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Can a few people break down exactly what their team's cost is?


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I am new and I am still having trouble coming up with ranges of dollars to present to my potential team.

 

Could people give me a more or less exact cost breakdown of their start into ChumpCar and then a race weekend?

 

Also, I am confused as to what the entry fee is per race. Is the price next to the race name here:https://www.chumpcar.com/events.php the entry fee for the car into the race? Is it per person?

I was also seeing $900 per driver @ 4 drivers. Not quite sure.

 

Some examples:

- Car

- Car upgrades/fixes

- Extra parts

- Entry fee

- Members

- Transportation

- Hotel

- Food

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  Fuel costs Cost /gallon Gallon per hour # of hours of race
RX7 413.25 3.8 7.5 14.5
  Tire Costs Number of tires/race Cost of tires  
RX7 900 6 150  
  Brake Pad Cost Brake pads used per race Cost of pads  
RX7 230 1 230  
  Total Cost / race in consumables      
Rx7 1543.25      
         
Hotel  $300.00      
Entry Fees $1,100.00      
transponder rental $50.00      
Gas for transport $247.41      
oil / filter / rags / tape / etc… $100.00      
Practice day $200.00      
replacement parts (From Prep Sheet):  $190.00      
Tire mounting $80.00      
         
         
Total Race Cost: $3,810.66      
race cost / 4 $952.67      
         
         

The entry fee is for the team.  It is not just for a single driver.

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I've got a spreadsheet I can send you- you can plug in your own numbers for the variables (fuel burn, tire & brake costs, etc.). The only thing I don't have built in are the personal accommodations such as hotel or food, as we all kind of do our own thing there.

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If you are looking for a budgetary estimate, our costs are similar to @wvumtnbkr.  You'll have to budget for major repairs as well.  Expect that to average $300-$400 per event (includes body panels, wheel bearings, axles, engine replacement/rebuid, etc).  On average we have had to replace a head, axle, wheel bearing, transmission, or engine after nearly every event (but the head and engine issues were mostly self-inflicted).

 

If you like fancy hotels and foie gras and craft beer, you might want to add a bit.

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 Hey tasty , WELCOME .  A lot depends on if your team is a bunch of hard workers and can scrounge for parts at deals or if you have to pay other people to work on the car and buy everything at retail prices . Car choice is a big factor also in the long run I mean racing a neon will be a lot cheaper than keeping that 72 Jag on track .  Where are you located ?                      I don't understand why people add food into the equation cuz you're going to eat no matter where you are , just a constant cost of life and shouldn't be factored into racing cost .

Edited by okkustom
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I think a lot depends on the car you chose.  My 2nd Gen basically stock RX7 can get 28 hours out of a set of tires, run all season (4-5) races on a set of rotors, and I change the brake pads every other race just because its cheap and easy.  I run about 7 gallons an hour fuel, plus each 5 gallon jug has 4-5oz of two stroke oil in it at $10 a quart.  I can get about 3 seasons out of a freshly built rotary engine, transmission are a weak point for us, so I tend to install a new one every 3 to 4 races it seems.

 

My Camaro I'm building will probably get less fuel mileage, use more brakes, and have higher consumables all around.  I know the tires are easily about $300 more a set, with only a 1" increase in diameter.  In addition, the to build cost is much higher on the Camaro that the RX7, some of that is because my build cost of the RX7 was spread over 4 seasons, whereas I'm doing alot of upgrades and tricks I have learned in 4 years all at once on the Camaro build.  

 

My typical team of three drivers for the RX7, which were all considered "owners" priced around $800 a person for a weekend, everyone was on their own for food/hotel/ and travel except the race price included the diesel for our truck to pull the car.  Anyone that was a renter would expect to see about $1000 for two stints.  I have a feel the Camaro costs will be more like $1250 for owner pricing...

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1 hour ago, wvumtnbkr said:
  Fuel costs Cost /gallon Gallon per hour # of hours of race
RX7 413.25 3.8 7.5 14.5
  Tire Costs Number of tires/race Cost of tires  
RX7 900 6 150  
  Brake Pad Cost Brake pads used per race Cost of pads  
RX7 230 1 230  
  Total Cost / race in consumables      
Rx7 1543.25      
         
Hotel  $300.00      
Entry Fees $1,100.00      
transponder rental $50.00      
Gas for transport $247.41      
oil / filter / rags / tape / etc… $100.00      
Practice day $200.00      
replacement parts (From Prep Sheet):  $190.00      
Tire mounting $80.00      
         
         
Total Race Cost: $3,810.66      
race cost / 4 $952.67      
         
         

The entry fee is for the team.  It is not just for a single driver.

The problem with this is it leaves no money to repair anything major to either the race car or the tow setup.  I think building in a little padding means a car owner will still be racing a year or two later vs. folding because it's "too expensive".  Oh let's not forget all the labor the car owner does.  

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@Bill Strong  did you budget for replacing my keyboard that I just spit coffee all over?  Profit racing......gasping for air while laughing. :)    I think you mean charge more than consumables but what do I know.  

