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FAQs
Mojave Mile Shootout Q & A updated 10/3/11
Q. What exactly is a mile shootout?
A. Technically, it’s a one-mile standing-start speed trial. You drive your car or bike from a standing start and try to get to the highest speed you can in exactly one mile.
Q. So it’s just a drag race, only one mile long?
A. Not really. Unlike a drag race, there is only one vehicle on the track, and you don’t race directly against somebody else. And we don’t measure elapsed time, only top speed. Because there is no E.T., burnouts and hot starts are not as necessary, making it easier on your equipment.
Q. Sounds like fun. Who can enter?
A. Pretty much anybody 18 years or older*, with a current valid driver’s license and insurance and a safe car or bike machine with our minimum safety equipment and good tires. You must have permission of the vehicle’s owner to enter it in this event. Sorry, but NO RENTAL CARS are allowed.
*It is possible for certain minor drivers under 18 to compete by special advance arrangement. This requires a special permission form and waiver, signed by a parent and notarized in advance of the event. The parent must accompany the minor to the event. The minor must have an actual driver’s license, not just a learner’s permit.
Q. Do I need to pre-enter, or can I just show up on the day of the event?
A. We do not allow anyone to show up unannounced and run on the same day. You must pre-register. This is best done by downloading and filling out the entry forms from this website, and sending them to us along with your payment. If we have not completely sold out, you may also register at Mojave, up until the evening before you wish to compete. There is a higher entry fee for a late entry (less than 7 days prior).
Q. Can I bring any car or bike and go as fast as I want?
A. Not quite. We do require a certain minimum level of safety equipment, and we impose speed limits, based on your experience, and on the safety equipment and tires on your machine. Novices can go up to 170 MPH on their first run if their tires and vehicle are good enough. That’s fast enough for a large majority of street-legal cars, and quite a few bikes too. With more experience under your belt, more safety equipment and better tires, you can go well over 200 MPH if your vehicle is fast enough! Please see the Car and Bike preparation guides here on the website.
Q. How do your competition classes work?
A. First, each vehicle is entered into a Vehicle Class. There are three basic classes for cars, two basic classes for bikes, plus a few special-purpose ones. You select the vehicle class you wish to enter when you fill out your entry form.
Separately, at the event, we will place each driver (or rider) into one of four Driver Classes, AA, A, B, and C, with AA being the fastest.
The Vehicle Classes and Driver Classes each have separate Tech Speeds (our term for Speed Limits). This means that for any speed run, there are two Tech Speeds that apply. There is the Vehicle Tech Speed, which is based on the tires and the vehicle’s safety equipment such as roll bars, harnesses, etc. There is also the separate Driver Tech Speed, which is based on racing experience level and on the level of personal safety gear (suit, helmet, etc.) that is worn.
These two Tech Speeds are determined at Tech Inspection. The lower of your two Tech Speeds (Vehicle and Driver) is the speed you are actually allowed to go on the track.
Q. What are the car equipment requirements to get started?
A. Actually you can start with just a basic car (street legal or not) in good repair with good tires. We require a few little things like metal valve stem caps. Your car has to have at least regular three-point lap/shoulder belts in good condition. (Sorry, we don’t allow cars with just lap belts.) The tires have to be at least S rated and date-coded at 6 years old or less. That’s about it, for the car itself, for our entry-level Auto 1 class.
However, in order to actually compete, you yourself also have to be able to pass our standard driver tech inspection, and that’s where you will need a little equipment.
Q. So what is the most basic driver equipment that I need?
A. First you need a decent helmet. (That means, probably not one of the cheap DOT-rated helmets you see in discount stores.) See the item below about helmets. You also need, at a minimum, simple non-synthetic (100% cotton, for example) full-coverage clothing, cotton underwear and socks, leather gloves and leather topped shoes with no holes. The rule is, no exposed skin below the neck. This is the minimum to be a Class C driver. See the Car Preparation Guide and the rule book for more details.
Q. What if my car is a convertible?
A. There are special rules for convertibles or cars that don’t have a metal roof structure. If the car has some kind of rollover protection behind the driver (like pop-up roll bars, for example), it can probably run, with some exceptions. If it doesn’t, it probably can’t run, unless you add a roll bar to it.
Q. What about bikes? Can I just bring my stock bike and run it as is?
A. Again, not quite. We feel that for safety reasons, our required basic modifications (below) must be done. However, they are relatively low-cost and not that hard to do. Also, we generally don’t allow certain unsuitable bike types such as scooters, mini bikes, pocket GPs, trikes, dirt bikes, choppers, Can-Ams, Piaggios, etc.
Q. What are the motorcycle equipment requirements?
A. Due to their more-exposed nature, we do require more basic safety equipment for bikes. Mainly: 1) your bike must have a tethered kill switch installed; 2) a few items must be safety-wired; 3) all lights, turn signals and mirrors must be taped or removed; and 4) your bike’s tires must be at least S rated, with higher speed limits for higher rated tires.
