Possible routes of entry into series?

[J.Race]

Hello, I am a racing enthusiast that, quite frankly, cannot stay on the sidelines indefinitely. The problem? Not nearly enough money, and didn't get an early enough start due to school and family reasons. 

I live in the general area of BIR Raceway in Minnesota, USA. As I was reading through the advice for team captains, I found that it was not uncommon for new teams to find themselves missing both their primary and their backup driver in an event. Though I wouldn't be starting this year, is it possible to register as a spare driver without an associated team for a single event, or do the rules not allow for this? 

If this is not possible, what way might I be able to get involved as a driver that could dramatically cut costs (besides of course the membership and test which I can't really do much about, and the safety gear of course I plan to spend well on)? Are there other ways I can legally get involved in racing in Minnesota that would be more inexpensive?

I'm looking at about 3k or 4k max, with monthly expenses not exceeding $200-300. Can I make this happen?


I apologize since, besides some research in both driving and auto mechanics, I am completely new to this. 

Edited July 26, 2017 by J.Race

[frankrehnelt]

We give some drive time to people that help out. At NCM a kid that helped us all weekend got a half hour driving the race car during the Friday practice. He and his father are coming to VIR24 to help. I won't have an opportunity to put him in the car there but I plan on "paying" him back. 

[craig71188]

It's hard to give too many specifics without more details about your particular skills...however:

1) As mentioned above - find a team or teams in your area and find a way to help out.  Mechanical help is great, but go crew, dump fuel, cook food, whatever.  As mentioned above, many teams have a "friendly rate" for team members for seat time.

2) $3K-$4k + $200-$300 a month.  No, not enough to start/run a team.  Pay your membership, buy some used gear, find a local team and work a deal to rent a seat.  If you spend $1K on gear and bank the rest, you can buy a seat at a couple races a year to get a start.

3) As you get to know "the locals", you may find a situation similar to what I have locally.  There are 2-4 of us that own cars.  We have no formal "team", but a pool of 6-8 drivers.  When one of us decides to do a race, the call goes out and we mix and match drivers/cars to go to events.  Several of us have jobs that invariably conflict with events so this arrangement allows us a more flexible approach to go to the races.

 

The best advise in general - get involved and invest some time meeting people who race in your area, many of our group are SCCA people who got tired of the politics and wanted to do longer races.  Also, check the LeMons forum - oft times there are "crossover" teams that do both series, or start in LeMons (I did ne race with them and it was enough for me) and you can get an "in" there and then work you way to where you want to be.

Good luck!

[J.Race]

4 hours ago, frankrehnelt said:

We give some drive time to people that help out. At NCM a kid that helped us all weekend got a half hour driving the race car during the Friday practice. He and his father are coming to VIR24 to help. I won't have an opportunity to put him in the car there but I plan on "paying" him back. 

 

3 hours ago, craig71188 said:

It's hard to give too many specifics without more details about your particular skills...however:

1) As mentioned above - find a team or teams in your area and find a way to help out.  Mechanical help is great, but go crew, dump fuel, cook food, whatever.  As mentioned above, many teams have a "friendly rate" for team members for seat time.

2) $3K-$4k + $200-$300 a month.  No, not enough to start/run a team.  Pay your membership, buy some used gear, find a local team and work a deal to rent a seat.  If you spend $1K on gear and bank the rest, you can buy a seat at a couple races a year to get a start.

3) As you get to know "the locals", you may find a situation similar to what I have locally.  There are 2-4 of us that own cars.  We have no formal "team", but a pool of 6-8 drivers.  When one of us decides to do a race, the call goes out and we mix and match drivers/cars to go to events.  Several of us have jobs that invariably conflict with events so this arrangement allows us a more flexible approach to go to the races.

 

The best advise in general - get involved and invest some time meeting people who race in your area, many of our group are SCCA people who got tired of the politics and wanted to do longer races.  Also, check the LeMons forum - oft times there are "crossover" teams that do both series, or start in LeMons (I did ne race with them and it was enough for me) and you can get an "in" there and then work you way to where you want to be.

Good luck!

 

Thank you both so much! Very good to know. 

[Bremsen]

Post in the Putting people together forum.  I agree with others that, with your budget, renting seats a few times a year is likely your best route.

