Competition Rules

All ODR-SCCA Solo (Autocross) events are sanctioned by SCCA and hosted in accordance with the latest update of the SCCA Solo Rules, available for download at https://www.scca.com/pages/solo-cars-and-rules. Solo Chair Notes are provided for information or clarification and are not a formal part of ODR-SCCA's Competition Rules.

Solo Chair Note: You may use the ChatGPT Unofficial SCCA Solo Rules Navigator to answer questions about SCCA Solo Rules, but these AI responses are not official and may not be accurate. Always verify with the actual SCCA Solo Rules.

The Drivers Meeting is mandatory for all drivers. 
All drivers must attend the Drivers Meeting, and will not be permitted to participate in the event. At the Steward's discretion, experienced drivers unable to attend the Drivers Meeting because of work requirements or extended travel time may notify the Solo Chair ahead of time to get permission to arrive late and receive a separate Drivers Briefing. 

Solo Chair Note: ODR-SCCA would rather conduct a separate briefing than see participants excessively speeding to attend the event.

Drivers are cautioned to exercise the "two-foot" rule while out on course. 
Simply stated, if your car starts to break loose during a run, put one foot on the clutch and the other foot on the brake.  Both feet go to the floorboard simultaneously until you regain control of your vehicle.  (If you have an automatic transmission, both feet go on the brake and then to the floorboard.)  If you are out of control on the course, you will be red-flagged and lose your run!  
 
No hot-dogging (intentional donuts, burnouts, drifting, etc.) allowed at any time during the event! 
Violators will lose their runs and/or be asked to leave the event.  Habitual offenders will be denied entry to future events.  Safety is paramount at Solo events due to the close proximity of vehicles and people on the course.

No methanol or nitrous oxide allowed! 
If you have nitrous oxide or methanol injection installed in your car, leave the bottle at home if you want to run. You may run distilled water in place of methanol, but may not be a water-methanol mixture.
 
If you are red-flagged, come to an immediate stop off of the course's driving line.
You may be leaking fluids, have a mechanical defect, there may be a timing malfunction, or course workers out on the course itself.  Wait for a course worker to come out and tell you what the problem is before returning to the staging area.  If the problem is not your fault, you will get a rerun.  Otherwise, you will lose that run and not allowed to run again until the problem is corrected.
 
Weather
In the case of inclement weather or environmental conditions, the Solo Safety Steward (SSS) and/or the Event Steward must red flag the event under the following circumstances:

     - Fog or swirling dust precludes observation of any vehicle while on course by the SSS

     - Standing water (snow, hailstones, ice, etc.) on course presents a severe hydroplaning risk

     - Lightning within 5 miles in the past 30 minutes.

The red flag will remain in effect until the inclement weather or environmental conditions that caused the red flag have passed.  With lighting, a half hour must pass without any strikes within 5 miles of the event.
 
Course workers
You are not allowed to take pictures/shoot movies/talk on cell phones while working on the course.  No sitting or lounging at worker stations is allowed.  A minimum of two-course workers per station is required at all times.  One course worker must hold the red flag unfurled in one hand and the radio in the other.   Anyone desiring to go on course to take pictures/shoot movies must first check-in with the SSS and receive permission to go on course.  (The course is defined as any area outside the spectator viewing area, paddock, and grid.)  You must provide your own "spotter" to escort you at all times while on course.

Insurance Release Waiver
All participants who are 18 or older must read and sign the insurance release waiver to be allowed entry to the event. This may be electronically done through an SCCA Annual Release Waiver or on-site upon arrival. All minors participants under 18  must have an Annual Minor Release Waiver submitted through SCCA's website.  Minors without an Annual Minor Release Waiver are not permitted to enter any "hot" areas, i.e., the Course, Grid, or Timing and Scoring, etc.) and cannot be a Driver or Passenger.

ODR-SCCA Regional Rules
These rules are specific to ODR-SCCA Regional events.

Classing
ODR-SCCA recognizes all SCCA National Classes, Developmental Classes, and Exhibition Classes presently listed in the Solo Rules for full eligibility for regional competition for Open, Ladies, and Novices classes using the PAX/RTP index.

Other eligible supplemental classes: Street Driven (SD) classes, per the Provisional Class Rules at the bottom of this page.

Correct classification is the driver's responsibility per the Solo rule book, but staff may assist competitors with classing. All competitors are considered to be Open class competitors and are eligible to protest any other Open class competitor. The authority to reclassify misclassed vehicles is delegated to T&S during the event, with consent of the vehicle's driver. The Chief of Timing and Scoring may unilaterally re-classify an inadvertently misclassified vehicle without penalty until event results are published. The Solo Committee may retroactively reclassify a misclassed vehicle at any point until season points are finalized, and may appoint a protest committee to determine if penalties are appropriate.

Registration 
Registration for ODR-SCCA-hosted events is done through https://motorsportreg.com. Each driver must have a unique car number.
 
Heat Assignments 
ODR-SCCA does not assign heats based on class. Heat assignments will be based on car number, with specific driver run and work assignments determined by the Chief of Workers: Heat assignments will normally begin ordinally with the lowest number cars in first heat, and continue to the highest number car in the last heat.  This permits competitors to request via car number whether they wish to run early or late. Late registrations and late changes made will be assigned as needed by the Chief of Workers to accommodate key work assignments.  Staff will attempt to accommodate special requests for heat assignments if circumstances warrant, but requests made with the intent of avoiding forecast weather are considered unsportsmanlike. It is expected that regular participants will remain consistent with heat selection across a season, regardless of weather. 

