Swapping cars in the middle of an event

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:16 pm

How does this work?

I occasionally read examples of person X's car busts part of the way through an event and then person Y lets person X co-drive for the rest of the event. I assume this is always within the same class and both person X and Y get the same number of runs.

What is the official rulling on this type of swap? No go via SCCA rules? People look the other way if everyone is OK with it? Runs in the other car don't count?

I ask because I was/am planning on co-driving Chris Brown's VW in STS this weekend. There is a remote chance he may have to miss one day or the other. So could I drive my own car one day and his the next? All in STS?

Ok, next example is pushing the envelope, but what about me just deciding part of the way through the event that I can't drive Chris's car for shit and I jump back into my own car and drive the rest of the event (assuming my car has already been teched, etc. and I would use the same numbers for the entire event).

Please don't turn this into a "hey, is it OK if I cheat" bashing thread. I have no idea what the rules are on this and am curious what my options are.

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

It's allowed. My car broke at Laurinburg last year & I finished my runs in Aaron's Celica.

And Bob Tunnell's car broke at a recent national event, so he borrowed another DSP BMW to finish his runs.

Not sure about switching classes, so could somebody clarify that one for us?

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:41 pm

I think you are over analyzing this and making a much bigger deal of it than it is...

Scenario #1:
At a THSCC event any competitor is free to drive *any* car that is *legal* for the class they are registered in (please get permission first). you can drive a different car for each run for all we care. HOWEVER: You better be darn sure that your class and numbers are on the car you are driving!

This is even legal at SCCA national events, so long as you follow the other relevant rules (I think the rule is that a car can only be driven by 2 people in a single class).

Scenario#2:
If your car breaks at an event and no one is willing to lend you a car that is legal in your class, then you could probably take the remainder of your runs in a different car and different class, just put your numbers on that car and inform the starter that the run should be disqualified. The starter will notify T&S to disqualify/DNF the run.

Scenario #2 should be considered the exception to the rule. We won't tolerate people car *and* class hopping on a regular basis since the possiblity of it screwing up T&S is pretty high.

Examples:
I can't run a SM car in Pro class with my STS index... I *can* take a run in Kevin's car or Aaron's car and it doesn't matter to timing and scoring since the classing is still correct.

Sally and I run the same car, however she runs DS while I run STX. If the car breaks (noooo) she can hop into Mark Mussers car for the remainder of her DS runs, however I can't since his car has a LSD and is not STS legal.

Under the most desparate and dire circumstances, if your car breaks early in teh day (run #1 for example) and you want to switch classes to co drive with someone else (for a trophy) that can be arranged on a case by case basis (this is the exception to the exception to the rule).

Scott

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:04 pm

At the SCCA level, you need to get the okay to switch cars. This is not a big deal. Usually a wink/nod that the car is broken and can not be fixed. We did this last year at the Nationals when a friend decided to co-drive the MR2 on day two.

The SCCA only allows two drivers of a car in a class for Tours. Although this was not documented, at least last year, I was not able to hop into another MR2 at the DC Tour. All the MR2's were 2 driver cars. The SCCA decided they were going to follow the Pro Solo rule of 2 drivers per car. No amount of yelling, screaming, jumping up and down by me, my friends and my competitors would get them to budge.

You can also move up a level. If your CSP Miata broke and wanted to borrow an ES MR2 to run in CSP, that should be okay.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:30 pm

At major SCCA events, even Nationals, it is common for some of the more fragile cars to break. It is also common for the driver(s) of the broken car to be offered rides for the remaining runs in the same class. Frequently it is for the remaining runs of the heat. All that needs to be done is get the numbers as clear as possible, inform grid, timing, etc. Sometimes a "mechanical" is needed to provide time for the logistics of changing numbers, adding/removing weight, etc. As it turns out, the classes with the most fragile cars tend to have the most comraderie between competitors.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:18 pm

scottjohnson wrote:

HOWEVER: You better be darn sure that your class and numbers are on the car you are driving

Scott

Amen!!! You would make the bus people very angry if you forget to do this. Actually, this applies to 2 driver cars also. DON'T take a run with your co driver's number on the car. It makes us unhappy. :twisted:

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:37 pm

Thanks everyone for the info!

Chuck Frank · **Posted:** Thu Jul 15, 2004 6:53 pm

As long as we're discussing national rules, in Pro solo events the same car cannot run in more than 2 classes, L1 & L2 are considered separate classes from open under this rule. We ran into this one 2 years ago at Petersburg, Matthew Braun was going to codrive our car in GS open. I decided to run DSP instead of GS to save points, and Matthew could not still run in GS since Donna was running L1 (with GS Pax).
Sam Strano switched cars the second day of the Oscoda Pro last weekend.
Two years ago at Topeka Championships Brian Priebe and I talked about swapping cars for the second day since everyone was so "sure" his car was illegal.
That fell apart when Kumho pressured them into putting Katie Elder in their car against Donna.

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Swapping cars in the middle of an event

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