looking for some good information on starting road racing. any web links, or clubs to check out? all info is helpfull. thanks.

BTW: I would like to race my honda 92 HB

here are a few that i have found already....
http://www.scca.org/getstarted/divisions.html
http://www.norcalcrx.org/tyson/roadracing.html
MMSports.org


Modified by cccya at 7:14 PM 6/2/2003

 

http://www.scca.org/
http://www.nasaproracing.com/

That's a start.

 

I race a 94 CHB
I have some starting information in my webpage.
http://www.ita.hondapowered.com

 

NASA, HPDE's is the best start I can think of, for some seat time.

 

perhaps you can be a little more detailed about your situation, timeline, job, marital status, financial planner.... and yes, im acutally a bit serious about it all...

as i stated in my faq, contact a local racer, go see him and ask to help out. maybe he'll even pay for you lunch. he can best answer your questions.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">perhaps you can be a little more detailed about your situation, timeline, job, marital status, financial planner.... and yes, im acutally a bit serious about it all...

as i stated in my faq, contact a local racer, go see him and ask to help out. maybe he'll even pay for you lunch. he can best answer your questions.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well i'm married, have a 1 1/2 year old son, work full time and rent right now.
i would problly start looking to get really serious in about a year. but i want to know some good places to start to look. and even meet come poeple or at least talk to them. HTH

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cccya &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well i'm married, have a 1 1/2 year old son, work full time and rent right now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Stick with DE's for a year until you really know what you're getting yourself into. IMO.

 

By the time you realize it you're usually in too deep already...

 

You should set your personal life to a point where racing can be affordable. Affordable to your life style and family priorities. Get stable outside of racing first. Then you can start to blow money towards a very fun and addictive hobby.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JeffS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">By the time you realize it you're usually in too deep already... </TD></TR></TABLE>

So true - you think you can do everything cheaply or just "get by" with the bare minimum... until you actually start competing, then you tend to do whatever it takes to try and win. And this is coming from someone who just started this year...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITACivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You should set your personal life to a point where racing can be affordable. Affordable to your life style and family priorities. Get stable outside of racing first. Then you can start to blow money towards a very fun and addictive hobby. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Good stuff, very good points - I wish for example, that I had gotten some CC debt paid off before I started RR'ing. I'm not really aquiring more debt, but it's not getting paid off either.

Ben, who spent nearly $800 this weekend for one day of actual racing (I think I need some vasoline)

edit: so yeah, make sure to do some HPDE's for a while first and get a feel for it. Then go over your financial situation with a fine-tooth comb and make sure you can build a car (or buy one) and RR too, without straining the important things in your life.

 

okay so what are DE's and HPDE's??? thanks...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cccya &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">okay so what are DE's and HPDE's??? thanks...</TD></TR></TABLE>

yowza.

High Performance Driving Education (or Event)
It means, you go to a track on day that they are usually doing other events and you get to run on the track with other people for fun. It's not for competition or time, just to run around the track and learn. You get some classroom and in-car instruction, it can be more formal or less formal, depending on the club. You need an approved helmet (or rent/borrow one) and a safe car that can pass a safety tech. That's it!

maybe some people in your area can chime in here and point you to some schedules and tracks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by uncleben &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">maybe some people in your area can chime in here and point you to some schedules and tracks</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah that would bve great. but so far i've only found people down south, or accros the u.s.

N.H.I.S. is only like 2 hours away, but i can't find a good site for it (road racing)

sorry i'm new to raod racing stuff.

 

I definately agree with starting with the drivers schools before starting SCCA racing. I always did really well in the schools and passed a lot of cars. Now, well that is a different story. I do o.k. with the car I have, but the driving is much, much different. By doing these types of schools, you can learn at your own pace. You most likely won't enjoy it if you go straigt to SCCA racing. Plus with many HPDEs you can get about 2 hours of track time versus a 20 min. qualifying and 20 min. race.

If you feel like getting more involved, check out the SCCA improved touring forum - http://www.improvedtouring.com

You are also more than welcome to come to one of my regional races at lime rock park in CT (next on 6/14) or NHIS (most likely going to the 7/12 - 7/13) events.

I race a 1987 Honda prelude si that I built this past year. You will hear all sorts of amounts of $ it takes to build a car. You have to keep in mind that many people spend a ton ($30,000) on their cars but it is not necessary! I am on a very limited budget! If I, like many people, did a complete budget of how much I would really spend on racing before starting, I wouldn't be racing now. For HPDEs in your area, check out http://www.scda1.com and do a search for performance drivers association. NASA does an event at LRP which is supposed to be pretty good as well. You should definately go to a few events and start learning. This is the cheapest way to start the process. Let me know if you feel like going to one of the races...a few of my friends and I can show you what we've done.

 

i started in go karts when i was 6.
i firmly believe that the cheapest, fastest, and most competitive way to go wheel-to-wheel racing is 125 shifter karts.
on top of all of that, they're a blast to drive!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cccya &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah that would bve great. but so far i've only found people down south, or accros the u.s.

N.H.I.S. is only like 2 hours away, but i can't find a good site for it (road racing)</TD></TR></TABLE>
Go back to the FAQ (at the top of this forum) and look through it again. Pretty much everything you'll need to get started is in there somewhere.

A couple links you'll find useful for getting started with HPDEs are:

http://www.trackschedule.com/
http://www.nerdsracing.com/

I'd recommend doing some autocrossing in addition to track days. It's cheaper and safer, but is still a great way to improve your driving.

You can also find stuff by going to Google and putting in something like "road racing in Maine". I found http://www.maineracing.com/ that way, which looks like it has some useful stuff.

Good luck, and have fun.

 

Check out http://www.emraracing.org
All their events are in the Northeast. Try to attend a time-trial/road race combined weekend. What's cool about EMRA is that they will find you a fair class for your car to competer in and no matte how slow your car is (mine is 92 hp), there will always be people to race with. I did their school and a couple of events last year and I thought it was really good value for the money. I'll definitely head back there this year in the fall.

 

oaky i have some good web links now. thanks to all, for the help. i'll keep you posted....