Also the bike rider must wear at least full one-piece or zip-together racing leathers, leather hi-top boots, leather gauntlet gloves and an approved full face helmet. The Bike Preparation Guide and the rule book have the details.
Q. What kind of helmet do I need?
A. First and foremost, we don’t accept any helmet that is only rated DOT. We require other ratings such as Snell SA2005 & up for cars; or for bikes, Snell M2005 & up, or ECE 22.05, or certain others. (A full list is in the rule book.)
For bikes, all helmets must be full face with face shield (i.e. not a motocross type). Flip-up-style front-opening helmets are only allowed in the entry-level Class C rider class, up to 170 MPH max.
For cars, our entry-level Class C driver class (170 MPH max.) does allow an open face helmet but we would much rather see you wearing a full-face model. Class C also allows using a motorcycle helmet from our approved list, but if you do, you must also wear a fire resistant Nomex racing head sock. All other driver classes (meaning all those with limits above 170 MPH) do require a real SA2005 (or later) full face auto racing helmet with shield. (Please note that for 2011, SA2000 and M2000 helmets are no longer acceptable.)
Q. Can my spouse/kid/parent/buddy ride along with me in the car?
A. No. We’re sorry, but passengers are not allowed under normal circumstances.
Q. Can I bring someone else and share a car/bike?
A. Yes. This is limited to ONE additional person per vehicle. The additional person will pay a full entry fee minus $40.
Q. Can I bring two vehicles and drive them?
A. Yes. This is limited to TWO vehicles per person. Each one requires a full entry fee and a complete separate set of entry forms.
Q. If I bring my family and friends, is there a place for them to sit and watch?
A. Well, due to the details of the way we have to run the event and the layout of the airfield, there is no real spectator area, bleachers, or seating, and the facilities are very basic. However, there is space for a limited number of spectators to stand and watch. They will have to sign the necessary liability waivers and get a wristband so they can enter. It’s possible that in the future we might be able to set up a specific enclosed spectator area, but for now, this is all we have.
Please note that if you bring children or pets, a responsible adult will have to personally supervise them at all times. We cannot have kids and pets just wandering around. Also, kids (including teens) are not allowed to operate any kind of wheeled or motorized vehicle or device, meaning no skateboards, skates, bikes, trikes, Segways, scooters, big wheels, pedal cars, razors, RC cars/planes/copters, or anything like that.
Also, for anyone under 18 to get a wristband to get in the gate, a parent or legal guardian will have to be there in person to sign the minor waiver. This can’t be a friend, neighbor, babysitter, older relative, etc. It has to be a parent or guardian.
There is a no-alcohol rule in effect at the event, which applies to everyone there including spectators. Also, open fires, barbecues and glass bottles are not allowed.
Q. So, what do I have to do to my car to raise its speed limit in your event?
A. Put on higher-rated tires; and add more safety equipment. Those are the two main factors determining your car’s speed limit. A quick overview: Depending on tires, your car can go up to 170 MPH in the Auto 1 class with the basic requirements mentioned above. To get the car to a 200 MPH limit, in addition to better tires, you need to have a roll bar and racing harnesses with arm restraints. That is the Auto 2 class. To get a car limit up to 230, the requirements become more stringent, for example, high-speed or racing tires, a roll cage, onboard fire system, etc. That is our Auto 3 class. Our highest speed cars are in our Unlimited class, which requires full race-car preparation level. In some cases you may also need a parachute. This is only a snapshot of the requirements; you need to read the Car Preparation Guide and our Tech Speed (speed limit) Chart for details. They are available for download.
Please note that the above refers only to the CAR limit. As mentioned above, there is also a separate DRIVER limit, and to raise that, you need better safety gear such as a Nomex fire suit, a real SA2005 or later full face auto helmet, racing gloves/socks/shoes, etc.; plus more racing experience.
Q. 170 mph seems to be pretty easy to reach with today’s sports cars. I know my (Corvette/Mustang/Viper/Porsche/whatever) has a top speed in excess of 170, so this doesn’t sound like much fun if I have to back off at the end. Is this an issue?
A. Actually, 170 mph is not that easy to get to in a standing mile. For example, we know from experience that recent stock Z06 Corvettes are right about there, and they have over 500 horsepower. If you have less than that, you probably won’t see 170 mph. So, we believe that with many stock sports cars, you will be able to run flat out.
Q. I have a rare/expensive/exotic car that I think can go really fast. It is very valuable and I don’t want to modify it. What can I do?
