About

Welcome to the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Arizona Region!

NASA Arizona strives to deliver the highest quality club level motorsports events to enthusiasts in the state (and beyond).  Our region is only one out of 15 regions covering nearly every track in America!  NASA is the largest National organization with a “tiered driving system” that allows enthusiasts of any skill level a place to drive their car on track regardless if they are a 1st time novice, a veteran racer or somewhere in between.

NASA Arizona frequents all three road courses at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park (WHPMP) in Chandler, INDE Motorsports Ranch in Willcox, Arizona Motorsports Park (AMP) in Litchfield Park as well as Chuckwalla Valley Raceway in Desert Center, CA.  We also have occassional “crossover events” with other NASA regions at great tracks such as AutoClub Speedway (formeraly “Cal Speedway”), Willow Springs, Miller Motorsports Park and Buttonwillow just to name a few.  NASA also hosts an annual National Championship were the best of the best meet to duke it out for top honors at famous tracks such as Miller Motorsports Park (2009-2010), Mid Ohio (2005-2008, 2011-2012), Infineon Raceway (aka- “Sears Point”), Virgina Motorspeedway (VIR), Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Watkins Glenn to name a few.  http://nasachampionships.com/

Other clubs may claim to be the “premier racing organization”, but we are confident that NASA AZ puts on the safest, most organized and well run events in the southwest and simply choose to not self proclaim what kind of club we are.  We simply let our membership speak on our behalf.  Here are just a few examples of what they had to say –>

 

Oct 11, 2015

I just wanted to personally thank you for the hospitality and the awesome job that you consistently do with orchestrating a truly great team.  I have learned so much with Inde and love the organized and safety first way things are done.  I started with NASA in 2011 and have been to every NASA/Inde event since.  After some gentle ribbing this weekend, I am seriously considering to broaden my experience and promise to drag my car from Sierra Vista to the PHX area some time soon.

Again, appreciate all the hard work and great things that you do.  I brought a friend out this weekend and he could not believe how nice and professional everyone was.  That says a lot from a couple of guys that use to be on the desert dirt bike racing circuit.
Thanks again,
Todd S

 

Sep 30, 2015

Hi Tage… I wanted to let you know that I sold the black M3 to xxx and won’t be at the tracks in the near future.  I really  appreciate your organization and think it is the best run of all I’ve been associated with over the past 40 years or so.  My regards to you and Adina, I’ll see y’all again.  Dan

“”Sunday funday recap: couldn’t ask for a better day. So much fun this weekend at the track with unparalleled camaraderie hangin with the NASA family. You learn so much more being there in person than behind the pc screen. MANY adjustments to make to be prepared for the next event and challenge moving up a class. Huge thanks to all those who made this weekend an awesome experience Chris Soehren, Richard Dowell, Russell Whelan, Tage Evanson, Dave Riddle and all the others, until next month”

Damien P

 

 

“I want to say thank you for the invite. I went to the track yesterday and had a blast. The people I met,to a person, were awesome. I went on the track with an instructor who made the experience all that much better.. The ZL1 performed flawlessly.. much fun. Despite wanting to save my tires, the instructor had me at 70% speed in three laps. Crazy fun. Four wheel slides, apex’s, late apex’s, braking, coming off the corner into the back straight, rolling on the throttle to feel the car transition to a straight line Is incredible. I’ve done desert racing professionally but my first time in a car this capable on a track. It was eye opening. The experience was that much better because of the people involved. Big thank you to gotroost, The NASAAZ, and the awesome INDE track facility.”

Stephen (aka – CosmoZL1 @ http://www.camaro5.com/forums)

 

Dec 13, 2011

<snip – *non-relevant email content*> …  “I have to take pause, and compliment you on your DE Instructors; Dave Riddle, Rod Holt, Mervin Tan, Robert Rose and Gabe Ortega. Without these men, I wouldn’t be the Driver I am today, and hope to be in the future. I owe each and everyone of them a debt of gratitude and thanks. To a man, each one of them was willing to take time from their track weekend and work with me. And once I moved on, they were still interested to see how I was coming along. You have a great stable of talent and should be proud of what you’re building with NASA-Arizona.”

