Road Racing Question
 

What series do you guys run in? Nasa? Scca? What classes?

Sorry for the questions. New to road racing. I have been drag racing for years now, but I want something new.

If you have never been on a road course before, I would suggest the following:

1. Find a track which is close to you. Try checking out some of these:

http://www.chicagoracers.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=1373

2. You want to find an HPDE (High Performance Driving Event) or something similar.

3. Contact the group having the track day/weekend to register with them


The HPDE's are designed to give new and experience drivers affordable track time. It's not "racing", but just track time as well as track instruction. Once you have some experience under your belt, you can look into trying to get involved in the NASA time trials.

First Gen RX7-
SCCA
ITA (12a)
ITS (13b)
EP
GT3
GT2

NASA
Performance Touring
Super Touring

Second Gen RX7 Non Turbo
SCCA
ITS
EP
GT3
GT2

NASA
Performance Touring
Super Touring

I just noticed that you are in my neck of the woods. I would suggest taking a look at Midwestern Council. For a casual beginner that is not looking to go balls deep in racing it's a real good place to start. There is good competition in many classes and the fees are extreamly reasonable. We do most of our racing in our area, Blackhawk Farms, Road America, Milwaukee Mile (doubtful due to the track being run by crooks and assholes, from what I hear, SCCA and Champ Car are not there this year either- a real shame it is no essentially empty), Autobanh CC. It is more of an relaxed family atmosphere but still offers serious racing. I run ITS with them until my schedule opens up in a year or so and plan to still run when I can with them...not to mention some of the greatest people I have ever met. Feel free to pm me if you are interested or check out their site at www.mcscc.org. Their driver's schools are also some of the best bang for the buck out there. The first one is on the 21'st so you might be past the deadlines and would be pushing it to get into that one. Or, you can run autocross and get your feet wet, all you need is a drivers license and safety equipment, depending on your modifications. All our autocrosses are run on the race track....no parking lots and cones. There are a few HPDE's and open track days as well.

***Milwaukee Mile (doubtful due to the track being run by crooks and assholes, from what I hear, SCCA and Champ Car are not there this year either- a real shame it is no essentially empty),***

bean, with what do you back up your statement ^ (crooks & assholes) ? Had you ever driven the road course you may understand or personally have no desire to return. I have & will not return. That aside the Mile still has the Indy Racing League, NASCAR trucks & the Bush cars. It ain't what it was in the 60's but then most tracks have changed.

I have driven it three times and find nothing wrong...if you are referring to the transition from the infield to the oval (NASCAR 3) that has been fixed, I know it is a bit rough for the open wheel cars, but it has been fixed. Or if you are referring to the wall....that is a far ways off if anything goes wrong. Every track has its danger spots....you don’t avoid Road America because of "The Kink" do you? Some people have a fear of there being a wall on the outside of the turn, but it is so wide I see little danger. I have seen (directly in front of me) a car spin exiting NASCAR 1 and not hit anything. There was enough room for me and everyone behind me to pass him as well. I totally enjoy running at the track and am sad we are not returning. It is actually my second favorite track behind Road America.

To back up my comment about crooks and asswholes...that is exactly who they are. Recently, the 5 "investors", I guess you call them that recently took over the track are a bunch of slippery execs that got cut loose from prior jobs. These are not the group associated with Gilbert Brown or the ones who were going to pump big time $$$ into the track-they are long gone. One I believe, or so I hear, is facing minor ethical charges from the bank he previously managed for pulling some sneaky shit. In being closely involved in dealing with obtaining the track for Council and being good friends with the gentlemen that essentially single handedly got the track for SCCA last year.

The SCCA story goes like this. The gentleman that had set up arrangements with the track last year was driving by the mile on his way to work on Thursday morning and saw that absolutely no prep had been done at the track and there was zero activity going on. He then called the track to ask what the deal was and they essentially told them they were busy and wouldn’t be able to get around to it until Friday...the catch...SCCA event runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, being the outstanding fella he is, he rounded up all the guys who work for him (he owns a business in Pewaukee or however you spell it), along with another business owner, some of their skid loaders and bobcats and single-handedly got the track ready for SCCA to come. So not only did the Mile do jack shit to prep the track, but when the bill came they charged for a full day of prep. Also on the bill the charge per porta-john, and if you want to rent the grandstand- you have to rent the entire thing and pay for two ushers in EACH section, so essentially there would be more ushers than spectators. An example of how they operate, as for towing, the gentleman who took track prep into his own hands rents the building that the towing company for the mile uses. On the bill, the charged nearly $4,000 for towing for a three day weekend. He thought this sounded a bit high so he went to the tenant and found out he charged the mile $1,600!! Now I understand a little markup, but 250%?
Also, funding was a major issue as the track demands an extremely high amount for rental. The mile wants approx $30,000 for a weekend and that just isn't feasible for Council and SCCA. As a matter of fact, if it was not for the Lake Forest Ferrari gentleman coughing up that amount in the 12th hour, you SCCA boys would not have been there. Council typically has an $8-10,000 loss at this event and addressed this with the mile. It was stated that "that is your problem." They have no appreciation or thankfulness for anyone who races there. They have their contracts so set that they make the same no matter what they do, hold races or not. They would rather sit on the track and let it go to hell than promote it and use it for what it is. If you would have gone to any of the planning meetings then you would see first hand the attitudes and arrogance that spews out of these guys.

