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Topic: What entry level class of car would you start out with?
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September 04, 2012 at
09:29:41 AM
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This has been a topic of discussion for me the last few months. Within the next 2 years I hope to actually be racing. Everyone has an opinion on this, I keep thinking having a 4 cylinder to start out with is my best choice. To be honest I kind of want to drive something I can beat on a bit :-).
Any on here want to offer some advice too, I'm all ears.
I suppose I should mention, I have no real professional race driving experience, but am a lifelong racing fan, & have a pretty decent understanding of dirt track racing etiquette, rules, etc.
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September 04, 2012 at
09:34:15 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on September 04 2012 at 09:29:41 AM
This has been a topic of discussion for me the last few months. Within the next 2 years I hope to actually be racing. Everyone has an opinion on this, I keep thinking having a 4 cylinder to start out with is my best choice. To be honest I kind of want to drive something I can beat on a bit :-).
Any on here want to offer some advice too, I'm all ears.
I suppose I should mention, I have no real professional race driving experience, but am a lifelong racing fan, & have a pretty decent understanding of dirt track racing etiquette, rules, etc.
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I know quite a few guys who started off running a B-mod. They say it is a relatively cost effective class.
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September 04, 2012 at
09:59:09 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: egras on September 04 2012 at 09:34:15 AM
I know quite a few guys who started off running a B-mod. They say it is a relatively cost effective class.
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I was gonna mention, an old friend told me that for not much more than what I'd need to spend on a 4 cyl that I could race an IMCA modified. I found that difficult to believe. anyone that is familiar w yearly costs, I'm all ears!
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September 04, 2012 at
10:01:32 AM
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Also, I should mention, I'm in WI. not sure if they run 'B-mods' here, or how they differ from an IMCA mod, to be honest.
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September 04, 2012 at
10:35:06 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on September 04 2012 at 10:01:32 AM
Also, I should mention, I'm in WI. not sure if they run 'B-mods' here, or how they differ from an IMCA mod, to be honest.
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Or, you may want to check with WISSOTA.
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September 04, 2012 at
11:25:23 AM
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Good idea
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larryitis Facebook - Michael Collins
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September 04, 2012 at
11:47:39 AM
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As an observer of my two brothers who race IMCA Mod's, they have the same amount of $$ in their modified as many of the drivers in teh Hobby Stock, Stock Car and B-Mods do (less than some of those guys do).
It depends on whether you are willing to do the work yourself (building motors), or you have to store buy everything. If you are doing motors yourself, you can run IMCA mods on the same budget that IMCA stock cars or Hobby Stocks do (some of them outspend my brothers)
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September 04, 2012 at
12:03:36 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on September 04 2012 at 09:29:41 AM
This has been a topic of discussion for me the last few months. Within the next 2 years I hope to actually be racing. Everyone has an opinion on this, I keep thinking having a 4 cylinder to start out with is my best choice. To be honest I kind of want to drive something I can beat on a bit :-).
Any on here want to offer some advice too, I'm all ears.
I suppose I should mention, I have no real professional race driving experience, but am a lifelong racing fan, & have a pretty decent understanding of dirt track racing etiquette, rules, etc.
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you have to look at what class are close to you. You do not want a class that you have to drive 200 miles to race each week. You also do not want a class that only has a few cars. The more cars the better for you. I really do not think you want to mess around with a front wheel drive 4 banger. I also would say a B-mod or a 305 sprint car. Do you have a garage to work on and store it?
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September 04, 2012 at
12:10:24 PM
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Posted By: linbob on September 04 2012 at 12:03:36 PM
you have to look at what class are close to you. You do not want a class that you have to drive 200 miles to race each week. You also do not want a class that only has a few cars. The more cars the better for you. I really do not think you want to mess around with a front wheel drive 4 banger. I also would say a B-mod or a 305 sprint car. Do you have a garage to work on and store it?
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Yes I do have a garage available. Luckily for me, I also am friends with a really skilled welder/metal fabrication guy. This is all hypothetical at this point, but I want to educate myself as much as possible & I know I can get some good advice on here. There's a ton of street stocks/grand nationals running around here, as well as IMCA mods. Decent amount of 4 bangers & mini sprints too. I'm kind of intrigued by the mini sprints, cause I think ideally I'd like to be able to race midgets / winged & non wing sprint cars.
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September 04, 2012 at
12:55:19 PM
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If you are going to be an all dirt driver then get you a hobby car or 4 banger and learn to control your driving thru the slick mud and getting the car to react to where you point it and get a friend or two in the pits and use you time on the track to practice running close to each other at speed,once you get to where you can put the car where you want it to go ,in other words learn car control ,move on to a higher class but as cheap as you can,this way you haven't got the farm invested to see if you really want to do it. If you do then keep moving up as you conquer the dirt and the competition and get yourself good,and I mean real good at one place before you make the giant step to the top class and travel a little if you travel and learned how to run a flat track then go run a banked track until you are comfortable with it then keep testing and proving yourself until you pit next to Steve Kinser or Greg Dollansky then your learning curve starts anew. Good Luck.