David L.
Dec 5, 2011

When we asked our racers at the end of our 2011 season if they wanted to give any shout outs to anyone, here is what Jeff had to say –>

Please include a huge thank you from myself, and the other 944 Spec racers, to Adina, Tage and the entire NASAAz staff.  The season and events are top notch; operated with an incredibly enthusiastic and positive attitude.  I feel comfortable and welcome at each event.  I look forward to the exciting 2012 season organized by Tage for this club.

Jeff W.

 

Oct 6, 2011

<snip – *non-relevant email content*> … I very much appreciate your help and encouragement re my tech inspection paranoia.  The inspection went smoothly, and I fortunately guessed correctly with the fairly significant last minute suspension setting changes I made the day before the Inde event, and my <EDIT:  “car”> was really hooked-up and that of course makes the car easier to drive and safer to push a bit.

I have to admit that although I run a lot of events with <EDIT “a different organization“>, I find the more safety conscience approach of NASA-AZ to be more to my liking, and for some reason I cannot put my finger on, all the NASA folks are just more friendly.

You have a real gem in Robert — he is very outgoing and likeable and also very knowledgeable and helpful in the technical department.  I continued in HPDE-3 last Sunday partly because of those attributes but also because there was a really good and careful group running there on Sunday.

Thanks for the email.
Anonymous

 

Oct 6, 2011

NSX Track day at Inde Motorsports

So last weekend I was able to get my car out to Inde Motorsports with NASA. Let me tell you…it was an awesome experience for the entire weekend!! If you thought you “knew” how to drive…you have lots to learn. From the classroom instruction to having one on one instruction on the track with a instructor in the car with you, there was no way to beat it!

My instructor, Dave, in the classroom had tons of knowledge and made the instruction fun with Top Gear videos, track session videos, as well as open discussions.

Now once I got to get on the track with my instructor, Jim “Coz” Cozzolino!, I was blown away by how much “quicker, not faster” on the track I was just by taking correct lines and being smooth all the way around the track.

If anyone has the time and money, I would highly suggest trying out at least one day of NASA HPDE 1 at a local track.

The whole weekend event was great as we had lunch at the track each day and had a huge BBQ sat night where we got to meet tons of great racers beginners to pros.

Everyone was welcoming as a big family and if you asked them…they gave you vast amounts of knowledge.

Now i just gotta fix my car back up since she sprung a leak…lol.
Will

That was the best organized, smoothest run and professional car event I have been too. I had a great time sorry I didn’t stop by and introduce my self but I will on the next event.

Thanks again for a fun two days
 
 
Bob P 
 
 
 
I had to take a minute to thank you and your organization for a fantastic track weekend.  You and your staff made me feel right at home from the time I arrived, to Sunday afternoon.   Many of your staff and participants dropped by to say hello and welcome me to NASA Arizona.  It was a nice feeling and I could tell the group had a family feel.   You taking the time to personally provide me with a track tour Saturday morning was over the top service and extremely helpful in getting up to speed on track quickly.   Had I not promised the wife I would take her to Napa Valley after the N. Cal event in February, I would have returned next month.      Best of luck to you and NASA Arizona.  I hope to see you soon.
 
Sincerely
Dan R
 
 
I wanted to take a minute and personally thank you for a great weekend. I was able to move up to DE2 after my 3rd run on Saturday and really felt good on the track during my Sunday track sessions.
I am totally hooked. Now it’s on to suspension and braking improvements. Yes, I’ve entered the world of track prepping my car!  Cha Ching!
I was able to ride with a DE4 driver on Sunday as well and that really opened my eyes as to how far I have to progress and what I need to learn. This was a total BLAST and an incredible experience. Lots of coworkers wanted to know how my weekend went and many were stunned that I ran at PIR.
You run a top flight organization and I’m really looking forward to meeting more folks and being part of the NASA-AZ family.
And please pass on a huge thanks to Adina, as she was so helpful to this Newbie during the weekend.
Yes, I’ve already registered for both days in February. See you then!Best regards,
Dave
 
 
Thank you so much for your letter and for including the picture of my car “in action” at the August event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.  I also appreciated your willingness to talk with me from time to time about options for my car and my orientation to NASA.My Son Justin, who attends all the events with me and helps with the car, recently joined NASA as well and I expect he will start driving in HPDE 1 during the 2010 season.
I am pleasantly surprised at how everyone I’ve encountered is so willing to help and happy to talk about their experiences and give advice.  It’s a great organization.
Sincerely,
Charlie B.
NVR2L8 Racing
 
