through racing school so this weekend I get to sit back, relax and help out Alex in his own racing pursuit. So why would you get your license in the first place? Maybe you're tired of just doing track days or maybe you haven't driven on a track at all. In either case, you'd want to be licensed to be able to race on track at sanctioned events, at full speed, with other drivers on track now before you're ready to race around like a banshee, there are a few prerequisites. You'll need to fill out some paperwork, you'll need some safety gear and finally you'll need a car. Note that it is not necessary to have prior racing or track experience entering racing school. I recommend at least one track day to build comfort and familiarity in the car with your equipment at the track and just to get a general overall feel of the environment. As for the car, if you don't have your own race prepped car, that's okay. You can easily rent a car for the weekend which definitely adds costs but it can save you a lot of headaches. However, if you plan on entering in sanctioned races and you already know what class and car you'll be driving, it's a good idea to have your own car that is ready to go. That way you are able to get comfortable in the car that you will soon be racing, as well as saving on the rental fees. I won't dive too deep into what it takes to have your own race prepped car, but your options are either to buy one that is ready to go or to build your own. If building your own, you need to conform to a host of rules and regulations found in the SCCA GCR or general competition rules. Then you'll need to get it inspected for safety compliance and you'll need to get an SCCA vehicle logbook for that car. Doing so is quite the process, so if that is your plan, make sure to plan ahead so that by the time racing school comes around, you're already good to go. Once the car situation is set in stone, you will need to buy protective gear. This includes a helmet, head and neck restraint, racing suit, gloves, shoes, and socks, and if you have an open cockpit car, add on arm restraints. You can't just use anything though. Your gear needs to have the proper ratings, such as a snow rating for helmets and fireproof materials for gloves and other items. The GCR contains all of the details regarding equipment requirements, as well as the SCCA website for the racing school that you will be attending. Make sure that all of it conforms to these requirements and that every item is up to date. With the car and equipment figured out, it's time for paperwork. You'll need to complete the required steps as laid out on the SCCA website for your racing school. Note that these steps that we're showing here are for the San Francisco region of SCCA. First, become an SCCA member. Next, you're going to need a physical. It's pretty easy. Then you'll complete your novice application and send it into the National SCCA office. At that point, you're ready to sign up for the school. You should receive your novice permit in GCR in the mail within the next three weeks. Make sure to bring these to racing school. Before jumping into the racing school experience, let's do a quick cost breakdown. Because if you know anything about racing, you know that it is anything but cheap. As you can see with all items added up, you're looking at anywhere between just over 2 grand to just under 5 grand. Remember, this assumes that you already have proper tires, brakes, tools, and any other necessary equipment. It also assumes that you don't break anything on your car touring racing school. Like I said, this hobby is anything but cheap. With all of this taken care of, you're finally ready for racing school. Some final points of advice before leaving. Make sure that everything is taken care of and looked over. Your car needs fuel, fresh oil and fluids, water, tires, brakes, tools, and so on. At the bare minimum, you should bring with you a jack, jack stands, tire pressure gauge, socket, breaker bar, and a torque wrench so that you can at least remove and attach your wheels and make sure your tire pressures are in line. Make sure all loads are secured. Towing vehicle and trailer are both good to go. Your food is packed, hotel reservations, or trailer sleeping accommodations are in place and that you are physically and mentally ready for a long weekend. Eat, drink plenty of water, and get plenty of rest. You'll need it. Friday morning where the fun begins. First things first, there will be a required registration and at the same time, tech sign-offs for the car and safety gear. After registration is the driver's meeting where each driver is assigned to their group and instructor. In Alex's case, he was assigned to Gary, thanks so much Gary, and had one other driver with the same instructor. While they took their sightlapse to get an idea of what the track was like, I took the car through technical inspection, which ensured the safety compliance of everything on the car, that the belts were up to date, window nets were in place, and that all of Alex's gear was legal and good to go. With that out of the way, Alex and the car are both set for the remainder of the year. The weekend called for 11 total sessions for Alex. Three practices on Friday, four practices on Saturday followed by one practice and three races on Sunday. Friday was all about familiarity. Drivers were restricted to only pass on the mainstreet via a point-by where the driver being passed physically points in the direction which they want the passing driver to overtake them. As the day progressed, drivers became more aware of the track and of their surroundings. By the third session, passing was unrestricted. I encouraged Alex to slowly push more, but to still be very safe and cautious. There was still quite a lot of driving to do left in the weekend. Before we move on, can we just take a brief moment to appreciate how beautiful this track is? It's unreal. If you haven't been to Thunder Hill, especially around February, March, April, it is gorgeous. A peaceful track walk the night before racing has always been a tradition of mine and my dad's. I don't plan on stopping it anytime soon, even if I'm not the one driving. Also, waking up to this is pretty darn cool as well. It's like a dream. Saturday is where things stepped up a notch. Drivers were taught more about proper racing lines and about racecraft. Drivers were encouraged to push the envelope further, which was evident in the amount of drivers that ran off course, sometimes spinning out. It happens. While this isn't particularly preferred, it was a very controlled and monitored environment. It's a lot better to spend here than to spend at any old track day. In addition to driving faster, drivers were introduced to different flags and safety events, local yellow flags, full course yellows, debris flags, black flags, and even red flags. Some of this was forced by the school just to get the driver's experience, but some of these actually occurred naturally as the result of on track incidents. There are quite a few rules to know regarding flags and safety in general. The GCR is your friend in this case. I definitely advise studying up before entering racing school, or else it might be a bit overwhelming. At the end of this very long weekend, we thankfully drove away with an intact car and a newly licensed driver. Congrats, Alex. Alex learned a ton in a few short days, and he handled the pressure very well. We are excited for this great accomplishment because that means that Alex will be racing this year for SCCA.