2009 GTA National Tour

These races will be run as a "race within a race" at selected road racing events across the country and are governed by each sanctioning body's rules, any event-specific Supplemental Regulations, and GTA National Tour Technical Bulletins.  

1.     Per Event Entry Fee:  Will be established by each hosting organization/region.

2.     Tour Administration Fee:  $50 flat fee for each driver (or driver team) that wishes to accumulate points and participate in the Tour Championship.  This fee will be used to defray the various administration expenses (decals, website, Tech equipment, T-shirts, etc.).  Records of how these monies are spent are available to all registered Tour participants.

3.     Fee Payment:  The Administration fees (if applicable) must be paid by check to "GTA National Tour" prior to points being calculated for each driver.  Checks returned by the bank for any reason will incur a $35 penalty and all accounts must be current before the competitor will be eligible to earn GTA National Tour points.

4.     Tour Registration:  All competitors must be registered for the Tour and all fees must be paid in order to be eligible to receive any points for that weekend.

5.     Participant Eligibility:  All drivers in the GTA National Tour must hold the equivalent of an SCCA Regional Competition license or higher.  All participants must agree to abide by the GTA National Tour Code of Conduct (see attached).

6.     Multi-Driver Cars:  In order to allow drivers to share expenses, two drivers may register for the Series and share a single car over a given weekend.  The driver team will be regarded as an entity, so points and prizes will be awarded to the entity regardless of which driver drove which race.

7.     Vehicle Eligibility:  Open to all vehicles that meet any 2009 divisional GTA rules.  In addition, each Tour entrant must clearly display the series-distributed GTA stickers on each side of the car.

8.     Sponsor Requirements:  All cars must meet any sponsor-mandated decal and/or usage requirements to be eligible for additional sponsor-provided prizes.  These requirements will be communicated to all registered series participants at least seven days prior to the race weekend they become effective.

9.     GTA National Tour Points:  For single race weekends, the finishing position in that race is used for awarding points.  If there are multiple races in a weekend, the average finishing position for the two longest races is used in determining points.  The average finishing position is calculated by adding the finish position in each race and dividing by two.  A DNF is scored relative to other cars in the class.  A DNS is placed last in the race.  If more than one driver failed to start the race, they are ranked after all starters by qualifying time.  In case of a tie, the drivers are ranked by their fastest race lap turned. 

A disqualification (DQ) for any reason results in zero points for the weekend.

Points Example:  

In this instance, Driver C would get second place points because of a better lap time than Driver B and Driver D would get fifth place points instead of Driver E for the same reason.  The other calculations should be intuitive.

10.   Championship Points:  Will be awarded per weekend (not per race) using the following:  

11.   Bonus Points:  In addition to the points awarded for overall finishing position, an additional point will be awarded for each of the following accomplishments per weekend:

. Fastest qualifier

. Officially leading at least one race lap (at Start/Finish)

. Fastest race lap

. Most positions gained from original grid position (in case of a tie in positions gained, the point is awarded to the highest finisher)

12.   Double Points Events:  The IT-SPEC*Tacular at Mid-Ohio and the ARRC by GRM at Road Atlanta will count for double points.

13.   Tour Champion:  Drivers may count all points earned at their best three (3) weekends.  Ties will be broken by number of race wins, then number of seconds, then number of thirds, etc. even if that exceeds the best three weekends.

14.   Other Awards:  Additional awards may be designated and criteria established throughout the year on a race-by-race or Series basis.  Awards currently being considered are:

. "GTA Spirit" Award

. Hard-Charger Award

. Most Improved Driver

15.   Contingency Awards:  Any additional monetary and/or merchandise awards will be distributed as specified by the sponsor(s).

16.   Dispute Resolution:  The first line of authority in resolving disputes is the established hierarchy of officials from the sanctioning body.  Once those bodies have ruled, the GTA National Tour officials may elect to impose additional penalties or actions, up to and including dismissal from the Tour.  The GTA National Tour Administrator or her/his designate is the final authority for all Series rulings.

17.   GTA National Tour Officials: 

18.   2009 National Tour Schedule:  The following events will make up the 2009 GTA National Tour.

GTA National Tour Code of Conduct:

While drivers, entrants, and crew are expected to abide by the sanctioning organization's rules, GTA National Tour participants will be held to an even higher standard of conduct.  Violations of these standards will be dealt with by Tour officials and may include penalties ranging from reprimand to permanent expulsion from the series.

1.     Personal Conduct:  Disputes are inevitable in a competitive environment.  All GTA Tour participants are expected to conduct themselves in a calm and responsible manner while said disputes are being resolved.  Shouting, profanity, physical confrontation, and any other sort of disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated.  Drivers will be held responsible for the actions of their crew members and guests.

2.     Observation of Flag Conditions:  Track and traffic conditions will be communicated to the drivers via flags at corner stations around the track.  Drivers will be held responsible for knowing the meaning of each of the flags, acknowledging them when displayed during competition, and reacting accordingly.

3.     Metal-to-metal contact:  The regulations expressly prohibit contact between racing vehicles and charges both drivers with responsibility for avoiding said contact.  Although the overtaking driver bears primary responsibility for executing a safe pass, it is also incumbent upon the driver being overtaken to provide adequate racing room.  "Bump drafting", "taking the air of his spoiler", "rubbing", "trading paint", "rattling his cage", and other euphemisms for running into one's opponent may be acceptable in other forms of stock car racing, but they will be dealt with harshly here.

4.     Blocking:  Driving a defensive line is part of racecraft, weaving to keep an opponent at bay is not.  The rule of thumb is you get one move to defend your position prior to overlap being established.  Once the overtaking driver has established even six inches of overlap prior to corner turn-in, the driver being overtaken MUST provide adequate room on the marked racing surface for the overtaking car.

5.     Brake-Checking:  Sudden and/or irregular braking maneuvers meant to disrupt the progress of the overtaking driver are not allowed.

6.     Vehicle Appearance:  GTA National Tour cars will be held to a higher appearance standard than the typical regional race car.  Cars with crash damage, duct tape (other than car number changes), body patches, and/or exterior panels in primer will be given one event to have them repaired.

7.     "Open-Hood" Policy:  All GTA National Tour competitors agree to allow a non-invasive visual inspection of any component of their car up to one hour before a scheduled track session by any host organization tech inspector or registered Tour competitor.  This also extends to any Impound sessions required by the hosting organization.

8.     Racing with Other Classes:  The GTA National Tour cars will be sharing the track sessions with cars from other classes.  GTA Tour drivers will be cognizant of who else is running in the GTA Tour and should not interfere with races involving cars not running for GTA Tour points and prizes.  i.e. – if you're not in a battle with another GTA Tour car, don't influence the outcome of a non-GTA Tour class!

9.     Conduct That Reflects Negatively on the GTA National Tour:  The GTA National Tour Officials are open to suggestions on how we might improve both the series and the sanctioning organization(s).  Once a decision has been made and the reasons explained, continued harping, badgering, back-stabbing, and other negative comments, either in person or on-line, about the Tour and/or the sanctioning body will not be tolerated.

10.   In-Car Cameras:  Although not required, in-car cameras are an invaluable tool in improving driving performance and also for resolving disputes that may occur on the race track.  All GTA National Tour participants are encouraged to utilize this technology during all on-track sessions and, if requested, will make such recordings available to the event officials.