kurt M

1. $. You work it right you can get in a lot of track miles for little $. Racing at any kind of levels other than DE+ = $$$. I can DE 10 times at the local track over the season with the many groups that run there but only get one CR. All other CRs are all away events. Yes it is a rush at a level above DE but sometimes good is well good enough. I see a lot of happy people at DE. I have seen some of the same folks knotted up with the mental pointer in the red zone almost all weekend at CR. Happiness counts. On the other hand yawn...same ol same ol does too. DE is better if you have others to play with on track. Racing but not racing you know?

2. Time there is more time spent doing the same number of CR to DE events. A 3 day CR is 4 days = two non weekend days and more to me from wife and kids. Overall there is more prep time for CR than a DE.

3. You are more likely to wad or break your car at a CR.

4. You car will not last as long mechanically being raced and it if does you are sandbagging.

5. $. Yes I bring this one up twice. There are few that can get the cost per mile of racing close to DE miles but most standard racers fork out "Do not ever, for any reason, add up the resepts” kind of bucks. Yes you do, you know it. More than you want to admit to fellow track rats much less admit to your wife.

RickBetterley

Nope - its as stated. All understood; my problem is that I am way too committed time and $-wise to DE and love instructing (and would not want to cut back; hey, I want it ALL!), so my feeling is that the last thing I need is another passion - although life is all about passion.
So, I avoid club racing because it is probably way too much fun. Dumb, huh?

George from MD

In short- time is the big factor for me- second would be $/cost of insurance. I would love to at least attend the local one or participate in some NASA events but I can barely do five or six DEs a year. And I really enjoy instructing.

Van

Someone should put together a fleet of SP1 944s that some of you guys can rent...

I think there are lots of people that are advanced DEers that would love it. But there are also people that just don't have the desire to be competitive (or, as someone said (brian?) they don't have the desire to be a little fish again...)

I've only ever spoken with 1 person who did try CR and didn't like it. But, I think it was more an issue of him being inexperienced and unnerved by being passed by faster cars in close quarters.

Larry Herman

Actually I love racing. I get more of a rush on the track, but am more relaxed in the pits than at any DE. I guess that after 28 years, just driving around the track and trying to point wannabe Schumachers in the right direction has lost it's luster. If it weren't for my kid's involvements and the friends that I have made at DE's, I probably would not attend them at all.

And believe it or not, I held off going racing for a few years, even though I autocrossed and time-trialed because I was afraid that I would not like it.

Chulo

Rick - I joined the CR ranks last year. It's a whole new level of fun for sure. I have fun at DEs, too. Its just a lot more intense racing. The trust level is a lot higher, too. I think there are definitely a lot of guys who don't club race b/c they like to talk about lap times, etc, without having them posted for the public to view. One cannot hide the AMB results... Once you step out of the DE pool, and realize that (most of us) have a LOT to learn your skills will progress. Racing should make you a better driver. Come join the ranks!

Greg Phillips

Full cage, HANS device, driver's suit, battery cutoff etc. all add up to another level of preparation (and cost) needed to club race.

Greg Phillips

Qwickrick

I agree fully with your accessment. I had gone to LRP to instruct with NNJR, just so I could drive the course off line to get myself ready for the Club Race. I learned a lot more about both my car and my driving from doing this and form the club race.

TT Surgeon

No time.

mark kibort

Here, have some crack, I mean, go club racing!......................

Weston

Going wheel-to-wheel racing in a competitive class is so much fun that it will most likely ruin DE's, Time Trials, autocross, etc. for you. I look back on those days and think, "how could I stand to drive around by myself!?" Sure, I remember that all being lots of fun back then, and getting within a few car lengths of another car was "exciting", but nowadays even race practice sessions are more thrilling to me than that.

It's also a different mentality to be fast... back when I was doing Time Trials with SCCA, I got surprisingly good lap times, but I did it with my wallet more so than talent. Yeah, my driving skills did grow over that time, but like everyone I got stuck in that mindset of "I need X part to catch that other driver". Now I'm racing in a much slower car with restrictive rules, and it forces me to focus on driving more than anything else. It also helps to be able to get right up on the bumper of other cars, so you can really see how other drivers are doing things.

Racing wheel-to-wheel can be a pretty humbling experience at first, but over the past few years I've learned so much more while racing than I ever did back when I was basically driving around by myself and blowing all kinds of money. For me, and many other people I know, racing is actually cheaper than just doing track days / DE's / Time Trials. When you're driving by yourself or comparing lap times, you need a fast car to keep it interesting, and you'll always want more than you have. But when you're racing just inches away from other cars, it doesn't matter if you only have 160HP (or less), just as long as everyone else has about the same... you may be going "slow", but you wont notice that because it's pretty damn exciting.

TR6

I don't race now, but hope to next year. I've only been de'ing a little over two years and feel that I need another year of de under my belt before jumping in to racing. Another reason is financial. I can't afford to buy a dedicated turn key race car right now. I'm sort of building a spec miata right now (the pay-as-you-can-afford-it plan), but I'd prefer to race PCA. However, to race any Porsche will cost more than racing a mid-pack to back-of-the-pack spec miata.

Porsche917K

I am dying to go racing and I think I could stomach the added costs over doing DE's, but the two things holding me back are:

1. I feel that the likelihood of totalling your car goes way up and I don't think I could stomach writing off a car at my age.

2. Having a dedicated race car would mean that I would have to buy another fun car for the weekends.

mrbill_fl

I've already done scca racing...

it became too much like work... consuming all free time and too much money, plus became an arms race I could never hope to win.

but I'm glad I did it. and you should try it,

Just try to limit the costs and time, by lowering your goals from winning races to having fun and finishing races.

Example: I know my car is not setup optimally for homestead (last weekend), but didn't care to play w/ setup, cause it really doesn't matter if I'm a second faster a lap... so I just drive what I've got the best I can, as it is.

Brian P

I disagree. The number of single car incidents are probably lower at races than DE's (because racers are better drivers )

The number of multi-car incidents will tend to be higher because people driver much closer at races than they do at DE's, and this is especially true during the race start. Even then, the percentage isn't as different as you'd think.