Race Licensing

How Do I Get My Race License?

New race license applications are processed by the National office and approved at the regional level.  To renew a racing license, go to your online member account and purchase a new one.  Questions about licensing can be emailed to [email protected].

All racing licenses require a medical evaluation to be completed.  The medical application can be completed online and must be renewed at certain intervals depending on a driver’s age.  The medical application is always processed at the National level so that the process can be efficient and sensitive information is protected.  Drivers must have a current medical to be eligible to race at any event.

Read the Competition section in the NASA CCR for more about licensing.

If you have little or no track experience:

Our HPDE program is a great way to learn the ropes as your progress towards getting a racing license.  With little to no track experience, you will likely begin in HPDE 1 or 2 and work your way up through HPDE 4.  The amount of time it takes a driver to go through the HPDE ladder varies depending on the driver and their goals.

To be considered for a competition license, you will need to have participated in a NASA HPDE 4 open passing group or bring documented proof that you are qualified to drive in an open passing environment.  If you are not already a regular NASA participant and can’t provide proof of experience, you will be required to start the process in the HPDE environment to verify your experience level.

Once you have achieved or proven the required skill level, you are ready to test for your license.  For NorCal, once a driver has graduated from HPDE 4, they will sign up for a competition evaluation session with a licensing instructor who will evaluate their driving skills and knowledge of the CCRs.

All NASA regions have some kind of an in-house competition licensing programs that prepare new drivers to join our competitive racing series.

If you have completed a racing school:

As an alternative to going through the HPDE ladder, you may elect to attend a sanctioned racing school, such as SCCA or Skip Barber.

If you hold a racing license with another organization such as SCCA, or FIA:
  1. Purchase a NASA membership
  2. Complete the online license application.
    1. Upload a copy of your state driver’s license
    2. Upload a copy of your racing license
    3. Provide details of the track driving history
  3. Complete the online medical application
  4. Purchase the competition license through your online member account
If you have track experience, but never held a racing license:

You may be asked to join HPDE 4 for a weekend to get to know how our club works and to understand our rules and regulations.  After that, you will have to participate in and pass the NorCal competition evaluation session licensing program with a licensing instructor to obtain a Provisional License. Contact your Regional Director for more information about programs in your home region.

Renewing your NASA license:

The racing license is good for the calendar year in which it was purchased, no matter what part of the year it was purchased in.

  1. To renew, go to your online member account and purchase a competition license.
  2. To update your medical information, complete the online medical application.
Provisional License information:

For new NASA license holders (no previous racing license held with NASA or another sanctioning body), the license is considered “provisional” until four regional races have been completed incident-free.  The provisional license is a paper card that is picked up at the driver’s first racing event and given to the race director to hold for the day.  The race director will sign the card at the end of the day to confirm the driver’s races.  The provisional card must be filled out and turned in to the Race Director at the beginning of an event and collected at the end of the event.

Once four races have been signed off, the Provisional License is complete, and the information will be submitted to the NASA National Office for them to send your full National Competition License hard card by mail.

When a driver has been issued a Provisional License, he/she will only be allowed to compete in those events hosted by the Region of issuance (special exceptions may be granted upon request).

NOTE: NASA Provisional License holders are defined as “Rookies” (according to the CCRs) and will remain so until they have finished eight races without significant incident, even thought the provisional book is completed after four races without incident. Rookie drivers must comply with the requirements in section 13.2 of the CCR.