Who has raced a dirt car?

My brother is giving up motocross(broke a leg) and is looking into buying a late model or modified. I have only seen a couple of races in person and have no idea what he's getting us into. I cant even find a good forum or site for it. Any pointers or experiences would be great to hear.

I know that this will get me flogged but I am ready for it.

 

you think roadracing is expensive?????

those guys have some serious money into that stuff

 

Whats the closest track to you and what classes do they run? A late model or Modified is a pretty deep place to start, he would probably be better off starting in a lower class and learning to drive first.

Done right its pretty easy to make dirttrack pay for itself if you have a decent program.

 

I know it expensive. But he makes pleanty of cash. I just am looking for a good place for him to start and something i can help learn how to setup.

 

We have 5 tracks within a hour. i looked into street stock or something less extreme than a late model but they can cost the same to buy and maintain. the modified is where he wants to go. Our tracks are imca(?) rules.

 

I started racing a 600cc micro sprint half way through last year. i built a mmotor for a guy and went a watched race it the first weekend he raced the engine I built, and thats what got me into it. Not the cheapest but no where near the expense there is in a full sized car. I'm running a 05636 engine in mine. thats another cool thing is I have rebuilt a few engines in my day so that szes me and is one thing that I didn't have to learn about. 600scene is a websight I check out on ocasion that might be able to help you out or PM me if you have any questions. Lance

 

I tried attaching a pic and it didn't work lets try again

 

Ok IMCA modified would be a decent place to start, its basicly a glorified hobby car, starting off you will be best off buying a proven winning chassis, then hit up the previous owner for set up information and help at the track.

 

Might try a midget like lance's picture. I met a local guy that had one with an R6 engine. He raced around southern Ohio, I guess there are enough tracks for a series, and there was cash money to be won (imagine that). Whatever money he had in it sounded pretty reasonable - several grand for the chassis, and the things don't change that much from year to year, unlike sport bikes.

 

A midget wouldn't be a good choice for a new driver and team, they are very short and quick handling plus most tracks don't race them weekly. Your best off picking one track and learning to get around it before trying to go different places.

ALmost all dirt tracks pay a cash purse EVERY weekend for All classes, they use the revenue from the people in the stands to cover it, imagine that concept. We used to travel down to that area in the early to mid 90's two to three times a year for 5-10k to win races, Rex won quite a few of them.

 

right on lance! looks like fun.

 

I race at the same track each week, its 25 miles from house. It cost $15 for a pit pass and $15 for a entry fee. If there are 24 cars you can win $250 and the last car gets $ 15. two weeks ago I finished 2nd and it payed $150. I'm 4th in points after 3 points weekends.

I figure I'll spend roughly $1000 on tires for the season, $200 on alcohol (for the car not for me) $600 in gate and entry fees, $200 in gas for the truck going back and forth= about $2000 for the season. I've won $220 back in three weekends so I hope to just about cover my cost in winnings. Now this does not count any crashes or breakdowns.

you can get cars between $4000-$10000 for used ones or spend as much as $20,000 for a new one. The guy that won this past weekend had an F3 motor in his car, so you can win with the $4000 car. Its more about set up and driving the car. It takes a little time to learn what the car needs in setyp, and what you like. there is actually more to learn and to udjust in this car than on any bike.

thanks KMC Lance

 

I had a chance to try them years ago and I laughed in the team owner's face. "Race dirt, in a car? That's stupid! Where's my RS250 so I can leave?"

I regret the hell out of saying and doing that. Dirty roundie round cars look like fun.

 

After four months of busting ass I actually just finished building a street stock camaro a few days ago and plan on doing a test and tune night this weekend. I have a friend who's been doing it for years and runs a pretty good program. He finally talked me into building a car for this season. IMO a late model or modified is not exactly the best place to start. Not only because of the lack of driving experience but also lack of car set up experience. Those late models and modifieds have nearly infinite suspension adjustments. Buy a used street stock car and learn the driving and car set up fundamentals for a year or 5 then try the upper classes. I believe it would be very discouraging to start in a late model or modified.

 

I'm not aware of any tracks in the southeast that run them on a weekly basis, there may be a couple but they are few and far between.

Thier Is much more to adjust on a car, much more that needs adjusting and many more ways to go wrong on setup. Dirt can change more in a few laps than asphalt will over a day.

 

Imca modified is about as basic as you can get and you can run them everywhere. There are even some big money races. Pic up a used car from a local racer that can help you with set up notes.

 

they are very big up here in PA, we have a speed week where there is like 6 races in a week and 90-100 cars show every night.

usually every week there is 20-30 cars that show up at the track I race at for 24 starting places. That is another reason I picked this class, it's strong with a good turn out. there are cheaper class' , but only 8-10 cars show up.

Late models are crazy expensive, I think they have $30,000 engines in them alone.

Lance

 

My dad has a vintage Super modified that he is putting back together for trackdays. I got to drive his friends (Gary Fedewa) last summer its a retired Sammy sessions indy roadster that was made into a super modified by Sammy when he was alive. The thing was crazy powerfull gave me a whole new respect for oval cars. I thought it would be like a go kart but it was more like dirt tracking a turbo busa on ice. The wheels spun on the thought of throttle input.

I think he has one for sale but its a vintage car not something for racing today.

 

I have had allot of experince with dirt late models, my advice for you is to stick with something simple for your first car, mono leaf coil over rear suspension with sliders and a torqe arm with a 5th an 6th coil. dont screw around with wheel offsets till you learn how to drive it.
We had lots of fun with ours and we will be getting back into it again very soon. The have a new class for limited late models, same as a super but with a crate engine, some of those races pay upwards of 10k to win, it can be cheaper than roadracing with a much better return

 

IF your brother can wheel and pay for it, spending time in the lower divisions is a waste of time and will most likely to teach him bad driving habits if his goal is to end up in a late model. IMHO

I think in your area there's plenty of crate racing. No more expensive than a mod, usually a way better return.

Can't go wrong with a Rocket chassis, but look what's winning in your area. http://www.rocketchassis.com/

Rampant retardation w/some good info intermingled; http://www.4m.net/

Tell ya what; I like my bikes, but there's nothing like running off in the corner side by side with someone on the dirt.