bsztanko

Does anyone actually run ballast? How light are these cars when stripped out?

jittsl

I got disqualified from my last race for being 5 lbs under with an empty tank (less than 1 gal left). I guess the answer then is 2645# with driver and no fuel.

Streak

I don't but I cheat like nobody's business

At the CR I had almost a full tank of gas and I weight 171 with gear and the car weighed in at 2690. You are a wee bit larger than I am so you shouldn't need ballast in my experience. Your experience mat vary.

bsztanko

That is BS, the scales are not accurate enough to dq someone for 5 #s

Paul 996

I was dqed at the same race and had finished 4th. 7 or 8 pounds if memory serves me right.

jittsl

Couple of things here. Firstly, I had come in second last as a result of going off track and nocking my alignment to hell so I didn't give a ****.

Secondly, I had forgotten to pour in a drum of fuel before the race so I was not surprised that I was underweight. I had original intended the car should be on weight with 2 1/2 gallons on board. When they said I was 5 under I was surprised that it was only 5lbs (I expected it to be worse). Upon returning to my shop I weighed it before doing anything and it came in 8lbs under.

It may be a general rule that the scales are not accurate enough but in my case I can't argue.

Going back to the question of weight, I should have mentioned that although my car does not run any ballast it does run a passenger seat and a spare tire to keep the weight up. I have since added a cool suit and a full fire system so these items will be reassessed soon. I weigh 170#s.

mglobe

So where should the cutoff be? 8lbs? 10lbs? 20lbs?

Most racers know that scales may not be accurate, and manage the weight of their car to take that into account. You can usually check your car's weight on the scales that will be used post-race at the beginning of the race weekend, and make adjustments either through ballast or fuel to make sure you don't finish below minimum weight. Rules are rules.

Paul 996

The rules are what they are. I came up short when I dumped in fuel and didn't have time before grid to top off. To make matters worse and thus the issue, my fire suppression bottle was coming loose so I took it out to avoid any issues. Just kept the small hand held fire extinguisher.

mglobe

Yup. And btw, I was not beating on the two of you for ending up underweight. That's the sort of crap that happens on a race weekend when you're trying to take care of all sorts of stuff. Sorry you guys had that happen.

jittsl

No beating taken. In fact I believe it was entirely my fault. As I drove the warm up lap remembering that I had forgotten to add fuel I remember saying to myself "crap, I hope they don't weigh us at the end". Nothing is more certain to ensure something does happen than to waste our wishes that it won't.

eric523

Yeah, I got DQ'd for 3 lbs in the second race of the year and lost first place points. Just ran heavy the rest of the year to be sure.

I got the car down to 2400lbs without ballast or fuel.

Steve Watkins

I run ballast, I weigh 220 and with full coolbox, I generally run 15-25 lbs of ballast that I bolt in depending on scales and still have to pay attention to make sure I don't burn off fuel till the light comes on. Without coolbox I bolt in the weight behind the seat. Not much tolerance regarding weight, I have started from the back after being too light after qualifying

Carrera51

Yep, I got DQ'd after qualifying for being 5 lbs light at the Pocono PCA race in 2001 along with 2 other drivers and we all got to start at the back as a result. Yep rules are rules and I learned my lesson.

mglobe

I don't run ballast in my SP995, but I run a passenger seat in the car and a very large cool suit cooler. I weigh ~200 with all the gear on. If I were to run the car down to empty, I'd most likely be DQ'd.

bsztanko

Shoul be the class limit +/- the accuracy of the scale. I think they are accurate within a .5 %.