About Us
The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Northeast Region is a sanctioned organization that gives you and your car a safe and affordable way to get on the racetrack. With over 45 years of running track events, NASA NE delivers high-quality Motorsports events to automotive enthusiasts who share our passion. NASA has created programs that allow owners all types of cars to experience the excitement of driving hard on premier racetracks in the Northeast. We provide a safe, controlled and educational environment. NASA’s High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) events have provided many drivers the chance to get on track with their own cars. No racing license, special car preparation or out-of-the-ordinary insurance is needed. Both classroom and in-car, on-track instruction is available for all drivers. Group 1 are required to have an instructor and one is assigned to them for the event.
Weekend & Weekday Events
All our events are on premium weekends and selected weekdays. We offer single-day entries in all groups if being away all weekend doesn’t suit your schedule.
Ladder System
We offer the full spectrum of four HPDE levels, a Time Trial group, and wheel-to-wheel roadracing at almost every event – this is affectionately referred to as the “NASA Ladder of Speed.” Since driver admittance at each step is based on skill and experience, every group builds upon the prior one and leads directly to the next one. With no prior experience you start in HPDE1 driving your street car, get signed off by your instructor for HPDE2, graduate up the ladder through HPDE3 and HPDE4 with fewer restrictions, then either enter our Time Trial group, enter one of our Competition Licensing weekends and go racing (assuming you’ve got a racecar and safety gear), or perhaps even become a HPDE instructor yourself if that is your ultimate goal. Any step on our ladder provides tons of fun whether you want to climb any further or not. We have also graduated many racers into professional series over the years as a result of our comprehensive system.
Efficiency
We know your time is valuable so we do not waste it. This starts with your first message to our regional staff, which we try to respond to within minutes or hours – not days or weeks. Once your questions have been answered and you are ready to sign up, our clean and simple event registration system was built and is maintained entirely in-house just like our websites, which means if you have any problems the solution is just one quick email or call away anytime.
As an event gets closer, any questions you may have are probably answered on the web page about that event. Entry lists, tentative schedules, and confirmation/details emails are posted there for all to see.
Once at the track, go directly to Registration to sign in and get your wristband and tech sheet. After tech is the drivers meeting where the events of the day are discussed. Time Trialers and Racers check-in and get their wristbands from group leaders after the drivers meeting. Competition vehicles/racers can even skip tech inspections once their annual inspection is completed at events thanks to our streamlined process. This all means shorter lines and less wasted time on the usually quite busy first morning of an event. Again this is to make it so you have more time for fun – and relaxation in between!
Safety
Putting on safe events is the cornerstone of our organization – almost all our rules and procedures are in place for safety reasons. At the track we staff all appropriate corner stations with specially trained flagging & communications workers and don’t cut corners on this or any other area of safety. We have dedicated, fully equipped safety / rescue trucks and ambulances and tow trucks on full-time standby should the need arise. These advantages can make the difference between life and death in a serious accident.
Track Time
We offer as much track time as possible for your dollar spent, not to mention your weekend spent away from home. Best of all you can enter two groups for a significant discount, as a “Supersize” entry, and get twice as much track time if that’s what you are after! We also put a lot of time and energy into making sure the track time we offer is high quality and that you get everything you’ve paid for whenever possible, so our “dollars per minute of seat time” ratio is among the best in the business as a result. For 2019, we have created a “Bring-a-Friend” discount program which offers you discounts for referring new members.
Winnings in Competition Groups
In addition to trophies and other prizes, our competition groups have great contingency programs thanks to supporting partners like Toyo Tires, Hoosier Racing Tire, Hawk Performance Brakes, BFGoodrich Tires, Ford Racing, Nissan Motorsports, Honda Racing, MazdaSpeed, Yokohama Tires, and more. This means that yes, absolutely, in Time Trial and racing you can win free tires and brakes which definitely lowers your running costs each season. Please click here for contingency program details.
National Organization
Although we primarily serve residents in the Northeast, anyone is welcome at our events and it is common for drivers to come from all over the country to run with us. Since we are part of a much larger organization with many different regions and full time staff at the national office in California, there is an excellent support system in place that is available nearly 24/7. Our highly competent Officials and staff are trained to provide a high level of “professionalism and fun” both regionally and nationally – including SFI Certification for our tech inspectors as of 2014. Even better, with your membership and/or license you can participate in many other NASA events across the country that will all be very similar… have you ever wanted to take a long weekend and run a “bucket list” track like VIR? And best of all, when you enter the world of NASA competition groups you get the chance to test your skills against the best of the best at the NASA Championships. This program is unique and demonstrates the highest levels of our “ladder of speed” for sure!
Insurance
Most drivers don’t even consider this until they realize it’s an issue and they find out the event organizer is carrying the minimum amount required. NASA offers by far the most protection in the business. We have $1M in excess medical coverage. That means if you need to be airlifted to a hospital and the bill comes to $30k which is not covered by your own insurance you pay nothing as our insurance steps in. Most other groups only carry less than $50k in medical coverage so this is a vital benefit nearly unparalleled in the industry. We also cover you for third party liability insurance in case someone not participating in the event sues you for an accident such as a loose wheel injuring a spectator.
Instructors
We have the most Nationally Certified, quality instructors that most other groups use as their standard. We offer mandatory instruction for HPDE1 drivers to help make the track environment more controlled, and all later graduating to higher HPDE levels is done via check rides or lead/follow sessions with instructors.
Camaraderie
Many drivers from many different organizations and even other NASA regions have commented how the Northeast Region is so friendly. Nearly every NASA region will have stories of how NASA feels more like a family than simply an organization to drive your car fast. We like to refer to this as the NASA difference and must be experienced to understand how our events feel and the camaraderie that comes with driving with us. On weekends we do a full dinner BBQ with plenty of drinks and benchracing that extends into the night and after parties! It is way more fun to hang out with your fellow participants and swap stories than it is to disappear to the trailer or hotel until the next morning!
We ask that you please consider all these great things about NASA when choosing your events!
NASA-X
The Northeast Autocross events are run by Motorsports NE (www.motorsportsne.com). For those of you who are unfamiliar with autocross (also called SOLO II), it’s a great way to break into amateur auto-racing by using your own car on a controlled course in a secured parking lot. This organization is designed to give those who are interested in learning how to drive their cars in a competitive atmosphere, a chance to do so for a very reasonable price.
First and foremost it’s safe and fun! The NASA-X program is designed around a friendly and knowledgeable staff of committed members who want to share their love of autocrossing with everyone who is interested. No politics, just fun. Every year we try to run a championship series of approximately 10 autocrosses at large lots in the NJ MetLife Stadium facility , with a year end champion from each class.
Our car classing system is unique to NASA and has worked well over the years. For those who are new to the sport we have an experienced staff and run several beginner schools during the season to help you acquaint yourself with the sport of autocrossing. So come on out, you won’t regret it! Our schedule of events is available on the website, and updated periodically along with posted results, and current NASA X news.
Thanks,
The NASA X Crew
