Do you watch the Speed Channel or car races and wonder what it would be like to drive on a real race track? Have you autocrossed or drag raced and found it fun, but wanting more than a few short seconds of excitement? Do you have a great sports car, a picture of beauty and performance, a car you're very attached to and appreciate deeply? When you get a chance on open roads, do you let her legs stretch? The only problem is public roads aren't controlled. There aren't flaggers around the next corner to warn you if something's in the way, like a car, or child, or deer, or police officer. But you do it anyway, because the lure of the gas pedal is too strong to resist.
Have you have gone to other clubs and found the track time too little, the cost too high, and the traffic reminiscent of rush-hour? How are the people at these other events, friendly, cooperative, the kind of folks you want to hang with when not at the track? Are the rules too restrictive, so much so it's beyond the spirit of creating a safe atmosphere and well into realm of bureaucracy? Do some clubs not run your 'type' of car, or your friend's car, so you can't share the day with people you're close to? Do you have access to all the events that will satisfy your craving for speed?
Well, it's some of these things that inspired us to start the Northern California Racing Club. We (initially Dave Mills and Troy Allison, then Luc Noel replaced Troy as a partner in the business) formed the Northern California Racing Club to support this obsession. We're just two guys who like driving fast, hate tickets, and really don't want our cars to get dinged or scratched. We know many others feel the same way we do, and this is our attempt to bring together people who share this common interest. Our primary motivation isn't profit, instead it's the love for speed and to go really fast (legally) in Northern California.
Provide the highest quality driving experiences at the best prices to our members
Simply put, we love to drive fast, just like our members, and figured out a safe and fun way to do it... and without getting thrown in jail! We strive to provide ample track time for a great price. But the Northern California Racing Club is much more than inexpensive track time. We work hard to make safety the utmost priority at all of our events, so you and your beloved car go home in the same condition you and the car started the day. Our members are like minded, not to mention helpful, friendly, and none of us tolerate aggressive or unsafe driving. Making the events fun is another priority we give a great deal of focus. To keep the track days challenging and exciting we have a range of passing zones and activities to accommodate the novice to the most seasoned driver.
You could summarize what we've just said, in the NCRC's Charter: Provide the highest quality driving experiences at the best prices to our members
You probably know there are other groups who put on this type of event. We've striven to be different, serving a need for those of us who want opportunities for track time but don't want to trailer our car to Southern Cal or being denied because we have the 'wrong brand' of car. We're different because of our extreme focus on providing education in a safe driving environment. We're different in our attention to separating the "fast" drivers from the "new" drivers, and providing each with the event they expect. We'll put on more events in Northern California than anyone else. We only focus on track driving, not other aspects of carphilea, such a show and shines or cruising the strip. We are actively seeking ALL marques to participate (except vehicles which aren't suited for high speed driving: trucks, vans, etc) in these events, because it's all good when it comes to putting your car on the track.
Since we're not
bound by a parent organization, we're free to put in a twist or two so
things are exciting, fresh, and safe. For example, we hold an optional
time trial session, in the middle of the day, for those drivers that wish
to track their lap times, seeing how they stack-up against other drivers.
We've run karting events at local tracks as well - a sport you have to
try. We are also considering full day time trial events as time-trialing
becomes more popular with the members. We're even sponsoring some drag
racing in 2003, just to kick in a dash of spice. Mix in the variety of
track configurations and bringing the other interesting twists to our
events, and you see that we go to great lengths to keep track days more
than just doing some laps. Instead, it's a keen attention to
continually creating exciting, fresh, and safe track activities.
We have great instruction at our events, and want to help our members grow their driving skills from novice up advanced levels, and even into racing experiences, if that's the goal. We offer multiple classes of run groups, typically 20-30 minutes in length broken out by skill and comfort level. In the novice group, you can expect instruction to be available and required most of the day. As an advanced group member, you can expect open passing rules, knowing the other drivers on the track with you have similar or better skills and experience. There are run groups in between those two extremes, so the intermediate folks have an environment suiting their skills. Like all quality high performance driving schools, the emphasis will be on safety even though there will be no speed limits.
Our objective is to host as many track events as our members want. We're not here for the sake of creating yet another car club, but to satisfy the need for speed with the most active, interesting group of drivers in California. To make this work, we need a group of people who will participate in one or more event per year. We require an annual membership fee (one fee covers both NCRC and ARC) along with our event fees (see the membership page for more info). The goal is to gather a group people wanting to drive at great tracks like Thunderhill, Laguna Seca, and Sears Point - driving as fast as you feel comfortable, and doing it with a high degree of safety for car and driver. We're not collecting a bunch of wall-flowers who'll never attend an event.
Keep in mind, the total cost to coordinate these events is substantial, and the potential financial liability is significant. Considering that, we offer excellent value for the price: well managed, lots of event variety, lunches, gobs of low traffic track time, amenities, and lots more. So you know, we're not big on nick-knacks, fancy food or tons of freebies, but we do spend money where you, the members, tell us it's important. We only want club members who are going to be active, which our extensive membership policy and incentives clearly promote.
If we managed to convince you of the quality, the value, the spirit of what we're doing, and you want to hook up with this group, jump to the Signup for Event page and follow the instructions. If you represent a club and want to discuss a club sharing agreement on one of our dates, or want the NCRC to coordinate your event, please email one of the founders below.
If you represent a club or are a prospective member, send mail to any of the club organizers individually if you'd like, for any reason.
Contacts for NCRC Officers
Dave Mills, Partner
Dave has a BS and over 20 years of experience in high technology, from engineering to management and project leadership. Initially a drag racer, Dave "saw the light" and moved to the road courses. A graduate of Skip Barber Racing School, Dave has been driving and coordinating motorsports events for many years.
Luc Noel, Partner
Luc joined NCRC in the fall of 2004 and brings a long background in vintage racing with him.
Alan Blaine, Head Coach
Alan was BSP champion for NASA around 2000, a veteran of Open Road Racing, was San Francisco region ITE champion for the 2003 season, an instructor for NASA, AMG, and others, and proprietor of Blaine Fabrication. He's now managing the advanced instruction curriculum, the educational path that will enable drivers to move into ARC and other race series if they desire.
Alex Ramirez, Director of Timed Events
Andrew Bloch, Chief Instructor
Just use this format: <first name>@ncracing.org