so why road racing (sportscar racing)
02-16-2009, 01:51 PM
#31
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Golf's for pussies, huh? Anyone here who wouldn't trade places with Tiger? Or #50 in the world?
So back to the topic at hand. My first exposure was NASCAR on TV. Then, Indy. But when I first started "competing" when I was 16 it was in local road rallies. Yep, math on wheels. That led me to this underground world of stage rallying. Never got my act together to actually do it, but I love running on low traction surfaces. Couple of years later, I got my first mechanic job at a shop where they campaigned an SCCA road race car. So that led to hanging around with that crowd, and when I was 20 I got my own car to prepare and lord over for a rookie driver. That car was then loaned to me to get my license. 25 years ago!
What I should have taken more seriously, when I lived in Phoenix, was the chance to get into a sprint car.
So back to the topic at hand. My first exposure was NASCAR on TV. Then, Indy. But when I first started "competing" when I was 16 it was in local road rallies. Yep, math on wheels. That led me to this underground world of stage rallying. Never got my act together to actually do it, but I love running on low traction surfaces. Couple of years later, I got my first mechanic job at a shop where they campaigned an SCCA road race car. So that led to hanging around with that crowd, and when I was 20 I got my own car to prepare and lord over for a rookie driver. That car was then loaned to me to get my license. 25 years ago!
What I should have taken more seriously, when I lived in Phoenix, was the chance to get into a sprint car.
02-16-2009, 03:17 PM
#32
Three Wheelin'
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Much easier to overnight a clutch-pac then main-sail like my dad had to do when he raced sailboats. Uniform has the same effect; drivers suit and fowl weather gear equally accepted at the finest event resturant.
02-16-2009, 03:19 PM
#33
Ironman 140.6
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02-16-2009, 03:41 PM
#34
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My take - it's all about seat time...!
On an average night, with a decently quick car, say 10-12 seconds, a drag racer makes 5-6 passes.
That's 50 seconds to a max of 1 minute, 12 seconds of actual seat time per event.
One single session of a club race or DE will give you the equivalent of an entire season of drag racing seat time......
15 laps in a 30 minutes session at TWS for instance will net you 45 miles of driving experience while a drag racer has to pull off 180 passes for the same distance/enjoyment.
I can run darned near an hour on 5 gallons of pump gas while my drag racing friends burn 3-5 gallons (including burnout
) of RON 105 per pass.
Erm....these are the arguments I use when surrounded by drag racers...
T
On an average night, with a decently quick car, say 10-12 seconds, a drag racer makes 5-6 passes.
That's 50 seconds to a max of 1 minute, 12 seconds of actual seat time per event.
One single session of a club race or DE will give you the equivalent of an entire season of drag racing seat time......
15 laps in a 30 minutes session at TWS for instance will net you 45 miles of driving experience while a drag racer has to pull off 180 passes for the same distance/enjoyment.
I can run darned near an hour on 5 gallons of pump gas while my drag racing friends burn 3-5 gallons (including burnout
) of RON 105 per pass.Erm....these are the arguments I use when surrounded by drag racers...
T
I've never tried pure oval racing, but given two experiences at Rovals that used most of the oval turns, I found it kind of fun for a little while but then a bit boring compared to the road course bits.
I'd like to try dirt sometime, that looks like a hoot.
02-16-2009, 03:58 PM
#35
King of Cool
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02-16-2009, 04:12 PM
#36
Drifting
02-16-2009, 05:25 PM
#37
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When I had my MR2 Turbo, it was kind of good at everything. So I tried several different types of racing, just to check them out, and also because the skills learned in one form of racing, can help in road racing. With my MR2, I did, autocross, HPDE, Hill Climbs, drag racing, drifting, and Land Speed Racing. Of all of them, drifting was by far the hardest. None even come close to how much fun HPDE is though.
Click links above for videos.
-Scott
Click links above for videos.
-Scott
02-16-2009, 06:25 PM
#38
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I started in Motocross because I could do that before I had a driver's license. Broke my leg, but only got better. Then they invented suspension and the 13 year olds were blowing me off. I moved to Autocross for a few years, but got bored standing around all day for a total of 3 min. track time and a plastic trophy. Went Radio control racing next and enjoyed the tech, but moved to karting when I realized that for the same money I could actually ride along. Started to worry about getting injured again after a few shunts, then I moved to DE, formula car driving schools and finally Club Racing, where I'm very happy. Keep a strong leg in cycling too, but too dangerous to compete. Can't help thinking about safety; it's so easy to put a dentist out of work!