The Midwestern Council story.........Here is the best example of that (better than charging for track prep when they did nothing). Council arranged to have a tire wall day for the mile. What this was, was where we made all the tire barriers and bundles you see around the track. The club, Great Lakes SCC, set up the day and was solely to benefit the Mile. The shocker....the mile would not pick up the tab for insurance, even though we were doing the work for FREE for them. They also did not provide lunch nor nitrogen tanks or tools to build the tire walls. So, for a project that benefited the mile 100% Great Lakes took a $1,600 loss, does that make any sense? The mile never thanked anyone (it was about 48 degrees and raining all day long too), never showed any appreciation for getting 9 hours or labor by at least 50 people. 450+ man hours for free and it appeared they could really care less. (Even at a $10 an hour, they saved well over $50,000 in labor and told us to pick up our trash when we left.) Especially when it came to negotiations and we brought this up in attempt to get the fee reduced, their reply was "that was last year...so what. Your club volunteered"

So, what we suspect is they are letting the track go to hell and next time the neighbors start complaining about it and you see on the news that it is an unused old eye sore of a track.....you know the real reason. We think they are waiting and will just cave and sell the track to the city or state fair park....essentially ending the mile. I wouldn’t call IRL and Busch races a glowing endorsement for the track. My brother did the commercial you see on TV for the new grandstands a few years ago and he has the same opinion of working with them. They would rather turn away racing bodies than host them. A bunch of asswholes and crooks....bottom line.

holy shit that is long......guess I am still a little hot under the collar. haha

***So, what we suspect is they are letting the track go to hell and next time the neighbors start complaining about it and you see on the news that it is an unused old eye sore of a track.....you know the real reason. We think they are waiting and will just cave and sell the track to the city or state fair park....essentially ending the mile.***

bean, If you had any common sense period you would never make a statement per above.

Which track in America is the longest operating track?

Who do you believe owns the mile ? (It ain't none of the people you talk about.)

ALL track promoters are in business for one reason. PROFIT

***I wouldn’t call IRL and Busch races a glowing endorsement for the track.***

& your endorsement woyuld be ?

I'm going to to two things with a copy of your RANT. One with the mile & one with the SCCA.

I figured someone would want to bitch...typical with some people on this site. When someone posts something there is always someone who needs to argue even if all they have is specualtory and assumptive opinions.

Ok here we go....

1) You are wrong...it is not the longest running track in the nation....it is the longest continually operating track in the world. The owners could not care less. Watch the news and you would see every few years the track becomes the target of noise pollution and neighbors complaining....they don’t care any more than the owners. Every year it gets closer and closer to being shut down....it is a ways off but at this rate it may happen. Why are you defending the track when you don’t even want to go back? Just want to make a stink?

2) If the people that we deal with who represent themselves as the owners and track officials, then please tell me who does. Were you there...I guess I didn’t see you there at the meetings? Have you ever met them...have you ever delt with them? I dont think so.

3) Yes tracks are in the business for profit, thanks for the news flash Dan Rather. Apparently you are the one with no common sense, or business sense for that matter because if you did then you may know that it is better to have a track in use and make $25k (rather than the normal $30k), than have an empty track because you would not budge on a price. They don’t care one bit and they made that clear. They make the same amount if the track is used or not......

4) Yes, I would not say that only IRL and Busch series is a glowing endorsement. They have cut the amount of people who rent the track in half....if they are in business for profit then they are doing a piss poor job. When is the last time the track was promoted properly and you saw it at even 3/4 capacity.

So, apparently you are the authority on the Mile so then please tell me where you get your facts...seems it comes from you opinion. Mine is first hand account that is based purely on fact. You don’t feel comfortable racing on that track so what do you care anywho.


