The concept of Vintage/Historic Racing (hereafter referred to as simply Vintage) within the confines of SCCA Florida Region and SCCA Central Florida Region sanctioned events is that of vintage (pre-1966) and historic (1966 through 1972) race-prepared cars engaged in spirited, gentlemanly competition. The following sections define this concept further in terms of participant conduct.
On-track conduct should be governed by common sense and the general underlying rule of thumb, "If in doubt, don't!!!". This implies that, while racing may indeed be in progress, maneuvers of questionable outcome are strongly discouraged and overly aggressive driving cannot be tolerated. Contact between two or more vehicles should never occur outside of the result of a mechanical failure where the contact is deemed unavoidable. This places heavy burden upon the driver to maintain control of the vehicle at all times while anticipating potential hazards as well. During on-track activities, drivers would do well to remember the age and handling characteristics of the vehicles participating in the Vintage events and drive accordingly.
Participant conduct (entrant, driver, crew, guest, etc.), both on-track and off, will further be governed under the term "gentlemanly competition" with heavy emphasis on the word "gentlemanly". Since the main objective of Vintage events is to gain enjoyment from the racing of these vehicles with other participants of similar interest, unsportsmanlike conduct has no place in this venue. It is hoped that any disagreements between participants may be readily resolved between those involved in a friendly and mutually agreeable manner. Should this prove unworkable, the matter may be referred to the Vintage Review Board.
The Vintage Review Board is a body of active Vintage Drivers empowered to review incidents (both on-track and off) involving Vintage Participants and recommend action be taken by the SOM, if deemed necessary. Such action includes no action being taken, the arbitration of a resolution between the parties, exclusion from further competition during the current event, recommendation to the SOM that some penalty, as described in Section 20 of the GCRs be imposed and/or the invocation of the "13/13" rule against the responsible party.
The 13/13 Rule is used almost universally throughout the Vintage Racing community to keep drivers in touch with reality. It is used in incidents where fault of an individual is found as the cause for contact being made by a vehicle with some other object (not necessarily another vehicle) during an on-track session. When initially invoked, the party at fault is placed on probation for the following 13 month period. If, during this 13-month period, the driver is found to be at fault for another contact-related incident, the 13/13 rule may be invoked again, thereby suspending the individual from Vintage competition for a 13 month period beginning immediately. Note that the individual must be found to be at fault by the Vintage Review Board in order for the 13/13 rule to be invoked. Most single-car incidents (contact with a tire-wall, fence, or other border structure to the track) are not even reviewed by the Board unless reckless driving is indicated. However, willful driving as to endanger others may also be used as cause to invoke the 13/13 rule.
This document is subject to revision by Florida Region, SCCA and/or the Vintage Review Board. Such revisions will be made public knowledge either by publication in "The Torque" and "The Checker" and/or by distribution to all Vintage Participants individually. Copies of this document will be available, upon request, at all SCCA Florida and Central Florida Region Vintage events.