It would not surprise me to see more U.S. based drivers come up to Canada. As the economy improves perhaps some Canadian teams will expand to head south more often. The border does cause the biggest problems for going either way as a race team. It doesn't have to be that way if you are prepared.

Policies and procedures are what a team has to think about when crossing the border. If the team plans and has all their paperwork completed and ready to go, the border going either way is very easy. Call the Canada Border Service and the U.S. Border staff, they are there to HELP.

Besides the obvious of passports and ID, documenting everything that you are bringing with you is the biggest headache teams face. And I do mean *everything*. List every tool, spare part, etc. with you. Do not bring fresh produce or fruits with you, which are another show stopper and delay. Make copies of your documentation into binders and create 5 or 6 sets in advance. Make binders for your documentation and prepared to leave copies with them. The better prepared you are, the faster the process will go. Why do they want copies - some border officers may want to keep copies so that when you come back, they *may* audit you and verify that what you took out is what you brought back. Obviously declare anything that do do buy in the visiting country. Tires used during the race and are now used are not required to be declared as purchased items. You can document that they are now used and worn out or ensure that you dispose of them prior to leaving the country. Most tires now have barcodes on them, use those in your documentation.

The more accurate your documentation, the faster the process will go. As an example, if you do have tools that are labelled or marked by manufacture, then document it as such. i.e. Do not just write 7/16" wrench, instead: Craftsman / Snap-On / MAC Long wrench 7/16" (you may have short ones too). If there are no identification marks, scribe your initials onto them and if possible, make copies of receipts of your original tool / parts purchases. Spare engines are sometimes a problem since some may not have serial numbers. Make one. Use a number ($30.00) punch set and make your own part # into the block and cylinder heads, and then use that as your documentation point. It simply shows that you are trying to comply to the laws. Even photograph it so that you have a point of reference where the "serial number" is, what it looks like and allows the Border agent to compare what you left with them and what you are bringing back. Not all teams follow this step and have had no problems. But if you get a very picky Border officer, this step can save you a LOT of grief. The Canadian Border Service offers Canadians a way to document (and label in some cases) items in advance, so that when you do come back across, the items are logged and recorded as tax exempt and are your property.

Organization of your trailer and hauler is another potential obstacle. If everything is easy to get at, inspect and process your experience at the border will be faster and easier. Border agents are looking for anything that looks out of place or illegal. If you do your homework in advance, you'll go through the border very quickly.

Things to be aware of when coming into Canada are:

Chemicals : some are restricted or have very strict rules on transporting.

Halon; Ensure you have proper documentation for it, secured properly, etc..
Propane: If properly stored and secured, should be no issue.
Fuel: Do NOT transport more than 5 gallons in a DOT approved container, and ensure that it is stored and secured transport manner.

Other potential obstacles.

Registration documentation of vehicle and trailer - can sometimes get sticky. If you are borrowing a trailer, ensure you have a letter of authorization to use it. Trailers have been a "hot" item over the past several years.

Race car: If you have a bill of sale, make copies and bring them with you. Previous repair services on the race car are excellent secondary documents to prove ownership. Make copies and bring them with you.

Most important of all is understanding. The role and responsibility of the agents and officers of the border are to protect the country. Their function is to always be 100% suspicious of EVERYONE. They don't like it anymore than you do. Nobody likes to be the that way, but that's their job. Do not be flip or humorous when being asked questions. Your team should be on the exact same page as you are when crossing the border. Do not ASK questions, simply answer what is being asked. Respect and common sense goes a long way.

If you do your homework, prepare in advance, and ensure your team have no issues that could bar them from crossing the border, you will find that the inspection process is very easy and quick. If you want to cross regularly then there are policies and procedures that will allow you to advance document your teams items. Once you're back across the border into your "Home" country and if you live far away, stop right then and go into your border office. You've already cleared customs and this is a GOOD time to get more information about what to have for future trips. Each border crossing may have special areas that they are looking for and THIS is the time to ask questions. This is a lot of preparation and time in advance of your trip. It's well worth it and once completed (always update your documents as you change things) it will make crossing the border a breeze, especially if you plan to race regularly across into the U.S. / Canada. They'll get to know you and vice versa. They track and log every trip made. If you follow the rules, your border experience will be an enjoyable one.

For the United States: http://www.cbp.gov/
For Canada: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

Doug

Well thanks for the tips Doug.

Pyle certainly looked good the last time out and I'm certain he could make a go of it here. The nice thing about the LM division this year was an influx of new guys. Sure, every year there's a couple of rookies, but this year a lot of the new blood was experienced new blood.

I'd look forward to seeing some more Americans dropping by. Makes it all a little more prestigious. I only hope that the rules package doesn't change too much in order to accommodate them. We've got a good thing going here and it would be a really bad time to obsolete anyone.

I am curious about this statement "It's the rules that are so different and once we get that figured out we'll have more fun here." I'd always been under the understanding that there wasn't much variance with "crate" LMs, so I wonder what he means.

We have raced snowmobiles all over the USA and have skipped on through and had the white glove treatment (not literally) All the things Doug said are very true, but another important thing is if you are carrying a bunch of spare parts, make sure you have a parts list. We used to carry 4 sleds and enough parts to make a 4th and they always went over our spare parts with a fine tooth comb...

An inventory list will make things MUCH faster.

Thayne,

I did mention in my post to make a parts list in addition to tools. There are some excellent forms that U.S. Customs and the Canada Border Service offer, or as long as you have a proper and legible list (Microsoft Excel is a great tool for this) it will be usuable. Another suggestion is to make a signature line  and space for "date" , below each page of your list to "notarize" it as a true and accurate document.

Shadow - He might be referring to some of these things listed below;

There maybe restrictions on which GM / Ford / Dodge crate motors are allowed with specific chassis configurations or a weight penalty. GM has three engines that are pretty close as does Ford that are sealed, and both GM, Ford and MOPAR offer non-sealed crate motors that are sometimes restricted as to what kind of chassis they are put into - weight breaks / penalties are then deducted / added.

GM as you know has the 602, 603 (ZZ4) and 604. Ford has two sealed 347's and one 351 sealed and Dodge has 5007958 360.

The biggest different in rules at a lot of tracks in the U.S. compared to Canada for LLM / LM is probably three areas. Shocks, Rear Trailing arms and springs.

Coil-overs and any Shock. (variations of this theme all over the Northeast)

Trailing arms - a lot of U.S. tracks have for years allowed 54" truck arm style rear suspensions.

Springs - Type of spring, Panhard combined with shocks and spring loaded 3rd link are often allowed at U.S. tracks.

Steering is sometimes different too, i.e. Rack & Pinion and of course the rims. In LM / ACT, this is no big deal as all are already R&P allowed.

I maybe wrong, but there would be a lot more U.S. cars up here if they were allowed to run some of the stuff I just mentioned, but as you have pointed out, it would obsolete a lot of Cdn based teams in a hurry......

There's no question that Delaware is unique though. Jeff Wilcox has always made accomdations for different types of cars, but usually it's for the older LLM cars showing up and mainly with weight break and 4 BBL carb since many of the LLM cars simply old and not updated in any fashion.

We wanted to come to Delaware this year but simply had no funds to do so and even as a back marker, it would have been a blast anyway. I am surprised that only 1 U.S. based team made the trip. Didn't several make it up last year? I can't remember now..

Doug