A. We have a special class called SSE (“Showroom Stock Exotic”) that is designed for such cars. Basically, the car must be a US version, model year 1990 or newer, street legal and insured, made by a certified new vehicle manufacturer for the US market, must meet US DOT/NHTSA standards, and must still be in totally stock, unmodified form, just as it was manufactured. It then qualifies for an exemption from the usual Auto 2 class requirements for a roll bar and race harnesses. Speed limits in SSE depend on the tires, and are the same as Auto 2, up to a maximum of 200 MPH. Please see the rule book for full details about what’s allowed in this class. You cannot make any change to the car that affects either performance or safety. If you modify the car at all, even with just a computer re-tune, you may find yourself outside this class and saddled with a lower limit. This SSE class is basically limited to rare/exotic/expensive high-performance cars that might be seriously devalued by the installation of a roll bar. It is not a general-purpose showroom-stock class! No kit cars or grey-market imports are allowed in SSE Class. The car must have ZR tires or better, otherwise it will race in Auto 1 instead.
Q. I’ve modified my car to go pretty fast but I don’t have a roll bar. Am I going to be stuck only doing 170?
A. The answer is “maybe”. We do recommend a real roll bar; however, we do exempt certain cars from the usual Auto 2 class roll bar requirement due to their high-quality factory rollover protection. Some of the cars on this list include: 1984 and newer fixed-roof (non-convertible) Corvettes; Dodge Viper coupes; 2005-2006 Ford GTs; Audi R8 coupes; certain Mercedes sedans. Other cars may be added to this list from time to time. Call to inquire about your car. You will still need to properly mount your racing harnesses, which can be difficult without a roll bar. Usually a “harness bar” will be needed.
Q. I would like to use nitrous oxide injection. May I?
A. Usually, yes, subject to our rules regarding Power Adders. The system must be properly installed, plumbed, and wired. See the rule book for specific limitations for each class.
Q. Equipment-wise, what do I have to watch out for? What are you not going to allow?
A. First, please realize that if we state that certain items are not allowed, we are doing it for a good reason, usually safety-related. Having said that, we’ll tell you now that the following will probably fail Tech Inspection:
- Wheels (on cars) over 20 inches in diameter, unless they are factory original for that car, or approved for racing (which most street wheels aren’t)
- Wheels or wheel covers with “spinners” or other similar moving parts
- Aluminum lug nuts - these are only allowed IF the car came with them originally AND they are the factory original parts AND you are in the A1 or SSE classes. Otherwise they WILL fail Tech.
- A helmet that is only rated DOT, with no other rating
- A helmet more than ten years old
- Racing harnesses more than 5 years old
- Y-type or one-piece V-type racing shoulder harnesses (must be two separate belts)
- Worn-out, undersized or mismatched tires
- Knobby, snow, mud, offroad, all-terrain, or other heavy-lug treads
- Tires that are not at least “S” speed rated
- Tires that are more than 6 years old (based on sidewall date code)
- Tires with cracked sidewalls, chunked tread, or other damage
- Tires that have been repaired or plugged
- Drag racing drive wheel tires (drag slicks), except for DOT-approved Drag Radials
- Bikes that don’t have our minimum safety modifications
Bike riders all have to wear a full leather racing suit, and that doesn’t mean just regular leather pants and a separate jacket, unless they zip together completely.
One thing that a lot of people tend to forget, but is required: metal tire valve stem caps. (We may have some for sale at the event if you do forget.)
This is not a complete listing; see the rule book and the Preparation Guides for more details as to what’s required and what is and is not allowed.
Q. I have a Land Speed/El Mirage/Bonneville car or bike that I would like to run. Is that possible?
A. Yes! Our rules allow many Land Speed vehicles, except streamliners, that conform to the SCTA rule book, to run using SCTA technical specifications. The vehicle must already have a current SCTA logbook and chassis sticker, and must have passed an SCTA/BNI or USFRA tech inspection for an SCTA competition class (not USFRA 130/150 club or BUB) within the last two years. The driver/rider must hold a current SCTA Competition License. Our speed limits will be at least as high as the standard SCTA tire limits. A basic tech inspection based on SCTA rules will be done. Entry procedures, event operations, and everything not having to do with technical and safety requirements, will be done under Mojave Mile rules, the same as for everybody else.
One thing needs mentioning. This is a standing start event, so push-assisted starts aren’t permitted. All vehicles must stop at the line, then start and complete their run, and exit the runway, under their own power. Pushing/towing to the start line, and back from the far end, is permissible.
Q. What is the altitude at Mojave? Which runway will we be using?
A. We will be running on the 12,500 foot Runway 12/30. We may run in either direction on any given event day, and that will be selected by us prior to the start, based on predicted wind, weather and other factors. (The direction will not be changed during the day.) The start line is at approximately 2750 feet of altitude.
Q. How can I get a better look at the airfield layout?
A. We suggest using the free Google Earth application, which will give you a nice aerial view of the facility. We are on the longest runway.
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