Solo Chair Note: Heat and work assignments are normally prepared the day prior to the event based on pre-registrations, but cannot be finalized until registration closes and the final list of drivers is known. Heat assignments will normally normally posted on the side of the T&S Trailer as soon as possible following registration closing and announced during the Drivers Meeting. 

Multiple-Driver Cars
ODR-SCCA normally runs short heats that do not permit sufficient time for the required 5 minutes between drivers. Codrivers will normally be assigned different heats, and specific work heats. Drivers must work the heat they were assigned. The Steward has discretion to implement alternate methods for vehicles with more than two drivers or other special circumstances if Stewards and Participants agree.
 
If heat and work assignments permit, dual-drivers will be given a choice:

1. Each driver may take all their runs in the heat they were assigned.

2. Two drivers without conflicting work assignments may elect to combine their two drive heats into a single double-length heat, switching drivers every other run.  
 
Tech Inspection of Vehicle 
All vehicles must receive a technical safety inspection for each event. Specific tech schedule and method will be emailed to participants prior to the event and announced during the event.

Solo Chair Note: Most of our events have "roving" Tech, where you will prepare your car for a tech inspection in paddock by opening the hood and trunk and placing your helmet on the passenger seat for the inspector to check. Tech inspection normally closes 30 minutes prior to the driver's meeting. Please get your car inspected prior to walking the course. If you miss your Tech inspection, you cannot run.
 
Course 
The course will be available for walking at least 30 minutes prior to the Driver's Meeting.  There will be no parades laps or drive-through. 

Solo Chair Note: Our course designs are normally posted on Social Media and emailed to participants prior to the event, but are not set up until the morning of the event. Participants may course-walk while setup is  in-progress, but are reminded that changes may still be actively occurring until the course is finalized.  Please do not move any cones while setup is occurring! Once the SSS approves the course and the announcement is made, please grab a piece of drywall to help us mark cones. Make the box as clear and tight to the cone as possible to aid workers in positioning every cone consistently for every driver. Ensure slalom cones and other cones that are likely to be frequently hit are especially well marked.

Passengers
Passengers eligible under the SCCA Solo rules are permitted on competition runs. Taking passengers is encouraged, and competitors may ride with other competitors. Experienced competitors are encouraged to ride with less experienced competitors and assist them.  Less experienced competitors are encouraged to ride with mode experienced competitors to learn from them. Improving general autocross skills by these means is not considered to be an unfair advantage if made available to all competitors: it is the duty of each competitor to exhibit good sportsmanship.

Solo Chair Note: Passengers that are not registered as drivers and are not SCCA members must have an SCCA Weekend Membership, available at no-cost, and that provides additional insurance coverage.  Please ask at registration for more information. 
 
Runs/Penalties 
Each driver will receive 3-6 timed runs, with cone penalties assess in accordance with the SCCA Solo Rulebook. The  following is a summary of the SCCA rules: 

If a driver is red-flagged during a run for conditions not under the control of the driver, is forced to stop for an unsafe condition, stops for a cone that has not been properly reset, or timing problems prevent proper scoring, the driver will be granted a rerun. Cone penalties will not carry over to the next run. The driver will not be granted a rerun if the driver was the cause of the red flag, stops for an out-of-place pylon struck on that run by the driver, or the driver had a DNF condition prior to the rerun condition.
 
If a vehicle has a re-run, a minimum of five (5) minutes between timed runs will be enforced (Solo Rule Book). This will not preclude other drivers continuing with runs. For circumstances where less than 5 minutes does not offer an unfair competitive advantage to the driver, the Event Chair may offer and driver may elect to waive the 5 minute minimum requirement.
 
A downed pylon or an upright pylon displaced outside its box is a two-second +penalty.  Any of the following will result in a "Did Not Finish" (DNF):

     - A missed gate or taking out any cone after crossing the finish line
    - Two or more wheels off the concrete pad simultaneously 
    - Driving on the wrong side of a directional slalom cone  
    - Bypassing a course component, e.g., Chicago Box or a Stop Box
     - Driving an extra loop or adding additional gates out of sequence to the course is "Off Course" and results in a DNF.

Solo Chair Note: Directional cones and information cones (pointers) do not count as a penalty if run over or knocked outside their chalked outline.  Chalked, upright cones on course including the starting gate cones count as penalties if hit during a run.  Upright cones after the finish beam may or may not be chalked, but will result in a DNF if knocked over.  When in doubt, check to see if the cone is chalked when you walk the course!

Finish Safety
All drivers must be under control after passing the finish beams.  Any pylons struck after the finish beams will result in an automatic DNF.  

Sound
The sound limit for ODR-SCCA events is 105dBC, measured per the SCCA rulebook.

Loaner helmets Loaner helmets are available at the start of each heat.  You must provide an ID in exchange for a helmet.  Drivers have first priority for helmets over passengers.  Please treat our loaner helmets with care.  If you break it, you own it!

Event Cancellation/Postponement
If an event must be canceled before all heats have completed all competition runs, only the number of timed competition runs available to be taken by all competitors will count towards official event results. This may be waived by unanimous consent of impacted drivers unable to complete their competition runs. Note: this may in some instances result in different number of runs counting for Open, Ladies, and Novice.