[55mini]

By chance did you get to the race which was just a couple weeks back? 

Chump only runs once a year at BIR so you might look to travel to RA in October to see if a team needs help or you could just show up

and walk the pits and offer some time with the teams. Another option to watch and learn the ropes of chump is to volunteer to work as a pit marshal.

Our full team is working that event as we have for the last three years.

 

We came to BIR this year with another team and I wrenched and my son drove, so there are lots of ways to get you time in.

I know this same team will run at RA and could use a wrench or pit crew help. Post in the putting people together section and offer your time.

 

Hope to see you at the track and good luck.

 

 

[J.Race]

6 hours ago, Bremsen said:

Post in the Putting people together forum.  I agree with others that, with your budget, renting seats a few times a year is likely your best route.

 

I will do that, once I am more confident on when exactly I can make this work. Not sure if it will be this year, next, or the one after that. But rest assured, I will get involved eventually. 

6 hours ago, 55mini said:

By chance did you get to the race which was just a couple weeks back? 

Chump only runs once a year at BIR so you might look to travel to RA in October to see if a team needs help or you could just show up

and walk the pits and offer some time with the teams. Another option to watch and learn the ropes of chump is to volunteer to work as a pit marshal.

Our full team is working that event as we have for the last three years.

 

We came to BIR this year with another team and I wrenched and my son drove, so there are lots of ways to get you time in.

I know this same team will run at RA and could use a wrench or pit crew help. Post in the putting people together section and offer your time.

 

Hope to see you at the track and good luck.

 

 

 

I did not, a whole bunch of other stuff came up. I hope to be there this year, ideally.

[MR2 Biohazard]

I say put some feelers out and see if you can find a team close by. I had one of my drivers, who at the time was in the young 20's and a no cash college kid, would come and help with the car prep, go the races, help with all aspects of race including pit stops. I paid his expenses, food and shared hotel. I also gave him $200 per weekend towards future race entry fee for driver stints and when he would help he would get money towards seat time also. It added up over time so he could race. We gave him our old gear and shared a hans. You can do it on the cheap if you are dedicated and ready to work.

 

Funny story on that is that he is a young fit guy who has been to about 6-7 races and jelled well with the team and really knew what was going on. He practiced for 6-10 hours on the sim, VIR S, and had it down. He went out for his first wheel to wheel and did amazing. He was only 2-3 seconds off the rest of our times. He came prepared and ready and very nervous and it all worked out good. The funny part is he is like 15-30 years younger than the rest of us and gets out of the car after his first stint crazy tired. He said he never ever expected it to be that hard and was whooped. I looked at him and giggled and said. "Good, now you know the effort it takes. Get some water as you go back in in like 2-3 hours." He had that oh Sh%t look and we all loved it. Go to pay your dues somehow.

[Ogren-Engineering]

 Go to the putting teams together page.  Post your short resume  with in car vids.    Find a ride for a fair price , 250 per hr or so.

 Lats resort,    take your suit to the races and walk the pits  carrying  enough cash to get in the car.

 If you cant afford to pay for the car that you wrecked , please dont get in the car.  3-4K$ 

[Ray Franck]

Do you have any RACING experience ? 

[J.Race]

On 8/1/2017 at 9:41 AM, okkustom said:

Do you have any RACING experience ? 

 

Nothing official, sadly for both parts of that statement. Nothing besides some simulators and one time as a teen when someone got me really fired up on the road (trust me though, that was a long time ago). Racing experience is exactly what I am looking to gain, but I don't really know of any adult go-karts in MN. Might just be bad search terms or something. I understand that is the typical first step for teens?

Working on gaining some mechanical experience. I don't have it yet, but fortunately that is a lot easier to gain and the only part of gaining experience that seems to have the potential to actually make money instead of losing it. 

I do intend to get a racing license if I can be confident that I will have the chance to actually use it. 

Edited August 3, 2017 by J.Race

[Dimsun Racing]

12 hours ago, J.Race said:

I do intend to get a racing license if I can be confident that I will have the chance to actually use it. 

 

None of the budget series require a license. But most teams typically will not rent to someone with zero experience.

 

You desire to be a race car driver but it's not as easy as you think. You need at least a track day to find out if you're even capable.

