HPDE in a 289 USRRC/FIA Cobra

[crazycasey]

Hey guys and gals, I’m posting this in a couple of different Cobra forums hoping I can get some solid info, so if you see it on a competitors forum, I hope it’s not an issue.

I’ve been getting more and more serious about the prospect of ordering a 289 USRRC/FIA kit; I’d love to order the ERA kit, but at 2/3 the cost, and arguably just as capable around a road course, I may end up going the Factory Five route. I’m absolutely in love with the lines of the USRRC car (even with the “perky butt” on the F5R version), and I’ve got an awesome 289/T5 combo looking for a new home, so it really seems like the right direction for me to move in. I would want to use the car, primarily for doing track days, HPDE events, and some weekend driving. I have no aspirations of wheel to wheel racing, and I have seen essentially unmodified track day cobras in the past, but lately in the forums I’ve been seeing a lot of negative and/or contradictory information.

Can I do track days in a 289 USRRC/FIA Cobra?

The NASA CCR HPDE section states very vaguely that all open top cars shall have a roll-bar, and mentions in the same section “an original Shelby Cobra” as an example of a “roll-bar” that would be satisfactory for the driver only (NO passengers). They then go into specifics for “roll-cage” construction in the competition rules. What I’ve been hearing is that in some areas (Arizona specifically) NASA is starting to enforce the competition rules for tracks days and HPDE events, kicking out cobra kit cars specifically because the roll bar hoop is too narrow (15” minimum requirement IN THE COMPETITION RULES?), and also no rear stringers for the 289 USRRC/FIA car. On one site a comment was made about cobras being inherently dangerous and, essentially backyard built, so it seems like maybe it’s an issue of the cars themselves being out of favor.

Can anybody speak to this situation specifically? And bonus points if you’re on the West coast. Maybe I just don’t want to run with NASA, though they’re the big dog out here, and a lot of the smaller organizations reference their CCR.

PS-I’d like to avoid the general roll-bar discussion that ensues on these forums. For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume I’m single with no kids. Also, assuming I go the 289 Cobra route, I plan to get my HPDE solo status in my new Accord, so that not having a passenger’s side bar for the instructor isn’t an issue.

Thanks for reading. Hope that I can build this kit, and use it the way I envision without too much trouble.

Thanks Again,

Casey