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Racing
stawk
Registered User
Registered User
For aslong as i can remember i have had the drive/dream to race cars, and now that i have turned 20 i feel that if i dont start doing something to complete this dream i never will. So i have a few questions for everyone here.
A little background, i grew up watching nascar, until i found rally racing and discovered how much better right and left turns are. I live in illinois (just outside of chicago) and the only local track that offers track days is a dirt oval. Ive done the research on what is required for Rally America racing, as well as having several family members that would more then likely be my pit crew for free. My time frame for having my first race is hopefully within 1.5 years
1. What is the cheapest way to start racing (legally)?
2. Any advice on locating sponsors?
3. Depending upon the answer to #1 whats a good cheap car to get?
A little background, i grew up watching nascar, until i found rally racing and discovered how much better right and left turns are. I live in illinois (just outside of chicago) and the only local track that offers track days is a dirt oval. Ive done the research on what is required for Rally America racing, as well as having several family members that would more then likely be my pit crew for free. My time frame for having my first race is hopefully within 1.5 years
1. What is the cheapest way to start racing (legally)?
2. Any advice on locating sponsors?
3. Depending upon the answer to #1 whats a good cheap car to get?
stawk on
Posts
From there, you could move to more "professional" venues. The Skip Barber School of Racing isn't a bad place to start, but if that's out of the question, you could try multiple forms of racing besides carting: drag, open wheel (need entry to this field), autocross (for hard road skill building)
Now, for rallying, you're in a bit of a crunch. There aren't many places in North America alone where you can "practice" rallying. Overseas you're in a better condition, but for here, look for local (read: regional) races and either talk to or enter those.
A good car: late 80's Toyota Camry 4x4, late 80's/early 90's Subaru Legacy, Late 90's Ford Focus
All cheap, all easy to build; if I had to recommend one, I'd say get one of the AWD ones
Fun>
If you really want to rally look for a used car. It is almost always cheaper to start with a prepped car that needs updating thatn start from sratch. Used cars often come a with lots of spares as well.
Look here:http://www.rallyclassified.com/
For a beginner, start with a two wheel drive. Better learning curve, cheaper to fix. I would reccomend a second gen VW GTi, there are probably a couple on that classifieds. Subarus are also a good choice if you want to go awd,
If so, there's a lot of dirt track racing in every decent sized city thats a good way to get into the world of racing.
I can't believe no one has mentioned the SCCA (sports car club of america) yet. They have all kinds of racing, from rally, to grand prix, to time trial cone courses for beginners. The dues are cheap and it's very well run.
You're not going to find a sponsor unless you have rich friends or family, until you start winning some races.
A good entry car for scca track racing is an eclipse/talon all wheel drive turbo, or a miata.
If you get into dirt track racing, a monte carlo is the way to go.
For drag racing, a 5.0 mustang fox body
For rally, a Subaru Imprezza is a good choice.
edit: Just a warning though, as I used to drag race
1) If you do find sponsors and start earning a paycheck, almost every dime of it is going to go to your increased insurance costs.
2) Until you hit the big time, you're paying for your car, and tires alone, which will need to be changed every two races at the minimum, will cost roughly $300 to $500 dollars, so I hope you've got a big bankroll.
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But... he says he's in Illinois near Chicago. Also, the first response mentions the SCCA
Also, I'm not even sure why you'd assume he's from the southeast. I'm originally from the northeast and there's a huge Nascar following.
really? that's cool man, I didn't know the following was that big up there, and I totally missed the SCCA comment.
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As for what car to get, you'll have to decide what form and class of racing you'll be doing first.