 

But seriously add money to the budget for big stuff, drive line component repair and replacement,  tow vehicle lays an egg,  someone punts you into a wall etc.  

 

It also depends on what part of the bell curve you and your team wants to be.  Is a good finish, just finishing, is it being fast enough to be in the top 10 with attrition of other fast cars that don't  make it to the checker flag, is it "damn we should have won we are going to upgrade 6 things before the next race and all go to racing school?  

 

Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go.

 

How do you make a million dollars racing.....start with 2 million....

 

 

Edited by JDChristianson
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43 minutes ago, Jer said:

The problem with this is it leaves no money to repair anything major to either the race car or the tow setup.  I think building in a little padding means a car owner will still be racing a year or two later vs. folding because it's "too expensive".  Oh let's not forget all the labor the car owner does.  

That's where the line item: replacement parts (from prep sheet) comes in.  listed as 190$

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3 hours ago, Jer said:

The problem with this is it leaves no money to repair anything major to either the race car or the tow setup.  I think building in a little padding means a car owner will still be racing a year or two later vs. folding because it's "too expensive".  Oh let's not forget all the labor the car owner does.  

 

Wait car owner labor is free......

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4 hours ago, JDChristianson said:

@Bill Strong  did you budget for replacing my keyboard that I just spit coffee all over?  Profit racing......gasping for air while laughing. :)    I think you mean charge more than consumables but what do I know.  

 

But seriously add money to the budget for big stuff, drive line component repair and replacement,  tow vehicle lays an egg,  someone punts you into a wall etc.  

 

It also depends on what part of the bell curve you and your team wants to be.  Is a good finish, just finishing, is it being fast enough to be in the top 10 with attrition of other fast cars that don't  make it to the checker flag, is it "damn we should have won we are going to upgrade 6 things before the next race and all go to racing school?  

 

Speed cost money, how fast do you want to go.

 

How do you make a million dollars racing.....start with 2 million....

 

 

 

Then you are doing it wrong. Seriously. 

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I don't mean that in a mean way. I made a budget based on the past needs of the team. I priced seats accordingly knowing I was most likely going to have to go through 4 or 5 hubs and all the bits that get damaged as the wheel leaves the car. Plus the cost of tires and brakes, oil, gas, towing expenses per race. I build in a certain percentage of profit, and that is sent back to the company to pay for spares and crap. 

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5 minutes ago, Bill Strong said:

I don't mean that in a mean way. I made a budget based on the past needs of the team. I priced seats accordingly knowing I was most likely going to have to go through 4 or 5 hubs and all the bits that get damaged as the wheel leaves the car. Plus the cost of tires and brakes, oil, gas, towing expenses per race. I build in a certain percentage of profit, and that is sent back to the company to pay for spares and crap. 

Do you give prorated refunds to renters for lost driving time for if when the car breaks?

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8 minutes ago, Bill Strong said:

I don't mean that in a mean way. I made a budget based on the past needs of the team. I priced seats accordingly knowing I was most likely going to have to go through 4 or 5 hubs and all the bits that get damaged as the wheel leaves the car. Plus the cost of tires and brakes, oil, gas, towing expenses per race. I build in a certain percentage of profit, and that is sent back to the company to pay for spares and crap. 

I think we are in agreement...ish.   We don't rent seats, we're part of a team (fathers and son's) that brings a car to the track,  We plan to fix things, and know that unexpected things come along.  Profit to me, means money above and beyond both capital expenses and operating costs.    Say I build a car for $5000 that will last 5 years.  Break even per year is operating cost including everything from transportation, to oil changes plus $1000 a year to pay for the car.   Above that would be profit (and really to be a sustainable business the old car would have earned enough to build a new car in 5 years).    So I think we are on the same page with different words.  

 

For sure its worth it, and to the OP's original question, think of everything you can and add a little.  And find a team that gets it and wants to have fun!

 

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28 minutes ago, enginerd said:

Do you give prorated refunds to renters for lost driving time for if when the car breaks?

 

 

It's racing. That money is long gone.

 

Buddy of mine took a loan out to pay for his seat at the Rolex24 at Daytona. The owner gets in the car to start the race and wads the car up. Guess who did not get a refund?

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17 minutes ago, Bill Strong said:

 

 

It's racing. That money is long gone.

 

Buddy of mine took a loan out to pay for his seat at the Rolex24 at Daytona. The owner gets in the car to start the race and wads the car up. Guess who did not get a refund?

 

Damn, that sucks.

 

We don't ever have renters (high suck factor on our part, and frankly I'm not interested in giving up ANY seat time for a few bucks.  I know what it's worth to me), but a friend of mine said he's interested in joining us at our next race.  He's got experience so I'm putting him in the car first.  But if he only gets 5-10 laps outta the deal I'm totally giving him his money back.  We'll be shaking down a new car and who knows what's gonna fail or when.   It's a friend thing, I couldn't leave him hanging.    Maybe it's different with joe-average, doesn't pay much, renter.

Edited by Ham Sammich
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