DamonB

LOL! Cheaper maybe, but I have made more friends at the race track than I ever have anywhere else; the racing community tends to be a tight knit and supportive group.

When I blew my motor at the track on the first run of the day a while back a friend came over within 15 mins and offered me the use of his crew cab Dodge dually and 30 foot race trailer to get my car home. He told me to just come back and get him and his car before the end of the afternoon I was very appreciative but I was more scared of loading my car up and trying to back that whole monster out of the paddock

I can tell you that a stock FD with a blown apex seal on the rear rotor can still pull a tire trailer at 55mph down the highway if you leave it in 4th gear

DamonB

I think in many cases that's it. For me OT has become somewhat boring because you don't get to hunt people down and kill (pass) them except in the most obvious of places where it doesn't take much skill to pass them anyways. Of course heads up door to door racing on a road course I would love to do, but at this point in time I cannot afford to be wrecking cars

SleepR1, what SCCA region do you run in?

SleepR1

Central Division, Indy Region and Columbus Region.

poor college student

i'm reading, good information, thanks guys... it's not something i plan on doing anytime soon or anything, and i'm just talking amateur type of stuff... yeah, i'm looking to get more seat time in both auto-x and open track before anything, and yeah, i realized it's expensive... keep it comin'! thanks peeps!

redrotorR1

To be completely forthright about racing, start with a cheaper, more bulletproof car. RX-7's are great for what they were designed to be ... but when the abuse of auto-x, time trialing, or HPDE add up .. the RX-7 would not be my first car of choice (at least not the turbo versions). The little knick-knack things that need to be replaced, fixed, and/or re-engineered add up REALLY fast. The added abuse to what the engine (and turbos) see really make the car a hard-to-campaign platform. I have given up on my SM2 idea simply because the costs far exceed what I'm capable of. Granted .. I'm also joining the crew that I've been chasing for awhile (hint, hint .. Damon ).

Car control is best learned on an auto-x course, where the risk to damaging your car and you are minimal. You will see more lateral G changes on an auto-x course than ANY road course. And getting your car loose at 45mph in a parking lot will give you ultimate respect for handling your car through a chicane at 80+mph on a road course. On top of that, you'll learn the benefits of carrying speed through transitions (instead of trying to brute force your way with power) much more rapidly. While the seat time numbers add up more for HPDE's, I am also on the same line as Damon in that I think you learn more at an auto-x than you do road racing. And in the end (for us cheap guys), $15-30 for an event is a little easier pill to swallow than $250 for a weekend.

EProdRx7

I was onced asked how much it would cost to make a car competitive. This is what I came up with. If it will cost you $10k to build the car and get on the track, with no testing or development you will be a roughly 90% of the performance potential of the car. To get the car to 95% it will cost 90% of what you already have invested so now you are $19k in. To get to 98% it will cost you 95% of what you have in already, yes $37,050. The next 1% is going to be steep but yes another 98% $73k+ 8) Bottom line is that racing can be affordable its winning that gets expensive

DamonB

I share that opinion too. People ask me how expensive it is to race and I tell them "It's cheap to race, it's expensive to be competitive".

specRX7_22

I've watched the Spec Miata class get more and more expensive to run up front. It's possible to build a car for 12-14k, HOWEVER....

front running MARRS SM drivers are spending 20-25 k!!! bret depedro who runs rentals and has his own fleet says its getting rediculous. You pretty much need a frest Sunbelt motor to be competetive.

Maybe some of you have heard of Chip Herr (hes been in Sports Car magazine and in Hancook ads)? Anyway, he's in the group of guys that hangs out down at the track and the amount of money he's thrown into his ProSpecMiata car is REDICULOUS. So the statement "It's cheap to race, it's expensive to be competitive" is TRUE TRUE TRUE

88GT

Desire! You have to want to do it.. Anything less and you're wasting your time. I'm in the beginning stages of a project and this thing called racing is no joke! Get yourself to the track, ask questions, observe and you'll learn. Just this past weekend I was at PIR with Mariah Motorsports(FROG Team) for a double regional. I gained that much more just by being there, mounting wheels/tires, jacking up the car, listening and asking questions. Good luck!

cpa7man

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I've been doing the same thing. Going to the track checking out the cars, talking to racers, and crewing is a lot of fun and a great learning experience.

eprodrx7, tell us about your car if you would. I would love to get into eprod racing, right now there is a nice first gen eprod car for sale in our area. I'm lusting after it. One of these days.

maxpesce

Give us a race report - How did Wayne do? I was at the Streets of Willow Springs with them (11/25/03) when they were setting up the car for PIR.

88GT

Wayne did great! His first time out since April I believe and he hasn't missed a beat. Got the pole Sat. and finished in first. Got the pole on Sunday and finished first. What a weekend for the FROG Team. They were there primarily for testing but as you can see things went well. That car is a beast and well sorted. Times improved throughout the weekend as they tweaked the car and they still can get better. Can't wait for the National Car to make it's debut.

Redwood

How does one go about getting to do this crew work I hear about? For that matter, what exactly are you doing? I see/read it a lot and would love this sort of experience but don't know where to take that desire.

As far as getting started in racing, I've found that auto-x is outstanding. I attend college and all that so I don't have the time or money to race much (more the latter!). Auto-x is great because it's just a one day thing. I work on my car a little bit the night before (just making sure everything's ready to go and all that) which takes a couple hours. Then I get up early, race, and have the car parked by 6 or so. Usually I spend a few hours going over the car, filling it up with my crap again, and just "calming her down". This minimal work racing is great and relatively cheap, though stock classes would be wise.

I've also had great experience with the RX-7 (in regards to how well the car maintains). Daily driver and auto-xer hasn't been a problem yet but I've only driven non-turbos, so that's a different story.

Redwood