Rules & Guidelines

Club Rules

Car Presentation

Every car participating at a CFRA event should be well maintained. This also includes the appearance of the car. Dents, paint in poor condition, and cut fenders will not be acceptable.

Competition Classifications

CFRA runs two parallel competition championships. One is the Race Championship, the other the Qualifying Championship. Only members holding a CFRA Race License or Provisional Race License are eligible to participate in the Race Championship. All members of Groups "R" & "A" are eligible to participate in the Qualifying Championship. Participation requires the use of an AMB/MyLaps transponder.

For purposes of competition, cars will be grouped into classes based on power to weight (“as raced weight” including driver) and tire selection. We try and have approximately the same amount of participation in each class. More information about competition classing can be found in the competition section of the web site.

Facility Damage

The person causing any damage to a facility must assume financial responsibility for that damage.

Membership

All members are required to renew their membership each January. CFRA is a family oriented club. With that in mind CFRA has adopted a "Family Membership" policy. This policy states that when an individual becomes a member this membership is extended to that member's spouse or significant other and immediate family living within that member's household. This "family" is afforded all the benefits extended the member. Extended family (parents, grandparents, in-laws), and immediate family not living within the household of the member are not eligible.

Becoming a Member

Every guest is monitored by the membership for safety and courtesy. Any member may block any guest from becoming a member if they don't feel they meet CFRA standards. If there are no member objections the person will be offered CFRA membership. Please note that you may only be a guest with CFRA once.

Policy Making and Rule Setting

The members make all policy decisions for CFRA. The two exceptions are Safety and Financial issues. The members may only advise on these topics. Most policy discussions are held via mailing listd.

Costs, Refunds & Transferring Fees

CFRA is a non-profit, so our goal at each event is to just break even. Pricing is set by dividing projected costs by the number of drivers we expect in attendance.

When you register for an event, you must acknowledge a waiver that includes language about cancellation. The revised CFRA website for 2023 presents the following at the waiver acknowledgment step. This language has been in place since at least 2005. (The text below might become out-of-date in the future, so the actual waiver text displayed during registration takes precedence.)

No registration fees may be transferred to another CFRA event if it impacts CFRA's ability to break even for the event in question. If, after a request for an entry fee transfer is made, and given the event will not lose money, a transfer of a registrants fees may be performed, with a maximum of one transfer per year, per member. If an event does not at least break even, no transfers will be given. Authorization to transfer entry fees will be considered on a first come first served basis. No requests to transfer entry fees will be accepted less than 7 calendar days prior to a given event or after an event. No-shows are not eligible for transfers. All requests must be made in writing (e-mail will do) and must be postmarked or time-stamped with a date that is at least 7 days prior to the event.

Driving Event Rules

Advancing Groups

CFRA has three groupings of drivers; "B", "A", "R". Group "B" is point-by passing everywhere on the track and is eligible for track day car insurance. This group is designed for drivers with less than 10 days of experience but many of the drivers stay in this group their entire carrier because they just like it.

Group "A" is for those with greater than 10 days track experience who are competent to drive in an open passing group, and group "R" is for those who have a CFRA Race License or for those who are cleared for unlimited passing and would like to practice with “R”.

Advancement to Group "R" is outlined on the Race Team page.

Backup Car

There is no extra fee to have more than one car registered for the same run group with CFRA. The 2nd car is considered a back-up car and must have its own tech form submitted. A back-up car can only be used once the primary car is retired from the event. At that point you transfer your number from your primary car to your backup car. You also must inform the Race Director of the change.

Car-to-Car Contact & Aggressive Driving

Car-to-Car contact is absolutely contrary to the spirit of a CFRA performance driving event. This is a driving event with friends, not an all-out door-handle-to-door-handle competition. If car-to-car contact occurs, your penalty will be determined by your peers in CFRA. They can choose no penalty, banning a driver for life from CFRA, or anything in-between, depending on how they view the situation. Their safety is of primary concern, and if they no longer feel safe with a driver on the track, they can choose to ensure that they never have to share the track with that driver again.

A driver who is black flagged with a passenger on board (not including for a mechanical issue) may lose passenger privileges for the remainder of the day. This does not include when the passenger is a mentor or professional instructor.