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September 04, 2012 at
01:14:35 PM
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You could try school bus figure 8 racing. Usually find an old school bus fairly low price. Previously a person ran a school bus engine at Indy, so you even have an opportunity there also.
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September 04, 2012 at
01:34:56 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on September 04 2012 at 09:29:41 AM
This has been a topic of discussion for me the last few months. Within the next 2 years I hope to actually be racing. Everyone has an opinion on this, I keep thinking having a 4 cylinder to start out with is my best choice. To be honest I kind of want to drive something I can beat on a bit :-).
Any on here want to offer some advice too, I'm all ears.
I suppose I should mention, I have no real professional race driving experience, but am a lifelong racing fan, & have a pretty decent understanding of dirt track racing etiquette, rules, etc.
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If you want to get into sprints then go the mini sprint way. Then if you want to try something bigger you could get into a UMSS Traditional non wing Sprint and then go winged after that if you want. Good competitive Traditional sprint can be put together for under 7500.
Sounds like you might be from the eastern side of the state but if you want to make a trek over to St Croix Valley Raceway saturday we are having an arrive and drive with at least 4 cars there for prospective owners/drivers to try them out on the track to get hooked.
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September 04, 2012 at
01:38:34 PM
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Posted By: Bet n Housen on September 04 2012 at 12:55:19 PM
If you are going to be an all dirt driver then get you a hobby car or 4 banger and learn to control your driving thru the slick mud and getting the car to react to where you point it and get a friend or two in the pits and use you time on the track to practice running close to each other at speed,once you get to where you can put the car where you want it to go ,in other words learn car control ,move on to a higher class but as cheap as you can,this way you haven't got the farm invested to see if you really want to do it. If you do then keep moving up as you conquer the dirt and the competition and get yourself good,and I mean real good at one place before you make the giant step to the top class and travel a little if you travel and learned how to run a flat track then go run a banked track until you are comfortable with it then keep testing and proving yourself until you pit next to Steve Kinser or Greg Dollansky then your learning curve starts anew. Good Luck.
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I really do agree with this approach. 'crawl before you walk'
Follow me on the social medias! ; twitter -
larryitis Facebook - Michael Collins
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September 04, 2012 at
05:26:19 PM
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I started in a 360 winged sprint with out any prior racing experience. Since then I have driven non wing, modified, late model, midget, and a dwarf car. It was a struggle and I now know it took longer to be a decent driver than if i started in another class. I would suggest anything stock/near stock engine and narrow tires. You will learn to drive to keep your speed up, In my experience I probably got beat by the dwarf cars the worst till i learned to drive a low horse power car with out wide tires or a wing.
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September 04, 2012 at
09:33:19 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: larryitis on September 04 2012 at 12:10:24 PM
Yes I do have a garage available. Luckily for me, I also am friends with a really skilled welder/metal fabrication guy. This is all hypothetical at this point, but I want to educate myself as much as possible & I know I can get some good advice on here. There's a ton of street stocks/grand nationals running around here, as well as IMCA mods. Decent amount of 4 bangers & mini sprints too. I'm kind of intrigued by the mini sprints, cause I think ideally I'd like to be able to race midgets / winged & non wing sprint cars.
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yes, go for minisprints if the have a good # cars and a place to race
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September 04, 2012 at
09:35:19 PM
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Joined:
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Reply to:
Posted By: ThePurple73 on September 04 2012 at 01:14:35 PM
You could try school bus figure 8 racing. Usually find an old school bus fairly low price. Previously a person ran a school bus engine at Indy, so you even have an opportunity there also.
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very funny jerko, what do want to do down the road, drink more beer
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September 04, 2012 at
10:39:11 PM
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some drivers will overspend in a class simply because they can, dont move into a class just because the costs are similar, the B mods in our area can get a lump of money in them but the engine HP is detuned and the chassis isnt overcomplicated to get you waaay out of touch to be somewhat competitive? Alot of B mod drivers exhausted thier wallets and moved down a class, does this make the class difficult, Hell ya! these guys have upper class experiance !our a mod drivers simply have too much motor for too small of tire, then they overcompensate the suspention to try link the whole madness together, (sure thier neat cars) but it will take some seat time and a huge learning curve to get where (im assuming) most racers want to be and a top 5 is pretty respectable, trouble with B mods is you dump a pile of cash into parts, wheels, A arms, tierods, draglinks, front clips ect if you dont drive deffensive, I would aim for a Ledgends type car or something heavy (bomber) with fenders to get your feet wet, to my understanding of your experiance thus far, allthough dont settle for that class for a long period of time move up when your pocket book allows and try to learn as much as possible , and as soon as possible, It progressively gets harder to be competitive the more you move up, pay attention to personal goals and forget track stats ,championchips ect, challenge yourself and goodluck ..
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