NASA Santa Run Road Atlanta

[Gustav129]

I attended my first NASA event yesterday. NASA doesn't not cover the PNW, and SCCA is limited out there too. After being a mechanic for many years, I landed a job right out of welding school as a fabrication apprentice for a race shop that built Pro3 and SpecE46 racecars. Pro3 cars are 84-91 325i's and is a class for ICSCC only, with more modifications allowed compared to NASA's SpecE30. ICSCC mostly runs popular NASA and SCCA based classes and only covers Oregon, WA, and BC. SpecE46 is a NASA class for 2001-2005 330i coupes, and 2001-2006 330i Sedans.

Now that I moved back east, I wanted to see the SpecE46 cars on the east coast, and compare SpecE30's to Pro3's. Yesterday was a rare opportunity for me. I got to be a spectator for once.

Usually I am either a race official sitting in a turn station, or I am in the pits as a pit crew member.

So I was able to wander around the pits and take pictures of the cars and talk to drivers/crew members. There was a BMW CCA race at Roebling Road in Savannah, so the SpecE46 numbers were low. Only three showed up.

[Gustav129]

A few of the cars I worked on in the PNW:



Shop car that we rented out.


It was totaled at Pacific Raceway in Seattle last spring. The cage held up flawlessly, but the car was wrapped around it like a coke can in places. This was an awaking moment for me, as I made the decision to move on because I didn't feel comfortable signing somebody's life check with my welds at the time.


Then there's the shop's Pro3 car to rent out (Blue E30 in the center):


Dan Roger's Spece46, which is stored at the shop:


James Colburn's Spece46, which James Clay Co-drives during enduros


Another Pro3 car that I measured, bent, and coped all the parts. I did not do any of the welding on the cage.

[Gustav129]

These are my normal views:

In the pit tent for a Trans Am TA1 team...


In a little hut at a turn (Turn 1 for Petit LeMans)


Or from behind the wheel in a ChumpCar Miata



[img]