[Tumbler510]

My roommate and I decided to do a car for the 24 Hours of Lemons race. (24 Hours of Lemons - Home Page) We looked at the race schedule, and the race at the closest race track (Buttonwillow) is during our finals week, so we can't race it for at least another year.
Then I got to thinking that we could just make a car for fun and take it to the Buttonwillow road course every now and then to thrash on it.
Here is my concern: We are in school at Cal Poly 9 months out of the year, and working the other 3 months. The car will be stored in Bakersfield. Are there any places where we could use it (it won't be registered/insured) for fun? Are there any rally circuits for cars like these?

I know its kind of a vague question, but if you know anything about this stuff, please let me know so I can make a decision on weather to buy a car or not. Thanks!

 

[KChatham]

Have you looked into autox? The closes region races up in Salinas or Santa Clara once a month. It's very cheap, but extremely fun. I'm actually going to Poly as well and am planning on doing a few autox events during the school year. It's definitely something you should look into.

 

[Chris-CXC]

Nothing beats the bang for buck of kart racing.... period.

You will learn more, spend less, have more track time and pull more G's. Plus it's easier to store and transport. There are tons of places in So Cal where you can race a kart and practice is $25-50 per day on any kart track.

I would suggest going to a few club races to check them out before you buy anything. This holds true for car racing as well.

Ask a lot of questions of the racers there:

What are the biggest classes?
What would a used kart/car cost in this class? Including spares/ and tools?
What are the monthly/yearly expenses for this class? (THE most important figure of all!)
What are the local shops supporting these karts/cars?


Cost vs. track time is always going to be the driving factor. Ignore the buy-in cost (ie the car or kart) and focus on the recurring cost first. That's what you are going to have to swallow day in and day out.

I hope this helps Feel free to ask questions of me as well. I've raced both for many years.

 

[schmidty]

A quick trip from Vegas is the Spring Mountain Ranch. Have you looked in to/considered Radical racing?

 

[Tumbler510]

Nothing beats the bang for buck of kart racing.... period.

You make a really good point, but I would really prefer to be racing a full-sized car. If I get a kart, I know I'll spend a ton of $$ on it, and only be able to use it in some places. If I get a full on car, I can take it to many more places, and get replacement parts much easier. That said, I will look into it and discuss it with my roommate.

A quick trip from Vegas is the Spring Mountain Ranch. Have you looked in to/considered Radical racing?

I've never heard of Radical racing. Do you rent the cars or what? Open track or lessons only?

 

[Chris-CXC]

You make a really good point, but I would really prefer to be racing a full-sized car. If I get a kart, I know I'll spend a ton of $$ on it, and only be able to use it in some places. If I get a full on car, I can take it to many more places, and get replacement parts much easier. That said, I will look into it and discuss it with my roommate.

Oh, I completely disagree.

Karting is much cheaper than full size car racing. Even Lemons cars (trust me, I know first-hand). This holds especially true for the spec classes.

As for where to race karts, there are about 10 places to road-race a kart within about a 2.5 hour drive of where I live, Los Angeles (not sure about your area.... dunno where you are exactly). Compare that to about 3 places to road-race a car in the same area.

I'm not so sure about the ease of replacement parts. It really depends on the car/class of racing you do. Look further into this after you select some candidates.

You might consider going to a kart and car racing school. Lots to be learned there. Ask the instructors your same questions as well. You'll find that most of them are racing in the same classes you would be interested in.

 

[schmidty]

I've never heard of Radical racing. Do you rent the cars or what? Open track or lessons only?

PM DC_Motors for info. They give lessons and have track days if you are a member!

 

[SONIC]

AutoX and HPDE events are great gateway motorsports that allow you to build a car slowly and continue to build upon and use for multi-purposes. I do both types around the South Florida area. Can't pick one over the other as they are both different but fun.

 

[Tumbler510]

AutoX and HPDE events are great gateway motorsports that allow you to build a car slowly and continue to build upon and use for multi-purposes. I do both types around the South Florida area. Can't pick one over the other as they are both different but fun.

I will look into HPDE and AutoX more. They seem like something that would fit into my schedule

 

[DC Motors]

You make a really good point, but I would really prefer to be racing a full-sized car. If I get a kart, I know I'll spend a ton of $$ on it, and only be able to use it in some places. If I get a full on car, I can take it to many more places, and get replacement parts much easier. That said, I will look into it and discuss it with my roommate.



I've never heard of Radical racing. Do you rent the cars or what? Open track or lessons only?

Spring Mountain is a membership only luxury motorsports facility. We have a dealership there. It is invite only if you know a member as well as some opportunities to participate in things like Speed Ventures, Porsche Club Events, Radical racing (which...isn't what I would call 'cheap' ...its a huge commitment). We've been there since there was pavement and one single building. Its a true motorsports experience...the best, for the best. Memberships start at $15K. It is well worth the money compared to the other facilities around the USA. Plus, you can't beat being 45 mins from Vegas. Not to mention, is NYE county where guns laws are VERY lenient. We even have a house out there.

 

[KhybEr]

The 24 hours o Lemons you were talking about in your first post sounds like a ball of fun!

I'm sending my application in but otherwise if you like WRC type of stuff look into RALLY X, I'll try to find a link or even Redline time attack for the novice of racing is great!

 

[Tumbler510]

Cool. This is really helping me out guys! I appreciate it a ton, and am looking into several types of races and sanctioning bodies.

I am thinking I'll get my moneys worth in fun and flexibility if we build a car for the 24 hours of lemons that we can also use for autoX and anything else we can get to. I've got an idea of a fairly competitive car...