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Anyone else race on 4 wheels?

Discussion in 'General' started by motion, Jan 14, 2019.

  1. Dave K

    Dave K DaveK über alles!

    PS, I thought the Miata racing would be cheap until I looked at a few of the cars. :D

    Anyone bitching about motorcycle roadracing needs to look at the cost of racing the cages. :(
     
    ajcjr likes this.
  2. Jack Brock

    Jack Brock Well-Known Member

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Liebler
    I raced SCCA for quite a few years. Scott was a good friend of my racing mentor, and I always looked up to him. I think the accident you are referring to is the one that Scott didn't survive. Sad thing, I think this was the first race in the Martini as he had raced an RT4 for quite awhile. The Swifts had come out and were dominating, but he couldn't afford one. The Martini was as close as he could come, and the roll hoop failed which is what killed him.
     
  3. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    It was. I was on the hill on the outside of the turn when it happened. As I recall the hoop was bolted on, not an integral part of the cage. His front hit the rear of the car in front just as they came under the bridge launching the Martini at the same place the track starts dropping. Sorry about your friend, I can still remember his name after all these years.
     
  4. assjuice cyrus

    assjuice cyrus Well-Known Member

    Im telling mom!
     
    Past Glory likes this.
  5. turner38

    turner38 Well-Known Member

    They are absolutely nowhere near the limit.... they are at best a foot to the left of the line because they have little idea what is coming up beyond what they can see. Much like the Harescramble guy’s in the woods, they still go fast and its still entertaining to watch (other than those Ghey ass Gymkana video’s) but they only ride/drive what they can see. A different skill set for sure, i prefer racing with a bit more speed and actual racing hoing on...

    As far as defending left turn racing, it takes more setup, provides better racing and entertainment than roadcourse stuff.
     
  6. zertrider

    zertrider Waiting for snow. Or sun.

    When on dirt, or when seen live. But on TV, roadracing is pretty tough to beat.

    And as far as rally not being near the limit, what the hell are you talking about? Have you ever seen a drivers point of view with them running at night? They are running not by what they can see, they are going by what the notes being repeated to them tell them. Ever see what happens when the co-driver loses his spot on the notes? The speed drops significantly.

    And don't get me wrong, I grew up watching short track ovals, did it a few years as well as my mom running them, so I have a soft spot for that stuff too.
     
    MikeR likes this.
  7. Dave Wolfe

    Dave Wolfe I know nuttin!

    Oh man id love to strap a dirt sprint car on for a few races. It makes me wonder how much it would cost to rent a 305 for a night.
     
  8. Razr

    Razr Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure where you're located, but there are quite a few tracks that rent midget/sprint cars.
    https://dirtracewithkenny.com/project/perris-auto-speedway/
     
  9. lazlo

    lazlo Stand up guy who corners low.

    Where do you live, what state? Several rent-a-ride places.
     
  10. backcountryme

    backcountryme Word to your mother.

    Little step bro made the A feature on last night. Had some issues and spun it, had to restart in 25th but was able to come back and finish 15th. That puts him on the front row of the the D feature for Saturday. Long row to hoe to make it to the A main, but it has been done before.
     
    lazlo and Razr like this.
  11. wsmc42

    wsmc42 Well-Known Member

    I don't know why, but this video cracked me up. Maybe cause by all conventional wisdom, you shouldn't do that to a supercar, and he just keeps hammering starts. 50 launches is crazy.
     
  12. Cost of a bike season won’t even get you much past local dirt track, and I’m not talking that super late model or sprint stuff either. Car racing is absolutely insane cost wise.
     
  13. Dave Wolfe

    Dave Wolfe I know nuttin!

    Eastern Iowa. Looks like theres a guy in Wisc doing this sort of thing.
     
  14. turner38

    turner38 Well-Known Member

    Really depends on the class, your resources, what track you race and how well they pay.
    You can put together a reasonably competetive Sportsman or 602 crate car for under 10k. Most places that class pays 4-600$ to win weekly.
    I started back with a crate car in 2013, used a Rayburn car we built for Rex Richey back in 99 that was collecting dust at the shop, bought a used 604 crate engine with very little time on it, and everything we didnt have new and spent right at 12k. Upgraded the car for 2014 to a Mastersbilt and kept the same driveline, the cost of that was about reasonable. We missed the track championship by three points at one track and finished third at the other.
    Ran a few races the next season as a crate car then put a 600+ hp steelhead in and moved up to the top weekly class. Still spend WAY less than what it costs to race bikes. Granted we do most of the work in house such as making the bodies and I do the shocks myself. I will typically use steer tires all season unless I
    Make a bad choice and kill one, normally keep Six rear tires in the rotation and replace a pair of them every couple of weeks. So basically we spend $600 a month on tires, probably $400 on fuel then another $100 on oil changes.
    Crashes can be costly, each corner adds up to about a grand depending on how bad it is torn up... It pays to be easy on equipment and make every lick count!
    Fact is I’ve spent less racing the car over the last six years than I did in one season running a limited 600 schedule with Kris.
    It is a damn shitload of fun also when you are going good. Hell, if its hammer down its fun regardless.
     
    ajcjr likes this.
  15. motion

    motion Nihilistic Member

    My first car, a POS Formula Vee:

    00000448.jpg

    Next car was a spin happy Spec Ford:

    00000034.jpg
     
    ajcjr and Razr like this.
  16. Good info. Dirt tracking racing in a cars been on my bucket list of things to do. I know it’s cheap to rent our local track during the week. Maybe I’ll just buy a car or two and go win at my own track days. I could never race in a series for a championship, I travel way too much. How about I fly in and drive your car for free, I’ll even pay for my own plane ticket, lodging and rental car. Might even be able to buy you dinner.
     
  17. wsmc42

    wsmc42 Well-Known Member

    Hey Richard. What year did you start racing those? Did you ever race at Riverside?
     
  18. motion

    motion Nihilistic Member

    Around 1994, I think. Never raced cars at Riverside. I did the last ever ARRA event there on a Honda MT125R... maybe 1987?
     
  19. backcountryme

    backcountryme Word to your mother.

    A Speedway Toyota midget engine cost a bit over $51,000 (Once you are approved by Speedway to have one). That is just the engine. Rest of the goodies to build a car can run about half that again. So for around $70,000ish you could have the opportunity to race for about $10,000 to win if it is a big race. More like $1,000 to win for most races. There is another class of Midget running in Wisconsin called the 2.4 liter. They are production car engines. Dual overhead cam, but you really can't touch the engine. You can build an engien for those for about $10,000 to $12,000. They go ok.
     
  20. wsmc42

    wsmc42 Well-Known Member

    Cool. I was just curious. Growing up near by, my dad used to take me to all kinds of racing at the track.
     
    motion likes this.

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