how did you all start out racing
11-03-2014, 08:41 PM
#46
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NASA is a great organization, especially in Texas. Very laid back and friendly, and good racing depending on the class you run. I only did a couple races with them after the comp school (enough to get the full race license so I could swap it for a PCA license) but both events were well-run and a lot of fun. All the SPB guys run PCA though, so I actually haven't been back to a NASA race since.
100% recommend getting your competition license through NASA instead of PCA. Very good experience; my dad will probably taking the same path next year once he buys his race car.
100% recommend getting your competition license through NASA instead of PCA. Very good experience; my dad will probably taking the same path next year once he buys his race car.
11-03-2014, 08:42 PM
#47
11-03-2014, 10:30 PM
#48
WRONGLY ACCUSED!
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Friend said come to a NASA DE day at Lime Rock. Showed up with a bone stock Audi A4 with tall all weather tires. Next time I showed up with bigger wheels and better tires. Next time the back seat was missing and I had stripped out a lot of other stuff. Then I chipped it and put in a stainless steel exhaust and got rid of the cat. Bought a trailer. Car was a fat big but I could eat up everything if it rained with my Quattro. Eventually the engine blew at 190k miles.
Bought a 944T and started driving with PCA. Instructors in the Connecticut Valley Region are really good and took me from green to white. Also got an aluminum trailer and started collecting wheels.
Attended the PCA race at Lime Rock and volunteered.
After several years I bought my Cayman and am picking up an enclose trailer this week. Hoping my first race will be Sebring in January 2015.
It is a slippery slope.
Bought a 944T and started driving with PCA. Instructors in the Connecticut Valley Region are really good and took me from green to white. Also got an aluminum trailer and started collecting wheels.
Attended the PCA race at Lime Rock and volunteered.
After several years I bought my Cayman and am picking up an enclose trailer this week. Hoping my first race will be Sebring in January 2015.
It is a slippery slope.
11-04-2014, 03:20 PM
#49
Race Car
I started flagging for Skip Barber, then a skippy 3 day school, and a few lapping days,
then rented a ride for SCCA's school. bought a cheap IT car, and raced it every chance I got.
But after a few years, I was in an arms race with tires, suspension, gears, etc... working on the car 40 hours for every hour behind the wheel. I decided it was too much like work, and sold out.
Then I started doing DE's and instructing... not the same, but still enjoyable.
* before the skippy school, I flagged SCCA races for fun and beer. Learned quite a lot by watching cars on track and listening to the radios. That experience also helped me pick a class and car.
then rented a ride for SCCA's school. bought a cheap IT car, and raced it every chance I got.
But after a few years, I was in an arms race with tires, suspension, gears, etc... working on the car 40 hours for every hour behind the wheel. I decided it was too much like work, and sold out.
Then I started doing DE's and instructing... not the same, but still enjoyable.
* before the skippy school, I flagged SCCA races for fun and beer. Learned quite a lot by watching cars on track and listening to the radios. That experience also helped me pick a class and car.
11-04-2014, 05:00 PM
#50
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Picked up an '88 944 NA as a daily driver… Buddy with a Carrera in the neighborhood noticed it, said "you should bring it out to the track and learn how to really drive it…" I blame it all on him ;-)
First DE a couple of weeks later. Smiled so hard, my face hurt. Hook was set.
DE'd stock car every chance I got, instructed a lot, put snows on it and drove it all year round. I suppose that was about 5 years of that. Simple, romantic, drive it everywhere, still had A/C. Ah… those were the days.
Got the itch to jump into the deep end, acquired the 968 about 10 years ago, converted to E-stock (actually F back then and yes, put snows on it too), never looked back. Hard to think of anything as fun. Anything…
Dave in Chicago, #662 E-Stock, Midnight Blue
First DE a couple of weeks later. Smiled so hard, my face hurt. Hook was set.
DE'd stock car every chance I got, instructed a lot, put snows on it and drove it all year round. I suppose that was about 5 years of that. Simple, romantic, drive it everywhere, still had A/C. Ah… those were the days.
Got the itch to jump into the deep end, acquired the 968 about 10 years ago, converted to E-stock (actually F back then and yes, put snows on it too), never looked back. Hard to think of anything as fun. Anything…
Dave in Chicago, #662 E-Stock, Midnight Blue
11-04-2014, 05:27 PM
#51
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My dad had a Porsche shop. Three days after I had my license when I was 15, I was on track at a PCA DE in 3 different 911's and a 928 over 2 days. This was very early 90's. Went downhill from there and eventually landed in Formula Car world. Have since slowly worked my way out of it and now have a car with fenders and roof over my head to race.
11-04-2014, 05:54 PM
#52
My dad had a Porsche shop. Three days after I had my license when I was 15, I was on track at a PCA DE in 3 different 911's and a 928 over 2 days. This was very early 90's. Went downhill from there and eventually landed in Formula Car world. Have since slowly worked my way out of it and now have a car with fenders and roof over my head to race.
11-04-2014, 06:13 PM
#53
I graduated college in '69 and was drafted. Fortunately, I flunked my physical. I quickly ran to the bank and applied for a used car loan. I was approved for $3500 and bought a Brabham BT-18 FC car from Fred Opert.
