The NASA is poised to announce at the PRI show a revolutionary new style of motorsports competition set to debut in the 2024 racing season. It’s called Time Trial Target.
Integrated with NASA’s existing Time Trial program, Time Trial Target emphasizes not the quickest lap time overall, but driver consistency. Time Trial Target is calculated among all eight classes of Time Trial competitors on a given weekend, rewarding the most consistent drivers in all of Time Trial. The three drivers with the smallest delta among their fastest lap times can qualify for an additional podium finish.
Like NASA Time Trial, TTT will have one podium each day of a given NASA weekend of competition. For the NASA Championships, TTT will have one podium on the final day of competition, tallying the results from all Time Trial sessions.
“We created Triple T to offer NASA drivers another form of competition, but with absolutely no barriers to entry. You can win in Time Trial Target regardless of the car you drive. The emphasis is on the consistency of the driver,” said NASA CEO Jeremy Croiset. “Triple T allows competitors from NASA’s momentum-oriented Time Trial classes, such as TT5 or TT6, to compete against drivers in the fastest NASA Time Trial classes like TT1 or even the class for electric cars, TTEV. It’s the first program of its kind in road-course racing that we know of, and we really hope our drivers like it.”
Timing and Scoring officials determine TTT winners using tweaks to existing software. At NASA events nationwide, TTT requires no additional time on track. For drivers, TTT requires no expensive performance modifications.
“Consistency is a hallmark of a competitive driver,” said NASA TT Director Greg Greenbaum, who helped conceive the program with Croiset. “With Time Trial Target, we have found a format to reward consistent drivers in a way that’s never been done anywhere before in Time Trial competition, and we’re excited to roll it out for the 2024 season.”
