Best place to start off racing?

[BlitzKeg]

I'm just looking for some suggestions about where is a good place to get started road course racing.

I've looked at NASA and SCCA
I'm about to graduate from a tech school, so I'm gonna start working 2 jobs and start saving money so I can started racing..

I live in the texas region (DFW) But have been thinking of moving to another region that has a larger veriety of series.
SCCA runs

• (T1/2) Touring
• (SS) Showroom Stock
• (IT) Improved Touring
• Spec Miata
• (SRX7) Spec RX7 Spec Miata
• (GT) Grand Touring
• Production

NASA runs

• American Iron / Camaro Mustang Challenge
• Honda Challenge
• Pro Compact
• Pro Sedan
• SE-R Cup
• US Touring Car (USTCC)
• Wheels America Spec Miata

Now these are just series that I can possible afford to run in, I'm interested in most of the series.

I'm looking for the cheapest and most affordable racecar to build.

I realize its gonna be aleast 1 or 2 years till I start racing. But I want to start think about what I want to race in.

Believe me, any input would be good input...

[P10DET]

I'm kind of partial to IT racing myself. Best bang for your buck. A log of folks will tell you it's Spec Miata because since it's a spec series all the cars are equal. That's BS. You have to spend 2x as much for 1/4 the gain and some people still do.

NASA in TX is pretty much a lonely game unless you race in SM, SRX-7 (also a good starter class because it's dirt cheap), or FM.

SS is not cheap to be truly competitive. Production really depends upon the car (limited prep vs. full prep).

Right now, ITA is the class to be in. Very competitive with lots of interesting choices.

George Roffe
Houston, TX
SCCA Improved Touring Advisory Committee member

[P10DET]

BTW, there are some good tracks reasonably accessable from DFW:

Texas World Speedway: best road course I've ever seen combined with an oval. Only uses the front straight and actually goes outside the oval and even has elevation changes.

Texas Motor Speedway: the road course sucks, but they really know how to put on an event there. Hate the track but still love to race there.

Hallet: never been there, but it's on my list. Looks like a great place to race.

Not sure how far Heartland Park is from DFW, but it's supposed to be a good track and the Runoffs will be going there.

[kfoote]

For SCCA, GT, Touring, and Production are all very expensive. Think $50k+ to run mid-pack at a National. T3 may only end up being $40k.
SS is better, but going up in a hurry. Figure $20-30 for a mid-pack SSB or SSC car.
IT/SRX7 is the best bang for the buck if you only plan on running regionals. ITS is getting expensive, but I agree with the assesment of ITA having a wide variety of competitive cars. Here in the Northeast, I've seen Acura Integras, Nissan 240 SX's, Mazda Miatas, 1st gen Mazda RX7's, and Nissan Sentra SER/200 SX's all run competitively, and I'm sure I'm leaving some out.
If you want to run Nationals, and in big fields, Spec Miata is the place to be, with SM going National next year. Yes, you will be running against $30K Miatas, but you can still run mid-pack in a 1st gen car for about $15k.

[500]

Start going to all the races. Cruise the pits and ask questions. Try and find someone that lives close by and start helping them work on their racecar and crew for them on race weekends. Shouldn't take long for you to see which way is best for you. Corner working is also a good way to get some insight into racing.

You should also check out Solo 2. Your current street car may make a decent autox car and you can start getting some good experience in line selection, car prep and maintenance.

I went the Solo 2, Solo 1, IT route. Unfortunately by the time I got to IT I was burned out on car racing and the SCCA in general. Part of the problem was my business was doing racecar fab work. Kind of hard to keep the enthusiasm up when you build cages all day.

Went back to bikes and had a blast.

[BlitzKeg]

I looked into SCCA IT and SM.
They both look like something I could get into but the thing is I can't find a present schedule for either. I'd like to see some a races.... It's Kinda fustrating.

In the NASA series,
I found the HC, SM, & CMC with no problem and plan to go check those out.

Where would I go or who would I call to find out about these scca races on or off the net?

[P10DET]

Originally Posted by BlitzKeg

I looked into SCCA IT and SM.
They both look like something I could get into but the thing is I can't find a present schedule for either. I'd like to see some a races.... It's Kinda fustrating.

In the NASA series,
I found the HC, SM, & CMC with no problem and plan to go check those out.

Where would I go or who would I call to find out about these scca races on or off the net?

Easy peasy.

First of all your region is the Texas Region. Website is here:

http://www.texasscca.org/

Both IT and SM (currently) are regional only classes (SM goes national next year), therefore you need to look up regional races. Go here:

http://www.texasscca.org/events.html

Looks like there is a double regional coming up in October at TMS:

http://www.texasscca.org/scca_octobe...dar.html#calen

You could also check the Houston Region calander here:

http://www.houscca.com/calendar.aspx

It looks like there are no regional races scheduled through the summer.

Your best bet is to attend the race at TMS. Those are usually spectator races while the TWS races typically are not (so you would need to be a SCCA member to get in).

[S13 drifter]

You know what they need to make it easier.lol that's pretty plan to see. I would like to get an rx-7 (fc) and possibly race it but they just make everything to damn hard and expensive. Like racing school, I mean sure not alot of ppl sign up so they need to charge alot but if they charged less maybe more ppl would sign up lol. Also 1000 bucks for like 2 days is just f'n rediculous. I think we need a league that allows people to gradually accel from their daily drivers to higher racing if they have the desire and the skill, not just the backround and the money. I'm sure that alot of drivers who would have had pro class skill have simply passed the chance by because leagues like the scca have just made it too damn hard. Racing isn't bigger because no one allows it to be. That's we got so many freakin ricers crashin into people's houses while their street racing, because they got nowhere else to race. I wish racing weren't just for selfish rich ppl.

[vectorspecialist]

the reason everything is so expensive, is because the companies that make the parts, relize they are mandatory, so they know u'll spend the money. this yr i think scca will make the hans device standard, so thats an extra 1500 or so.
i met an old driver, not old, just hasnt done it in a while, he said start with a small car, that packs a punch and is common enuf to find parts for. like they said the miata is great, 240sx wouldnt b bad either. rx7s are easy to get, but engine arent the strongest. hell an old audi wouldnt b a bad idea either.
wen ur done with the first yr, go to a dealer or something, and get a sponser from them, all they really want is for u to finish, dnt crash the car trying to win, just finish the race, and they'll b happy. do that ur first season u mite get something. all a dealer mite offer is parts or a little help with preping the car for the race. o and if u race a miata dnt go to a chevy dealer and ask for a sponser, it wnt work.