So I am wondering what the turnout is for Spec Z. I have been in a few NASA regions and typically see 0 Spec Zs. With one national championship event this year I am wondering if there will be any Spec Z participation?

 

Every NASA Region has different numbers of Spec Z participants. In Utah, for example, there were 8 cars racing a few years ago. Not sure if that's still true, as people swap classes all the time...

 

Essentially there are only a handful of Spec Zs in the country which will probably translate to no Spec Z class at NASA Nationals.

Any idea why the Spec Z class has failed to takeoff? SE46 is gaining is popularity while Spec Z is struggling to even exist.

 

I would assume racers want to go to a class where there is competition. Mostly dont care what chassis is being used. e46 is popular, will just grow and grow.

 

Having raced in both SCCA and NASA in my section of the country, and competed in both the NASA Nationals and SCCA Runoffs, I prefer SCCA. Better organization and officiating IMO. Plus, I may ***** and moan about the rulesmaking (and how many handicaps are put on the Z33), but I'd rather race against other makes (Porsche, BMW, Ford, etc) rather than in another spec car series.

But that doesn't explain why Spec Z hasn't taken off in some parts of the country. As already mentioned, there are 8-12 Spec Zs in Rocky Mountain NASA alone. But it hasn't caught on in other parts of the country as much; some spec series don't. I expect that class will ebb and flow for another few years before the final conclusion is reached.

 

Yeesh... Tell that to the Spec Miata guys.

Went to an SCCA National event last year and BY FAR, THE most populated class was SM. On top of that, they ran all the other Miata classes in with SM.... if I had to guess, I'd say there were probably 50 Miatas on track!

 

Spec Miata always has a great turnout! One reason why I love it! I just finished up the Hoosier Super Tour at COTA. There were 57ish cars. Last year at June Sprints there were nearly 80 cars! With NASA Champs paying out 80k to the winner this year I suspect a large turnout. Possibly two Spec Miata races similar to the Indy Run-offs.

 

Mazda has a great support program for both SCCA and NASA. The MX-5 platform has always been a good one to race, and SM has always had great numbers since its introduction. But what about Formula Mazda, Formula Enterprises (FE) and other spec classes that also had fast cars and were supported by Mazda? They simply never reached the same level of interest.

The other class with excellent participation has been Spec Racer, which started with Renault and has had two different Ford engines to power it over the past 40 years. Spec classes are not cheap; while the basic components are carefully regulated, tires and any R&D on small advantages usually pay off.

 

 

Agreed. I am racing NASA ST4 this year vs Spec Z because there are less rules to homologate the car and the lure of racing other cars is more appealing.