stuttgart46

I think that B Spec will be a lot of fun as long as you are in a crowd. Once you're alone on track you will be bored senseless. There a few being built in Houston right now. I've heard of guys picking up Mazda 2's for $11-12K out the door. That should make for a $20K race car.

Phokaioglaukos

B Spec--couldn't do it because they are all FWD.

BrandonH

Racing a production car is an expensive and highly compromised way to go racing. There are many other positives (eg safety!) so I'm not condemning it. But for ~$30K you can by a Formula Ford/F1600 that could win SCCA national races, lap at speeds only approached by the most elite of high dollar sportscars, and learn to drive/set up/race a real racecar. And I'm not just saying that because I have one for sale...

samluke

Spec Boxster is the way I would go if I was starting out.

Buy a built car and go racing.

TrackDays247.com

Spec Miata car rotors: $25 ea :-)

analogmike

I bet you could buy Dick Strahota's 73RS clone, race it for 5 years with minimal maintenance, and sell it for a healthy profit. Can't do that with a Miata.

Circuit Motorsports

Profit on a racecar?

You are smokin something Mike

Although I'd really like that car in my garage.....

gums

From what I hear, spec Box will be a much better car now that LSDs are allowed.

I think a Honda powered F/F just won the runoffs, first time.

And you can't pay me to race a FWD car.

J richard

No LSDs in spec, but still a fun platform

mrbill_fl

Karting


http://www.worldkarting.com/

http://www.worldkarting.com/index.ph...o-karting-main

Nick Wong

I said the same thing too. Karting is the cheapest form of real racing. Race local sprint tracks and it's dirt cheap.

I've been racing karts off and on since 2004 in the WKA NRRS. Love it! Started in sit ups, now race both sit ups and lay downs. Best bang for the buck if you like running on big tracks like Daytona.

hf1

This would be as good of a first post here for me as any. I've been doing PCA DE's since 2006 -- currently running in Black and probably becoming an instructor this year -- and I too have sought the "best" answer to the OP's question. For now, I think that Skip Barber (formula or MX-5, arrive & drive) Race Series offers the best bang for one's racing buck, especially for those who would prefer not to spend time and $'s on everything that goes with keeping a race car in shape (pre-, during-, and post-race).

Here are some reasons why:

1. All cars are prepared the same (tested by instructors) and get assigned to racers through a lottery each day so no one can complain about unfairness, about how $'s buy podium access, about cheating, and all that good stuff going on in almost every other racing series. This makes things interesting even on street tires (BFGs) -- every car is exactly the same.

2. Instructors are spread out to all flag-stations during each race/session and convene back to the paddock to give individual feedback to racers on their technique, line, strategy, race-craft, etc. Instructors are also there to observe any issues, conflicts, or contacts and to ensure that the series rules are being enforced.

3. There is a great camaraderie among the racers and instructors who come with diverse driving/racing backgrounds (cup car racers, former/current pros, etc). The quality of the racers and the instructors is very high. Skip Racing Series is used as a career jumping point for a lot of aspiring young (teens) racers. Racing against them in equal cars is both humbling and inspiring. And because the cars are so equal, there's always dicing and good racing going on for all positions.

4. Safety. The cars (especially the MX-5s) are very safe and well prepared. Through economies of scale and with Mazda sponsorship on cheap parts, the cars are well taken care of by a group of hard working mechanics. Safety is also improved through enforcement of the series rules which makes it increasingly difficult for "dirty" or overly aggressive drivers to continue with the series after each incident they cause. Oftentimes one pays for other racer's sloppiness in car maintenance. This risk is minimized with Skip racing.

5. Insurance. The weekend comes with a $3k deductible, so that's the most you pay when/if you total a car. You can lower that to $500 for extra $200/day, I think.

6. Finally, cost. When pre-booked and with discounts, a race weekend (day1: 2x30min practice runs, day2: 30min qualifier + 30min race1, day3: 30min race2) could cost as low as $3600. Full price is $5k, I think, but I've not paid that much ever since my start with them in 2010. They have helmets and suits when/if you don't bring your own. These costs could be lowered by placing at the podium for the series/season, as prizes can go as high as covering the full cost of the next season or higher.

I know this is not cheap but no racing is -- it all depends on how you end up paying for it and how much you value doing other important things with your time, or just keeping a wife happy .

Here's a video of one of my races with Skip at Limerock last year. Keep in mind that those are street tires (BFG). Most of the action is in the first 15mins. The rest of it is me cruising at P1 until the checkered .


Not affiliated with Skip in any way. Just a happy customer/racer. Would be interested to see responses.

analogmike

Wow, awesome drive! Looks like you have a PCA starter, the start was an abortion...

Crazy pass into T1 in the 5th lap, don't know how you pulled that off. Also very brave pass and attempted pass into the uphill. You could teach our instructors quite a bit, thanks for the post about Skippy which is an excellent choice for racing.

hf1

Thanks for the nice welcoming post, Mike. Yeah, the start was a mess but it was the last race of the day so everyone must have been too tired for a re-start. I also screwed up a bit by closing the gap between me and the car in front a bit too soon which left me no space for building up momentum ahead of the green flag. Doesn't matter, it only made things more interesting later.

The T1 pass in Lap 5 caught me by surprise, too. I was faster than #47 out of the downhill, and he was faster then #15 so I was expecting 47 to pass 15 and me to pass both after the draft. But 47 chickened out for some reason and I had no choice but to pass the whole bunch by getting into the grass. #15 had some history of causing recent crashes so that must have spooked 47 into slamming the brakes and letting him go. There is a 15sec pit-in penalty for both cars in any contact (observed by the instructors, unless the guilty party is obvious), btw, so one has to calculate things carefully when attempting to play chicken into turns.

stuttgart46

Nice drive. That looks like a blast.