Where to start??

[BADSBRD]

Hello all,

I am trying to find out some information about gettign into racing. I have been an active participant in drag racing for the past 10 years. I have always loved to watch CART and Formula 1 races. I recently had the opportunity to drive some BMW's with Skip Barber racing and realized how much I love road racing. I am currently selling my drag car to pay off some bills, but once things settle down I will either be building another drag car or something else.

I am looking for some direction to help me choose what class, sanctioning body, etc I should set my sites for. Also where do I find out about rules? In drag racing we can build our own chassis as long as it conforms to SFI specs and passes NHRA or IHRA inspection. Is it the same around here?

I have been poking around and the classes that peak my interest are Formula Ford and Formula Mazda.

Thanks,

Rick

[RussMcB]

Welcome, Rick. Sounds like you're hooked.

Hopefully, some racers from your area will respond to your post and you can talk with them about racing in your area. There are probably some race shops nearby, and I'm sure they would be happy to talk about road racing and different classes. FF & FM are good choices. You'll hear about more, too.

If you're interested in the Sports Car Club of America (the largest road racing club for amateurs), visit their web site (www.scca.org) and find the nearest SCCA region near you. They will probably have their own web site with lots of info, such as people to contact, the types of racing available in their region, schedules, etc.

[TimW]

I prep my Formula Ford in Chicago (and store my trailer down near you!). If you want to come up for a look-see feel free to drop me an email.

Tim

[Ian Lenhart]

Rick, your in a great area for Formula Ford racing. Great participation and you have the East West Challenge series in your backyard. As far as building a chasis, you can -but I do not recommend building a chassis until you gain the experience to build it right. You can buy a race ready formula ford for a fraction of the cost of building one from scratch. I believe the rules are posted on the SCCA site. I know of a few cars in the area that are for sale. Send me an email if interested.

Ian
lenhart06@yahoo.com


East vs. West Challenge info:
contact Steve Beeler, de facto EWC commissioner
Lola T-540 HU44
home: (734)416-8865 sbeeler@wowway.com
office: (313)390-1818 sbeeler@ford.com

[BADSBRD]

Thanks for the info guys. I am not ready to buy a car just yet. I am in the budgeting phase. I am budgetting a new Drag Radial car as well as either a FF or FM car. Once I sell my current car and catch up on bills I will start saving for a new car. Once I finish school next winter I will start collecting parts and a vehicle to race.

I did look on the scca site but did not find much, and the local site was pretty much the same. Mostly talking about Solo racing, not much about Formula. I will check it out again though.

[Ted Idlof]

Been here yet?

[lanoue]

[SIZE=3]Yes, you should absolutely finish school; get caught up on your bills and then build your own Formula Ford. Maybe you can get Mike Sauce to help you . But before you race anything you should try this for at least one year.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]http://www.worldkarting.com[/SIZE]

[EYERACE]

if you decide you can stand the sound....buy FM - early model not the current pro mazda - their prices are coming down a little. the only way to drive a FM fast is if you let it slide a lot....sort of like dirt tracking on not dirt - fun fun fun. low maintenence in comparison to other fast classes - a good engine can last several seasons, lots of other FM cars so you'll have someone to race with most of the time. a little more expense than a ford to buy but over time perhaps less headache and maybe a little less total overall outlay.

i will now probably be beaten to a pulp by my fellow FC and FF drivers

[Joe911]

From my perspective an early FF is the way to go. Easy entry costs, no wings to knock off and just enough slower so you don't get into as much trouble. Cars are selling for the value of the engine, transmission, and wheels so I call this undervalued. I am finding engine costs at about $2000 for a rebuild and it is good for 12-15 weekends. I have no regrets whatsoever. Be sure to check out the racing in your area as class participation will vary.

[lanoue]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

[racer27]

CF/FF in my opinion is the best place to start... Enough Power, proven saftey, cool looks, no wing hassles. $7000 for a car, $700 for open trailer, racing less then $10,000 Start up cost. You may want to consider FC at price point as low as $12K, but probably actually closer to $15K. The FC picture is currently muddled a bit with FC, Zetec, F1000, etc. If I did not have an FC already, I'd be sticking with FF waiting for the entry level winged situation to sort it'selt out.

Deciding factor, will probably be field size in your area. Make sure wyou check on that, no fun raacing alone or in small fields...

[Garey Guzman]

I'll be at Gateway later this month. I'm not sure how they do things in that region (I just moved to TN from the west coast) but if you want to get in, I'll be happy to list you as crew without any obligation to do any work! Feel free to click on my name to get my email address.

One of the first things I did was to check out an event to see what cars I liked and how fast they were. I have an opinion but in the interest of not offending any of my fellow open-wheelers, I'll keep it to myself!