So I have a 2000 integra type R that is my daily driver and I want to race it. I just finished Skip barber racing school so I can get my club racing lisence pretty easy. Being a daily driver I want to keep it mostly stock (cheap!) and Im looking for a class thats not super competive for less of a risk of wrecking. right now im thinking of scca touring class, I read about time trials but dont know much about them, and will prolly do a little autoX. and I dont mind a race car as a dd... ie 6pt cage...

Thanks for helping out a racing noob.

 

The only way to decrease chance of wrecking is pick a class that doesn't have many cars or race with other large groups. SCCA ITE is that way in my region. Usually, there are about 8-12 cars on the track at one time. The R doesn't get lapped, and there's some reasonable competition.

If you are worried about crashing, don't go racing. Stick with HPDEs and get some time under your belt.

fyi - I drove the race car to work today

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BudMan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you are worried about crashing, don't go racing. Stick with HPDEs and get some time under your belt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I second that. In addition, understand that although the odds are better you won't damage your craft in an HPDE setting, it can still happen.

Good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fomoco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont mind a race car as a dd... </TD></TR></TABLE>

You dont want to do that... racing tears up so much stuff on the car, you dont want be stuck not getting to work/class/etc on monday morning. I dropped a valve 2 months ago in a race, stuff happens. You could stick with autox/hpde, or you could sell the ITR and buy someone else's already built car - saves alot of time, hassle and $$.

 

Listen to RJ... he knows everything NOT to do... from experience.

 

I was planning on autox and hdpe untill the next season starts considering this one is pretty much over.

My ITR is a salvage and beat up so I dont really care too much about cosmetics.

And if you want to know the whole story I actually have 3 cars one is the ITR which is destin to race no matter what and my dd that I dont drive is an 05 v6 mustang which Im planning to sell then put a few g's into the itr to make sure its not going to brake down and that its up to spec. the rest of the money Im going to save and maybe buy another dd later on.

so im not planning to actually race aginst other cars till when ever the next season starts , i might even have another dd by then. I really dont need 3 cars though and im kind of stuck on having the itr as a dd/ race car

 

Well if you have 3 cars, and you are serious about racing, then sell all of them and buy an already-built racecar, a truck to tow with with and an open trailer to tow it on.

Its a large financial investment however you will be in it a lot less than building your own car - even if you already have the car and its paid off, you could get a decent ITA car for what you could sell the ITR and probably still have $$ leftover for a trailer, extra wheels, and tires. Building a car because you already have it is a logical fallacy and a financial black hole...

But either way depending on your racecar for daily transportation is a bad idea... use the ITR to get your feet wet with autox and some HPDE time, then sell it over the winter. I enjoyed building my own car but I kick myself many times over for both my choice of car, where i'm racing it, and the fact that I dumped way too much $$ into when I could have bought a car someone else built for 50-60 cents on the dollar of the build cost.

 

Im serious about racing but as long as im in college I cant invest a lot of time and effort into it which is why a non street legal race car wouldnt work because I wouldnt get enough use out of it at this point. My whole thing is that I want something I can drive day to day and still race in a class thats more mild that IT, which is why I was thnking touring then I would only really need the safety things which I have the money to do. I asked the question on here because I didnt know much about nasa and what ever time trials there are which would be cool because I could race but not wheel to wheel. Is that basically what an hdpe is??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fomoco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I didnt know much about nasa and what ever time trials there are which would be cool because I could race but not wheel to wheel. Is that basically what an hdpe is??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Time trials are basically an HPDE group but with a transponder on your car, and only the TT cars are out in that group - no other instructors or students. Its a really good way to enjoy some competition without the $$ investment and risk of w2w racing

That might be a good way for you to go, especially if you dont have a garage to keep a non-street legal car. If you are still in school, IMHO, racing w2w will eat up too much time and $$. Put a rollbar and some nice seats in the ITR along with a good set of tires and brake pads and go have fun, and keep the mustang for picking up sorority girls

 

Naw my 400+ hp 68 fastback mustang is the one for picking up chicks...... see why I want to sell the 05 V6???

Where can I find more info about time trials, the scca web page doesnt say much about it. I go to school in san luis obispo which is central california so most race tracks arnt too far, and my girlfriend goes to school in so cal, tracks down there would be good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fomoco &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where can I find more info about time trials, the scca web page doesnt say much about it. I go to school in san luis obispo which is central california so most race tracks arnt too far, and my girlfriend goes to school in so cal, tracks down there would be good.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If SCCA is still running Solo 1 in your area, then that would be a good place to start - just show up and ask some questions, hang out for an afternoon. Look on the SCCA website and find your local region for autox events. Also, you can always crew for local IT/HC racers, we always appreciate the help

For NASA, nasaproracing.com should have your local region events as well.