 

First thing you have to do is show up at the track as a spectator, most people don't even get that far.

[tdh136]

Get involved, find a team that needs the skills you have; mechanical, financial, organizational, pit boss, fueler, comms, etc.  Team members come and go so eventually a seat will open.  When you get the shot, drive clean, take care of the car, be consistent, do more than your fair share of the work, pay your share promptly.  You will keep a seat and the more you race, the better you will get.  It is not as easy as it seems to drive fast; practice and experience helps.  Just like most things in life the harder you work at it, the better you will be at it.

I never dreamed I would be able to do this.  Now we travel coast to coast and are pretty competitive.  If it wasn't for our car owners and this series, I never would have been able to do it.  

I still have to pinch myself from time to time.  

[J.Race]

I appreciate all of the information, thank you all very much. 

 

11 hours ago, Dimsun Racing said:

 

None of the budget series require a license.

 

Odd, I contacted BIR directly and they said different. Not only did I need a license, but the test had to be taken with an actual race car, not just a street car. 

[Andrew D Johnson]

28 minutes ago, J.Race said:

I appreciate all of the information, thank you all very much. 

 

 

Odd, I contacted BIR directly and they said different. Not only did I need a license, but the test had to be taken with an actual race car, not just a street car. 

 

They are probably talking about WRL, which is kind of a budget series but not really. I think some of the BIR instructors can certify for WRL licenses. 

 

Having some HPDE experience and some time with an instructor is highly recommended before starting chump. 

[TiredBirds]

3-4k is plenty to get started, as long as you have 4 others to help build the team. Your team should have people that know cars, and know how to work on them. You should build a platform that you know. Meaning if you are Furd Fox-body guys build that...4 banger FWD, build that. It is also cheaper and MUCH faster to buy a done car. They come up all the time on ebay and c-list. Depending on how many races you want to do $300/month should work. A typical weekend for a team is about 2k.

[mostmint]

If you have zero driving experience your first order of business should be to get some.  People who have proven they can handle the car via track days and/or autocross events could be viable candidates to put in a rented seat.  None of this requires a dedicated race car but you will have to think about prepping whatever your drive so it can handle high performance driving - vehicle speed not important, safety, reliability and predictability are.  The pic is my daughter doing track day in her Impala. 

 

My current cost per hour of racing is around $225 and that includes entry fees, parts/spares, gas, travel costs (we rent a truck), but not food and lodging. 

 

Of course you need safety gear also.

 

And if you start racing, focus first on learning to run a team, making the car last and learning to drive door to door.  After that you can get started thinking about speed. 

 

I've been doing this for six years, mostly 1-2 races per year and I really enjoy the racing and working on the car. 

[thewheelerZ]

Lots of good info here. I agree, if you want a car on the cheap, look for something used and cheap. 

 

Buy this now, and go find as many open track days as you can for the remainder of the summer: 

 

[gr1vlet]

On 8/4/2017 at 9:40 AM, red0 said:

 

They are probably talking about WRL, which is kind of a budget series but not really. I think some of the BIR instructors can certify for WRL licenses. 

 

Having some HPDE experience and some time with an instructor is highly recommended before starting chump. 

WRL only requires verifiable HPDE "Solo" or instructor status to run. 8 hours of w2w (ccws/lemons/etc) experience also qualifies you.

 

If you are JUST starting out go run an autocross. Just about any car with 4 wheels and a seatbelt can run. Thats where I started and between autox and iracing I got up to speed very quickly. While youre doing that volunteer at some races, go watch, talk to people, etc. If you spend enough time around it youll find a path to racing eventually. I met my team at a local autocross, started helping them prep the car and eventually started racing. 

 

Racing always seemed to have huge entry barriers when I started investigating it. When I started autocrossing in 2013 (as a 23yo recent college grad) I never thought Id be on a racetrack let alone racing w2w. 4 years later and Ive been to every major track in the SE United States, instructed a few track days and and race with 2 teams 4-5 races per year (e30 and Mustang). My first time driving on a racetrack was during the 2014 ccws NCM race. By the end of that first day I was running competitive times with the rest of my team.

 

If theres a will theres a way. Get to every autocross, endurance/club race etc you can and talk to everyone you meet about what you want to do.  It wont take long to get where you want to be. The fact that you are posting here means you're way smarter than I was when I started investigating. Good luck!

