Is there such thing...

[02gixxer600]

as a south east racing organization?

i know NESBA is a good track day program but i am looking for an organization that is based out of the south east?

wishful thinking or is there one out there?

thanks!

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

CCS races in the southeast ( http://www.ccsracing.us/ ), they are the largest regional racing organization in the United States, they are the organization I have raced with since 1996. Click on 'Schedule - Results' at the upper left hand corner of their home page, that will bring you to the list of all races in the US with CCS. At the top of that list of races there are sub-categories that will have an option for Southeast races, by clicking on that it will show the South East only schedule.

[02gixxer600]

cool thanks! do they have like "South east results" at the end of the year? not that i would be able to do them all but just curious.

also is there a novice racing class or anything like that? i was trying to find something but i couldn't.

im also a little confused about asra.. do you have to be in this to race CCS or is it a whole other group?

[02gixxer600]

Ok i read the rule book and found an novice supersport class which is what i am looking for. again thanks for the info but one more question...

how is the competition in novice? im guessing it ranges from almost no race experience up to people that are pretty good but still in novice?

[nig]

WERA also races in the SE. Novice 600cc is the "meatgrinder" class

[02gixxer600]

meatgrinder??

dare i ask?
guessing a cluster F*** of people?

[nig]

Yep

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

CCS is the organization that hosts 'regional' Amateur and Expert level racing throughout much of the Eastern 2/3 of the United States, ASRA is their 'National' series which combines itself with select regional races happening throughout all the CCS regions in the country. ASRA is basically national Expert level racing that is mixing in the Pro level hoopla that goes on and ultimately acting somewhat like a stepping stone to Pro racing.

Racing with CCS is broken into 'Regions' where other racers from your basic portion of the country converge at events to race against other racers from your basic portion of the country on a somewhat regular basis. My region is the Midwest (MW) Region, so I follow the MW schedule throughout the racing season, but I have the option to race ANY race that CCS hosts in the entire country with my CCS racing license (your CCS racing license is good for racing at ANY CCS event - no matter what region your from). Thoughout the season there are numerous 'combined events' which have more than 1 CCS region attending an event as part of their seasons schedule. A great example of that is Barber, the 1st couple seasons we started racing there it was actually a 3 region event combined with ASRA, this meant that there were 3 regions scheduled to compete at this 1 event along with the National ASRA series as well. For a big event like this they extend the event to cover Friday thru Sunday with a practice day often offered for an extra fee on Thursday. When you race at a combined event like this you get points for your individual race finishes in every region scheduled to race that event, so if you finish 10th you would get points for 10th place in that particular race class in all 3 of the CCS regions scheduled to attend that event. The CCS races at an event like this would be spread out throughout all 3 days with some exclusive ASRA practice and qualifying sessions happening thruout the entire event as well, the ASRA races will generally happen in the afternoon on Sunday and will have a different format in how they are run and are generally longer races. The reason for the combining of regions and ASRA at some events is for cost issues, generally any events with really expensive track rental (Barber, Road America, Daytona, etc) will have 2-3 regions and/or ASRA in attendance. Single region events are generally at facilities that are less expensive for CCS to rent and often times are popular races with the racers - for example Blackhawk Farms Raceway here in Northern Illinois is a track that is liked by many.

The Middleweight (MW) divisions/classes, which is for the most part 600cc inline-4 sportbikes, are the most contested classes currently in CCS. In the MW division there are (3) 'sprint' races (16-20 miles) available to you and (1) 25 minute 'GTU' endurance race. In CCS they allow you to race 'UP' 2 divisions, so in other words you could also race the Heavy Weight (750cc) and Unlimited classes as well. If you decided to race in all the classes available to you there would be 8 sprints and 2 endurance races you could compete in if so desired. Especially at the smaller tracks the MW divison bikes can do very well against even the Unlimited division bikes due to there ability to corner easier than the higher HP bikes, it's at the top end tracks like Daytona and Road America where the higher HP bikes will have a definate advantage, but the MW bikes will still do pretty damn good even at those tracks.

If you have more questions just fire away!

[02gixxer600]

thanks for all that info!

one more question about the Amateur MW class.... you said that it is the most contested one, so does that mean i would be having my fairings blown off by every rider or would it be fun for me because of a variety of riders?

if this isn't very clear just let me know
thanks!
Zack

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

I won't lie to you, the Middleweight classes are absolutely crazy, especially the Amateur classes. There is a flaw in the way that CCS advances it's riders from Amateur to Expert ranking which allows racers to 'sandbag' for years as an Amateur, this in my opinion is something that has needed to be dealt with for a long time, but that's another story. For this reason there will be racers in your races that have been racing several seasons that will literally blow away the rest of the Amateur field and will be running lap times comparable to Top 10 Experts, but on the other hand there will also be racers at the other extreme who are new and may not have done so much as a track day before racing (much like myself when I started racing). I highly encourage new racers to get gridded at the back of the grid so they don't get run over in the madness at the start of races, this allows you to advance thru the field if your faster than them and develop your passing ability, but also allows you to concentrate on what's in front of you and not have to worry about people coming up behind you until later in the race when the leaders catch up to lap you. The person in front always has the right of way, it's the responsibility of the faster passing rider to pass the slower rider safely, just ride predictably and don't make erratic sudden changes in your lines.

Due to the shear number of riders in many Middleweight races there will probably be a diversity of experience amongst the field of riders which should provide you with other riders to race against at your level of current ability, along with slightly faster ones up ahead of you to chase after. You will often times hear experienced racers rave about racing a twin 650 in the Lightweight classes as an excellent bike to learn to race on, and even continue to race on as you move to Expert status. The main reason for this is the power delivery is much more controllable and allows you to concentrate on your riding/cornering instead of concentrating on not being a throttle jockey when you have excessive power available to you. I'm not saying you can't start racing on a late model inline-4 600 or bigger, I'm just letting you know from experience that it will most likely slow down your learning curve somewhat. If you do decide to start racing on your 600 just take it easy and keep it firmly planted in your head to take it easy and let speed happen over time, being smooth and consistent should be your goals as a new racer.

[02gixxer600]

great info thanks!

I am hoping to do the VIR Sept 22-23 event so i will be posting back up in a while about my experience!
thanks again
zack

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Just so you don't get caught off guard, there is a required racer licensing school that must be taken before you can get a racing license and be able to race. Generally there are schools at many events with CCS on the 1st day of the event, but not always. There are also other schools who 'qualify' as acceptable to CCS and they will let you get a racing license if you have proof of successful completion of one of those schools. There is also a fee for your racing license per season, but this late in the season the fee will be fairly low since they discount it as the season goes on.

Hopefully you were already aware of this, but if not I may have just saved you some heartbreak when showing up to race for the 1st time ever.

[02gixxer600]

yup thanks! i have taken the school and passed so i am ready for my license.
the course i am going to do race i am pretty familiar with as well so hopefully everything will be good

thanks for your info again