My first SCCA school was at Bridgehampton. I was alone and needed help unloading the car and getting it started. Bob Grossman was the Chief Instructor. I had never been on a track. I had never sat in a formula car. It was so strange to be so low in a car, to hear all the noises of an unbushed suspension, to see the axles spinning on the car ahead. I was so slow that I was not keeping up with the Mustang Pace Car. They kept waving at me to drive faster.
By the end of the weekend it all came together and there was always a race at the end oif the weekend. I was in a duel with Paul Keeler in his Formula Ford. I won, but not by much. I was hooked. My second school was also at Bridgehampton.
My first SCCA school was at Bridgehampton. I was alone and needed help unloading the car and getting it started. Bob Grossman was the Chief Instructor. I had never been on a track. I had never sat in a formula car. It was so strange to be so low in a car, to hear all the noises of an unbushed suspension, to see the axles spinning on the car ahead. I was so slow that I was not keeping up with the Mustang Pace Car. They kept waving at me to drive faster.
By the end of the weekend it all came together and there was always a race at the end oif the weekend. I was in a duel with Paul Keeler in his Formula Ford. I won, but not by much. I was hooked. My second school was also at Bridgehampton.
If everyone were rational, racing would not exist.
11-04-2014, 07:49 PM
#54
Burning Brakes
Bought my 911 in 2011. Neighbor told me about DEs so started that in '12 (4 events), did 8 in '13, and 7 this year prior to 1st club race at High Plains. Have one more race this year (WRL).
Unlike Luke, I went PCA license first - was fairly easy to get. Next year should be at least 5 PCA races and 2 WRL. Maybe more and maybe NASA.
Unlike Luke, I went PCA license first - was fairly easy to get. Next year should be at least 5 PCA races and 2 WRL. Maybe more and maybe NASA.
11-04-2014, 08:07 PM
#55
I started doing "Auto Sprints" , similar to AX but on tight tracks with no cones, in 1965. Started doing Hill Climbs with the Pennsylvania Hill Climb Assoc in 1966. Did an SCCA Solo 1 event at Marlboro in 1967. I found real race tracks more fun and less dangerous then hill climbs and went to SCCA Drivers School at Marlboro in 1968. My second school was at Watkins Glen (No boot or Blue Bushes). Ran SCCA National program for several years including qualifying for the Run Offs at Road Atlanta in 1973. Got married, had kids, and ran out of money for racing. DE didn't exist in my day but discovered it and have run in the Instructor Group the last 6 years.
11-05-2014, 12:33 AM
#56
World's oldest joke...
Q: How do you make a small fortune in racing?
A: Start with a large fortune.
I was (in hindsight) extremely blessed in my early 20s when I fell into doing PR for Al Holbert and the Lowenbrau Porsche 962 (my client was Miller Brewing Co.). First IMSA event and I was hooked. Started doing autocross w/ SCCA but fell out of it after a couple years. Fast forward 25 years: Finally got my first Porsche, which I'd been fantasizing about since 1972 when I was 10. About a month later I found myself at a Hooked on Driving event. Once I experienced a DE event in my Porsche I was hooked. Did some Skip Barber courses and a bunch more DE days plus PCA time trials. I'll do this as long as I can afford it. There's just nothing else like it.
Q: How do you make a small fortune in racing?
A: Start with a large fortune.
I was (in hindsight) extremely blessed in my early 20s when I fell into doing PR for Al Holbert and the Lowenbrau Porsche 962 (my client was Miller Brewing Co.). First IMSA event and I was hooked. Started doing autocross w/ SCCA but fell out of it after a couple years. Fast forward 25 years: Finally got my first Porsche, which I'd been fantasizing about since 1972 when I was 10. About a month later I found myself at a Hooked on Driving event. Once I experienced a DE event in my Porsche I was hooked. Did some Skip Barber courses and a bunch more DE days plus PCA time trials. I'll do this as long as I can afford it. There's just nothing else like it.
11-05-2014, 10:04 AM
#57
A buddy of mine kept asking me at work to go to a PCA DE. His quote "It's the most fun you can have with your pants on". He finally asked me when the car had decent tires on it and I did my first PCA DE in a 2003 Jaguar XJR. Ok, stop laughing, as the guys in Porsches weren't when I passed a few of them. 
.
Been hooked ever since. Got a proper track car, a 1999 BMW M3, and eventually the two of us have become PCA instructors. He has moved to a proper air cooled Porsche and I'm still shlepping the Bimmer. Someday will have a P-car on the track. Haven't raced yet, but the writing is on the wall.
Other than the joy of driving like a hoodlum on the race track, I've met a lot of very good people. I'm pushing 50 and have track friends ranging in age from 16 to their late 70s. This is a hobby that rewards on many levels. It ain't cheap, but all work and no play make Mike a dull boy.
-Mike
.Been hooked ever since. Got a proper track car, a 1999 BMW M3, and eventually the two of us have become PCA instructors. He has moved to a proper air cooled Porsche and I'm still shlepping the Bimmer. Someday will have a P-car on the track. Haven't raced yet, but the writing is on the wall.
Other than the joy of driving like a hoodlum on the race track, I've met a lot of very good people. I'm pushing 50 and have track friends ranging in age from 16 to their late 70s. This is a hobby that rewards on many levels. It ain't cheap, but all work and no play make Mike a dull boy.
-Mike
