Comments on: Avoidable Contact #25: Exploring the pyramid of speed — the real costs and stories behind entry-level sedan racing.

By: Allen

Allen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:46:16 +0000

Wow, at those costs, where do you get the money for the race at all?

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:37:05 +0000

This is quite possibly the single greatest article I've read in years. I've always wanted to race professionally, but I've always wanted to hear the real-life no BS experience of a driver and the costs to race.

By: MadCat360

MadCat360 — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:25:05 +0000

Those NASA figures are right on the money. I was quoted 22 grand to race Spec E30 for a year, but that's with lots of extras. You can save a lot of money by buying your own car and then paying a team to store it and service it.

One thing you didn't mention, Jack, are the school series'. Formula Skip Barber can be run regionally for 30 grand a year, nationally for 50. And if you win national, you get $400,000 to go race Star Mazda. Jim Russell runs Formula 3 cars at Infineon for 80 grand a year with a $450,000 prize. Right now I'm doing Russell's karting series, which is $6,200 per year for 8 weekends with 2 double headers (10 races total). Great coaching, too. The prize is seat time in the Formula 3s for the top 3 in the championship. Can't race for any cheaper than that…

By: Jeff_Glucker

Jeff_Glucker — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:18:16 +0000

Not by doing sit ups…

By: ACR MAN

ACR MAN — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:34:44 +0000

If you do write the sequel on owning one's own racecar, make sure to mention this: do NOT buy your own car unless you have either

A – the skill to maintain, set-up, align and repair said racecar
or
B – the cash to pay somebody else with the skill to do so.

The world does not need more IT and Production class racecars with leaking hoses, missing bolts — held together with duct tape and prayers…

By: Spud

Spud — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 00:28:30 +0000

I raced SCCA, Firehawk, World Challenge and ProRally for nearly 20 years. Always ran the low buck classes, SSC, ITB, etc. Managed to get in a total of 18 real 24 hour races and another dozen or so 4-12 hour events. Got lots of cheap checkered flags and cheesy trophies. When you add it all up I could have paid cash for my home had I not race. Screw that. I have friend and memories and bench race stories to last a lifetime. I can always pay the mortgage off later.

If you go the itch. Scratch it. Nothing seperates the real racers from the posers like strapping on a helmut and taking the green flag.

Just do it. You will NOT regret it.

Racing is like sex, only it lasts longer.

By: 2trips

2trips — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:18:35 +0000

As a guy with no race experience who is building a beater E30 to SE30 spec and thinking about racing it, I guess I can look forward to a lifetime of being broke and single.
I think i can deal with that.

By: Jack_Baruth

Jack_Baruth — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:15:42 +0000

For the record, I was second in the 2007 NASA Champs in SF, demoted to third in post-race protests for contact, and set fast lap of the race. In 2008 I ran Nationals in PTE, which was a 22-car field. I took fifth in both of the qualifying races, had a flat tire in the out lap of the final race, changed it, came out three laps down, and set fifth-fastest lap on the way to 18th place. FWIW, the guy who set the fourth-fastest lap is an SCCA Runoffs winner. I'm not sure what that demonstrates

I'm a committed and proud NASA racer, but let's face facts: Winning the Runoffs is, and will continue to be for some time, more difficult and prestigious than winning a NASA Championship. If we, as NASA racers, refuse to acknowledge that, we aren't doing ourselves any favors. We'll get there eventually, but it starts with being honest. Not everybody who wins a NASA race is exactly Wolf Henzler.

Winning SM at the NASA Nationals is a big achievement and I'd respect anybody who has done that. But really, truly, honestly, do you think it's equal to winning at the Runoffs?

By: Meng Mao

Meng Mao — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:16:44 +0000

You're right in that a beginning amateur racer wouldn't really care, notice, or complain about the quality of competition at his first event. I think there're plenty (if not all) budget-minded people who would be ok with renting the cheapest slowest beater in the class and getting lapped the whole race, just for experience of being out on the 'closed road.'

To your point that there are substantial prizes for National winners, that's mostly a distraction in the perspective of introducing people to racing. It takes a ton of cash to get a mechanically competitive setup, and a ton of skill and seat time to be able to win nationally. No beginning racer should expect to recoup ANY of the money he spends racing.

By: Jeff_Glucker

Jeff_Glucker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:05:37 +0000

thank you for that… As fun as it would be to make it rain nickels, I would prefer to have some good stories and enjoy myself on the track while being able to walk and talk after it is all said and done…