Co-Drivers

A co-driver is a driver who shares a car in the same run group as another driver. CFRA does not charge a separate registration fee for a co-driver. However, the co-driver must be qualified to drive in any group above “B”. Cars with co-drivers cannot run in more than one run group.

Drivers Meeting

A Drivers Meeting is held prior to each event and attendance is required. If you fail to attend the drivers meeting, you will need to talk to the event director to insure that you have no questions about the event. You will also lose the 1st session of the day as a penalty for missing the drivers meeting.

Exhibition Race & Group R

Only licensed CFRA Race Team members and those with Provisional Race Licenses may participate in the exhibition race. The one exception is professional race drivers that sometimes join CFRA at an event. With CFRA's permission, professionals may participate, but no points are awarded. Among other things, full Nomex equipment, at least a 5 point race harness, a fire extinguisher, approved head-and-neck protection, and an approved helmet are required to participate. For the full CFRA race rules, see Race Team Rules.

Flags & Signals

It is important for all drivers to know the meaning of all flags and signals used by corner works and track officials. Flags are discussed at the Drivers Meeting. A full description can be found here.

First-Time Participants

All guests at a CFRA event must display a zero (0) as the first digit of their car number. For example, "06".

Instruction/Mentoring

CFRA is not a driving school. There are organizations, businesses and other resources available to help people who seek instruction on becoming a better performance driver.

CFRA does however recognize the desire of some of its drivers to improve their skills without going outside of CFRA. We therefore have formalized the CFRA Mentor Program.

At registration time each CFRA member or guest may request a mentor for one or more sessions during an event. The member may also specify which session, or sessions, they would like to have a mentor ride with them. If you request a mentor for multiple sessions, we will do our best to honor this request depending on time and mentor availability.

A CFRA member may also request a particular individual as their mentor and requests will be accommodated if possible. Mentor assignments are at the discretion of the Chief Instructor. CFRA staff and members are not required to participate in the mentor program, but many do because they were once in the position of requiring a mentor and want to "pay it forward".

Drivers with less than 5 days of track experience are highly encouraged to utilize our mentor program. CFRA reserves the right to require mentors in cases where they feel it is necessary for the safety of the participants.

A mentor riding in your car may at anytime request that you pit and let them out if they feel unsafe riding with you. If that happens the mentor may decide that you are not a good fit for our event and request that you leave.

Please note this program will only be available to people who pre-register for an event. Due to logistics and scheduling we will not be able to find mentors for drivers who register close to the date of the event.

Study Guides

With some web searching effort, you can find track tutorials available on each of the tracks at which CFRA runs. Some tutorials include comprehensive descriptions of the track, with every turn analyzed -- entry line, braking point, turn-in, apex, and exit. Studying this information in advance, as well as watching in-car videos, will make driving the proper line much easier the first time, and give you a leg up compared to turning your first lap without any knowledge of the track layout.

Numbers

All cars are required to numbers on the side. The numbers must be at least 10" tall and be of a contrasting color with the car. Some sources for professional numbers are:

SoloTime in Kansas (316-683-3803)
Race Car Lettering (1-800-255-1790)
Gallagher deSigns (209-832-2808)
Sign-A-Rama (707-523-0606)
FastSigns (near you)

Passengers

Guests at CFRA may have passengers unless the Event Director determines that there is a risk to the passenger. The exception is mentors and professional driving instructors. They do automatically have permission to be in the car of a guest.

A driver who is black flagged (not including mechanical) with a passenger may lose passenger privileges for the remainder of the day. This does not include when the passenger is a mentor or professional instructor.

All passengers must have wristbands, which are obtained from the Registration Director by signing the appropriate release forms.

Passing

The Passing rules for the day will be described in the morning drivers' meeting. There will be some combination of unlimited passing, limited point-by passing, and limited passing though not all of these categories will have their own run group. The groupings will be determined by registration numbers for the event.

In the event that unlimited passing and limited point-by passing drivers are running in the same group, the point-by cars will be clearly marked as discussed in the morning drivers meeting.

Qualifying

The qualifying sessions are marked on the event schedule. We will not allow passengers (including instructors) during qualifying sessions. Those who wish to participate in the points championship will need to record their qualifying time during this session. All times must be recorded using the transponder system. No "Hot Lap" timing box, Intercomp timing box or handheld stopwatch times will be accepted.

