944Fest (aka Dan P)

Sponsors welcome. Many cars run for charity. Chumps give THOUSANDS per race to charites.

http://www.chumpcar.com/dev/cms/asse...pcar-rules.pdf

If you are serious, click this link above, and print it out. Read it cover to cover twice. It has all the answers.

928dreamer

I have already read the rules cover to cover. Just wanted to hear it from a person with experience.

M758

I don't know that you save much money going chump racing. Not compared racing the same 944 in traditional racing series.

As for real racing... Real racing has classes that attept group cars of similiar speed potential. Real racing REQUIRES that each driver demonstrate their ability to safe and have awareness on track. Those that think it playstation or bumper cars get tossed before actually race. Real racing means I can trust the guys around me. Rookies do exists in real racing, but these guys have markings on thier cars to make it clear they the do not have experience the others do and you must be careful when racing with them.

Chump and LeMons just let anyone out on the track. Some can be talented, but others might not be able find apex to save their lives or have no idea how to be passed or pass safely. My racing dollars and time is limited and I would rather spend it on place where I know the talent and experience level is high enough to reduce the risk of getting caught up in stupid stuff on track.


BTW the most dangerious people on the track are the ones that think they know what they are doing, but don't know enough to realize they have no clue.


Look I remember the Top Gear guys ran that black BMW diesel in the BritCar 24 hr race few years back. They approached it like chumpcar race with fun and smiles and a big laugh. Once they showed up at the track the realized they were racing a big deal. It was not a few laps crashing and banging like one of their challenges. No it was big time and thier attitudes changed. They took it very seriously and seems to me drove at the best of the skill level respecting the fact that they knew they might not have the skills of the average racer.

Chump car is fine for those looking for a party that might have race with it. But real racing is about the racing not the party and despite appearing intimidating is in fact not that far off. I race for fun and enjoyment to be sure, but I also race to test my skill level against my competition.

acorad

Hey, now! Fwiw, our chumpy is an '87 (I think) 528e, bought for $500. Granted, it was in appropriately Chumpy condition with over 250k miles.

It's also slow as molasas. Heavy as a tank and grandma HP/Torque. Not sure why we bought it. Not sure why anyone would want to race a 5 series.

Our best lap at Laguna Seca before Xmas was the slowest best lap of any car up there by about 3 seconds. We finished just above mid-pack though.

Because this is what it's all about:

Tabbasco

Honestly it is a $500ish Porsche and the team is stocked with Driving Instructors, we are in it for the fun and the carnival, we will switch to Chumpcar for more serious racing and if the car survives 944spec. We recently found a cage in another 944 for $500 and scored enuf parts to jump to 944 spec earlier than planned.

The bottomline is we saved a 944 from the junkyard and will hopefully race the car for many years to come!!!

P.S. Our theme will do justice to the lines of the car, look for updates

acorad

Oh yea, I would not diminish the seriousness of the average Chumps driver.

While there are exceptions, as there are in Spec/PCA/etc as well, for the most part the drivers drive with appropriate respect and seriousness.

I have never done Lemons so I cannot speak to that, although our car did several Lemons races before I got involved and ALL of the dents on it are from Lemons...

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Cool. My experience was that they disregarded the whole section in the rules about theme and engineering, and the AIV/lap penalty part was not applied as expected. No matter, though. The themes just seemed to help ID other cars on the track. When you start building, feel free to ask us guys or the chump forum if you have any Q's. We did a lot of that and it was very helpful.

928dreamer

Can't wait to apply our custom theme. Bad***

928dreamer

There was a section in the rules about the cara ability to drive away. Then I saw people's blogs and it said they had to tow their chump cars and rebuild the tranny or do an engine swap. Just trying to differentiate from what's legal and not legal.

schwank

I have yet to find a running $500 944 around Oregon. The car I posted on the first page was sitting in a field for two years and was towed home. It also had speaker holes sawzalled into the rockers, A pillars, and C pillar! It only ran after a liberal application of maintenance parts... belts, hoses, pulleys, and a waterpump. Once we started the race, the early metal fuel tank started shedding crap and we killed a fuel pump too. Luckily we had a 'spare'... off of a running 924S daily that one of our drivers drove to the race. But the rules say you are allowed to install equally chumpy parts if something is busted.

The other couple I got for $500 cost that due to broken timing belts. That said they let us run with no penalty and they clearly have let other cars run so... it would seem kind of hard to close that door now. We just need to all start posting CL links to $500 944's so everyone can print them off for their example docs.

Good luck on your build, and have a fun time. If it's your first round that is pretty much a given!

speedjw

+1 for Lemons / Chumpcar being an awsome experience! I got into it, because I wanted to go racing with a team of my best friends. This way everyone on the team gets to drive. We still have a couple of guys who just want to hang out and work the radio or check tire pressures, which is a huge help. It takes at least 6 guys to run a car in a 24hr event.

Lemons is a little more about the pagentry, I think its a lot of fun... As most everyone there is just "my kind of people." The racing is still racing, but the before and after the race is definitely toungue-in-cheek.

Chumpcar has less games, the guys there seem to be a little more business like, maybe less "fun loving" than the Lemons crowd. That said, most everyone is still pretty cool. With chumpcar, it would seem that their more clearly defined value rules would help with parity, but it doesn't. They have to let clearly extremely fast cars run, as long as they meet the letter of the law. This said, our 944 wasn't as competetive in the chumpcar racing (but still good enough to finish top 10).

Running costs seem comparable to 944 Cup or Spec racing. It turns out to cost about $650 per person for a 14 hour race (5 guys).

Yes we race a 944, and have over 78hrs of tracktime on her. Just run good oil and baffle the oil pan (do it yourself, there's plenty of pictures out there), and change the oil after EVERY race!

Contrary to popular belief, I've found the driving to be very gentlemanly, (even better than 944 cup / spec). People give you room for a clean pass, as they don't want to be blackflagged for contact. In the races we've run, we have never had contact, and finished in the top 20 in every race (with fields in a 70+ car range).

Anyway, if you need any pointers on what not to do with a 944, I can probably help...

txhokie4life

We run a pair of Porches in Chumps. A 924S and a 944.
We started in LeMons but moved to Chumps.
More my cup of tea.

When we started in LeMons we brought a 1.5" binder of receipts and pictures.
The best thing going through tech was when the "judge" exclaimed -- look its a 924
(not realizing what the "S" meant) --- it sucked 25 years ago -- it sucks more today :-)
No penalties.

When we moved to chumps - the first race we actually were given a 3 lap bonus
with a snicker of -- you'll need it.

Our team is a mid-pack team (hey someone has to fill the field).

We hope to get more competitive -- but when you're most experience driver has
just over a handful of races under his belt -- what can you expect.
We've had some engine issues -- but generally the car has been pretty reliable.

Flat Out Racing

forced4

I'm a chump! We run an 89 crx. We've ran nelson ledges and Nashville. This year we will run VIR in August and maybe Nelson again. We love the atmosphere! We've learned things about our car, ourselves, and racing both times out and are still learning. Being fast is more about consistency running, pitting, etc. We placed seventh and then sixth but it didn't matter. Endurance racing is great and its a huge sense of accomplishment when no one wads it up and it runs a whole race.

Phil
Blown Headgasket Racing

928dreamer

Thanks so much for all the comments. They are going to be very helpful.
We just got a sponsor to buy the car for us if he can drive it too.!