 
 
 
Mid-Life Crisis Dreams Come True
After weeks of trepidation and countless hours spent on the internet researching beginner high performance driving programs including several phone calls to local and distant driving schools.  Some of which were very expensive and not very friendly.  I finally summoned up the guts to sign up for the local Arizona Region HPDE One program.  One day school including both classroom instruction and on track experience, one of the most reasonable priced programs available.  I happened to choose the largest single day event that the NASA Arizona region puts on.  It was their annual night event held at the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park Main track in Chandler Arizona.  I spent weeks coursing thru the internet websites reading all the material I could find concerning local road racing events held around the country.  I arrived at the appropriate time and found a place to park.  Pleased with my self that I already owned an enclosed race trailer to haul my Vette around in, I un-loaded  my car and  I apprehensively proceeded to the tech inspection line with my pre-tech inspection sheet and helmet in hand.  The local tech inspectors efficiently inspected the growing line of cars and all my concerns about my car passing subsided.  Actually any street car in proper operating condition should pass any level of HPDE tech. 
Next was to attend the required drivers meeting.  Quite painless and informative, So far so good, no reason at this point to get stressed about my decision to try and fulfill one of my life long dreams.  All the drivers learned the schedule for the day, what the flags meant, where the corner workers would be and proper safety procedures and other important information.  The ethnicity of the drivers attending the event was as diverse as grains of sand in the desert.  Seems gear-heads come in all colors, shapes, sized and ages.   I find that very encouraging for the motorsports industry. After the drivers meeting was over, other beginners like me proceeded to the classroom portion of HPDE1.  High Performance Driving Experience includes two hours of instruction, films, slides, and lectures on vehicle dynamics and physics the meanings and colors of all the flags, proper on track etiquette and the driving line around the track and how to find it.  Up to this point I was as relaxed as taking a walk thru the park.  Of course we haven’t actually made it to the track yet but soon we were released to go and get our cars and proceed to grid. 
Finally, I was actually going to what I had always wanted to do.  You see, ever since I was a kid, as long as I could remember I’ve wanted to drive a race car.  I used to daydream about it during class, whenever we took a vacation, watching Indy racing on the T.V.  I am a Nascar fan and an American Le Mans series junkie. 
Now I was nervous with anticipation, which I was soon to learn was only going to get worse.  You see, the NASA AZ region is careful enough to try and pair you with an on track instructor that has experience, or actually races the same kind of car that you’re driving.  That was very cool until I was to learn that my instructor was a track record holder at many of the tracks here in the southwest.  Now I wasn’t actually nervous about wrecking, I was really apprehensive about embarrassing my instructor.  Thankfully he was graced with the good humor and personality to make me feel completely comfortable in the car from start to finish.  Our instructors drive the first few laps, assessing the cars and showing us the lines, taking a lap at speed so we can partially see what the limits of our cars were.  Levels we surely weren’t going to achieve ourselves anytime in the near future. But it definitely puts you at ease about what you can get away with in your car on a racetrack. 
So, three laps later we pull into the hot pits changing places for me to finally take the wheel.  Even now I am somewhat breathless remembering the anticipation and thrill of learning to drive on a track.  I feel somewhat lucky this fat old guy didn’t have a heart attack right then and there.  My turn, I exit the hot pits onto the track and basically spend the next 20 minutes having the time of my life.  My instructor was absolutely encouraging.  Showing me the line, coaching me thru the art of feeling the balance of the car, when, how hard, where the braking zones were and most of all to have fun.  After each 20 minutes session drivers are required to return to the classroom and continue instruction between each time on track.  Which seemed to last an eternity as I couldn’t wait to return to the track each time. 
Needless to say my first track experience was exactly like and more so of what I thought it would be.  It has become an addiction for me, one year later I am completely hooked on road racing.  I’ve rebuilt an engine, proceeded steadily thru the 4 HPDE levels and into Time Trial.  The only regret I have is that I didn’t attempt this sooner.  The younger we get started the more influence we have on other young people to keep this motorsports industry alive.  So don’t hesitate any longer, go ahead and get out there and join your local NASA organization and get on track.
Dan K.