I wish to give my opinion. I currently race with NASA, Midwestern Council and SCCA in Spec Miata and PCA in SP3. I enjoy racing the spec miata class. The car and the competitive class has helped to improve my driving skills and I have met some very helpful individuals. If I was to build/buy another car I would do either a SM or a SRF. Both have their pros and cons, but at this time I enjoy running a production car and the cost involved to both build and race a SM is cents on-the dollar compared to my 951...

 

Amen...

 

Yes.

http://www.hsrrace.com

SVRA has waived its "past racing history" rule so you would also qualify to race it (except for the Zippo/Watkins Glen event).

 

Sorry to revive a slightly stale thread, but I've been heads down researching options for my 14 yr old as we think about his 2008 season. Another national schedule of karts is more expensive for sure than lots of alternatives mentioned in this thread, but it's a moot point because he can't race SCCA until he's 16. His only options in real, recognized car racing series are Skip Barber or maybe USAC Ford Focus Midgets and even then only after his next birthday.

I read this whole thread and was surprised no one mentioned the Skip Series. Has anyone done it? At first glance it is incredibly appealing: spec cars, no towing, setup, prep, no scramble for tires, fuel; no tech, for Pete's sake! First class venues, coached practice sessions, national press coverage. Incredibly plug-and-play: fly in with suit and helmet, depart in time to get a good night's sleep prior to class Monday morning.

On the other hand life teaches us not to take the sales literature at face value: Has anyone done the series and can comment?

 

Isn't it fairly expensive? I thought I heard something like $2-3k per weekend just for the car. So figure another grand in expenses and it starts to add up if you want to do 6-8 races.

 

Depends: expensive compared to what? It is $2600/weekend (2 races) and another $1K for friday practice. Regional series is 7 events so call it ~$28K for a season. Plus crash damage deductible $?. My observation is that accounting gets a little fuzzy when it comes to racing but I could certainly build a model that showed a similar cost to campaigning a G car in 14 races for about the same money...

I thought I'd ask because the P-car racer-demographic maps more closely to the Skip racer demographic than do other racer communities... Surprised there are no Skip veterans on rennlist.

 

Be careful or you'll pop the carefully crafted and maintained denial bubble I've put around my racing "budget"

Might want to try a dedicated post...this one is beating an old dog.

 

Hah! I just spoke with the guy who bought my G car. Based on receipts I received when I bought it, plus the money I know I spent, added to what the new owner has invested bringing it up to Toyo Cup specs, it has now had over $100K in development dollars, not counting the cost of the base car! Cup car territory...

I'll try a new post.

 

I think you should sign up. The costs that you mention are much less than campaigning your own car.

My deductible is whatever the incident damage is.

Good luck; it sounds like a lot of fun.

P/S I went to the Road Atlanta driving school in 1990 (before Panoz bought the track). I paid a higher fee than that to get my racing license (not adjusted for inflation).

 

Yer a wise man, Johnny!