Edited August 6, 2017 by gr1vlet

[J.Race]

On 8/4/2017 at 8:40 AM, red0 said:

 

They are probably talking about WRL, which is kind of a budget series but not really. I think some of the BIR instructors can certify for WRL licenses. 

 

Having some HPDE experience and some time with an instructor is highly recommended before starting chump. 

 

Highly recommended as in not absolutely required? I don't think I will skimp on that, but push comes to shove... we will see how that turns out. From the looks of it won't be necessary. 

 

On 8/4/2017 at 8:50 AM, TiredBirds said:

3-4k is plenty to get started, as long as you have 4 others to help build the team. Your team should have people that know cars, and know how to work on them. You should build a platform that you know. Meaning if you are Furd Fox-body guys build that...4 banger FWD, build that. It is also cheaper and MUCH faster to buy a done car. They come up all the time on ebay and c-list. Depending on how many races you want to do $300/month should work. A typical weekend for a team is about 2k.

 

Very useful info, thanks! Unfortunately, besides my classmates that I was never really close with, my uncles know more about trucks than cars. At least I know plenty of people that are good with mechanical stuff. Shouldn't be too hard to find someone. 

 

On 8/4/2017 at 9:32 AM, mostmint said:

If you have zero driving experience your first order of business should be to get some.  People who have proven they can handle the car via track days and/or autocross events could be viable candidates to put in a rented seat.  None of this requires a dedicated race car but you will have to think about prepping whatever your drive so it can handle high performance driving - vehicle speed not important, safety, reliability and predictability are.  The pic is my daughter doing track day in her Impala. 

 

My current cost per hour of racing is around $225 and that includes entry fees, parts/spares, gas, travel costs (we rent a truck), but not food and lodging. 

 

Of course you need safety gear also.

 

And if you start racing, focus first on learning to run a team, making the car last and learning to drive door to door.  After that you can get started thinking about speed. 

 

I've been doing this for six years, mostly 1-2 races per year and I really enjoy the racing and working on the car. 

 

Do "track days" sometimes go by other names, especially at BIR? What are the best track days for the Midwest?

[enginerd]

30 minutes ago, J.Race said:

Do "track days" sometimes go by other names, especially at BIR? What are the best track days for the Midwest?

There's a nice 1.8mile track called "Blackhawk Farms" just north of Rockford, IL. They do an open track day about once a month on Wednesdays. We have tested there twice.

[J.Race]

17 hours ago, enginerd said:

There's a nice 1.8mile track called "Blackhawk Farms" just north of Rockford, IL. They do an open track day about once a month on Wednesdays. We have tested there twice.

 

Good to know, I will keep them in mind thanks. 

[Segeltorp]

A few random thoughts on this topic:

First, we probably only live once, and sometimes you just have to jump in at the deep end of the pool and figure it out as you go. If you try to rationalize things, and really figure out the budgets and really figure out the right way to get started - then there is a significant risk that you never will get started...

 

I'm a bad example as I did pretty much everything wrong. I did not first learn how to drive well. I did not do research about what cars to run. I found out about Chumpcar by chance and somehow managed to talk 3 colleagues into pooling $1k into a "once-in-a-lifetime experience". None of the other guys were even remotely car-guys. None of them had sat foot on any kind of race track even as a spectator, None had done a track day. None of them could wrench on a car. And we decided to start by doing the 24 hr at VIR.

 

I bought an ex-Lemons car with no performance mods but with a very good cage. I admittedly spend a bit more than my share of the budget buying good tires, brake pads and a few other essentials. I did do every single modification with the cheapest, most chumpy solution possible. I bought all used safety gear - my friends all rented. I did find a nice team who invited me to join them for a Lemons race to learn a little bit about how to do things. And then we drove the race car over to VIR to see what would happen... Yes, we grenaded the engine after 19 hours, but until then we had sooo much fun.

 

My 3 colleagues were happy with that one-off experience, but here I am 7 years later still getting to do a race from time to time as budget and available drivers allow. Had I been anywhere rational about how to do it all these experiences and friendships had never happened! So - go for it. Dive in. It's totally worth it, even when you start realizing that you never afforded it in the first place!