Transponder times will be automatically recorded (you may want to ensure your transponder is working with Timing and Scoring). If you have a malfunction with your transponder you may register a result of "Q" (qualified) with Timing and Scoring; this typically gives you last place points in your class, which is better than no points.

The Timing Director has final authority in all matters dealing with timing and scoring. The Timing Director must approve all exceptions to the rules that pertain to timing and scoring. All times made by methods, or in run groups, not approved by the Timing Director will not be recorded and may not be used as official times for CFRA.

"A" group cars will be pre-gridded for the qualifying session in the hot pits. The faster cars will be gridded closer to the front to reduce passing. However, when the track is open, we will start releasing cars even if the gridding hasn't been completed. Group "B" drivers will be released into the qualifying session on a first-come-first-served basis.

Qualifying Points

For each Qualifying session participated in, each driver will receive points. These points are awarded based of officially recorded time at a given event. Points are awarded using the following scale:

1st Place: 10
2nd Place: 8
3rd Place: 7
4th Place: 6
5th Place: 5
6th Place: 4
7th Place: 3
8th Place: 2

If a participant in an event qualifying session does not have a properly functioning transponder, that participant can register "Q" for their qualifying time; it is the participant's responsibility to check the posted timing sheets and see that they are not listed, and notify the timing staff. Participants registering a "Q" for their qualifying time will be scored behind the person registering the slowest lap time within that participant's class. If no other person in that participant's class registers a time then that participant will receive the full 10 points awarded for fastest time in class for that event.

Safety Equipment

Please refer to the current CFRA tech inspection form for the current requirements for driver equipment, car display, car safety gear, and other items. Some requirements are different depending on the run group or on participation in the Exhibition Race.

Drivers are encouraged to buy as much safety equipment as they can. I would highly recommend the purchase of the same equipment that the Race Team uses. Safety is the priority and drivers should take it seriously. This section sets minimum standards for non Racers and is not to be considered optimum.

All (non-racing) drivers and passengers are required to wear a helmet that meets current CFRA requirements. We require long pants and closed shoes. A short sleeve shirt is adequate. I do recommend denim and cotton so that if exposed to heat, they do not melt to the body. I also recommend that leather shoes be worn for the same reason. The same rules apply to all passengers. All cars are required to have factory seat belts or better. We strongly encourage that all cars be equipped with a dry chemical fire extinguisher, securely mounted inside the vehicle with a metal bracket as well as have four-point roll protection and a five or six-point harness.

Spins

After each spin or off track excursion, the driver is required to report to the pits. The first spin shall result in a warning. The second spin may result in you returning to the paddock. The 3rd spin may result in you being removed from the event. All penalties are at the discretion of the Event Director.

Technical Inspection

CFRA does not perform technical inspections. You are entirely responsible for ensuring that your car and driver equipment meets the technical, safety, and competition criteria as described here and on the tech form, and is up to the rigors of track driving. CFRA recommends that you have a professional shop carry out the necessary inspection if you do not have the knowledge to do so yourself. A certified NASA inspection shop is a good place to start. After signing and dating the tech form, bring it to registration at the event where you will receive your registration packet. (Alternatively you may electronically sign the form during the on-line registration process.)

Towing

If your car becomes inoperative on the track and requires a tow, track management will determine if your car poses a safety risk. If not, CFRA reserves the right to not retrieve your car until the lunch break or end of the day. If the decision is made to tow your car, you have only five minutes to attach the tow rope to your car from the time the toe truck arrives. Failure to do so may result in being charged for the time that the track is closed. It is the owners responsibility to attach the rope to their own car. If you car requires that we roll the track owned track tow truck, up to $500 service charge may be accessed on top of any charges that might accrue due to track inactivity. This provision is included on the tech form.

Please note: Due to editing errors and changes over time, there may be discrepancies between this document and what may be found elsewhere on the CFRA web site or in other communications. This page should generally take precedence but it is possible for it to become out of date as relates to the latest practices that may have been agreed upon and adopted. If you find a discrepancy or error, please bring it to the club's attention so that the appropriate document can be revised.

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