I guess I am just confused where the argument comes from.....seems you are going on speculation because I was there...first hand....where were you? I am dumbfounded that you even argue with it...that is what happened. If I am wrong then tell me, Mr. Dewhurst, why are CART, MC, and SCCA not going there? Guess that just because I was one of the many people dealing with them first hand that I knew the reason....guess half baked assumptions are more credible than first hand knowledge. It hurts my brain to think the people want to argue things that are so obvious.

In my humble judgement people who have a desire to be taken seriously use their given name.

***1) You are wrong...it is not the longest running track in the nation....it is the longest continually operating track in the world.***

Symantics ^, looks like we agree.


***2) If the people that we deal with who represent themselves as the owners and track officials, then please tell me who does.***

The state of Wisconsin ^.

***3) Yes tracks are in the business for profit,***

We agree ^.

***4) Yes, I would not say that only IRL and Busch series is a glowing endorsement.***

Who is ^. If you never type another word within this thread please answer who your glowing endorsement is.

***I guess I am just confused where the argument comes from.....***

Your non business crooks and assholes description of the promoters at the mile.

***If I am wrong then tell me, Mr. Dewhurst, why are CART, MC, and SCCA not going there?***

First point is that there is no racing organization called CART.

Second the SCCA didn't attract enough cars to come out even.

Third, I'll guess MC will not hold future events for the same reason as the SCCA.

Dave- State Fair Park DOES NOT own the Mile..that idea was tossed around and never materialized.

Reread why i dont consider Busch and IRL a big deal....does anyone go to those...?

And yes there is CART...Championship Auto Racing Teams....the proper name for Champ Car.....check teh website.

Get your facts straight before you start talking out your ass.

Oh yeah....only moron use their real names....with all the psychos out there I would like to keep my privacy than and let everyone who looks, know my true name and location. Little to easy for someone to find out where I am and rip off my stuff. The people i would be most conserned about is when they list every car they have and pictures in their signature. What the hell does that have to do with anything anyway.

Answer this: Have you ever delt with renting the track? Have you ever met with track officials or owner? If not, then anything you say is really your opinion.

MC does not come becuase they are a pain to deal with and overpriced.....crooks and asswholes

***State Fair Park DOES NOT own the Mile..that idea was tossed around and never materialized.***

I never said the state fair park owns the mile, I said the state of Wisconsin owns the mile. My mistake the state of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources owns the mile. End of that conversation.

***And yes there is CART...Championship Auto Racing Teams....the proper name for Champ Car.....check teh website.***

I did & found nothing about CART. The facts of CART are following below.

Demise of Original Name
CART declared bankruptcy during the 2003 off season and the assets of CART were liquidated. Tony George made a bid for certain assets of the company, while a trio of CART owners (Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, and Kevin Kalkhoven) also made a bid, calling their group the Open Wheel Racing Series (OWRS). George's offer was to purchase only select company assets which would have effectively ended the CART run. If George's bid (which was actually higher than the OWRS bid) had been successful, many vendors that were still owed money by CART, would have not been paid. In the end, a judge ruled that the OWRS group should be the purchaser of CART, which ensured a 25th anniversary season in 2004, running as Champ Car.

End of that conversation ^.

***Get your facts straight before you start talking out your ass.***

I have my facts totally straight & it appears your the person with two interchangeable body parts. Your mouth & your _ _ _........

Nuff said to you by me.

Wow! Clean up in aisle 8!

lol, yeah...I agree. Someone always has to make a stink about something.^^^

oh my god...r u retarded....The DNR does not own the track...haha.

Well, al i can say is I talked first hand with them....and you? Nothing...thats what i thought. Appears you are balls deep in your own confusion.

Milwaukee Mile
America's Legendary Oval
The Mile


Facility statistics
Location Wisconsin State Fair Park
7722 West Greenfield Avenue,
West Allis, Wisconsin , 53214

Broke ground unknown
Opened 1903

Owner Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Operator Milwaukee Mile LLC

Where's that eating popcorn smiley when you need it????

still wrong....DNR has nothing to do with it anymore. They control nothing, the oversee the operations with state fair park and the environmental factors with the facility.....just as they do everywhere.

Operator: Milwaukee Mile LLC...who do you think that is...CROOKS ANS ASSWHOLES...

You still havent told me when you were involved with renting the track.....

All this coming from a guy who is to scared to race there.....maybe you should lokk into vintage or VSCDA

Are we having fun yet? :)

I think you guys just need to go eat cheese;)

yeah i agree....it got old a week ago. ^^^^^