Your Guide into Racing! Read this post for details

[gran racing]

Wondering how you can begin racing in the Improved Touring Category?

Are you a bit lost on the process?
Think racing is too expensive?


If you have the desire to drive in wheel-to-wheel road racing events, but do not know how to make this sport a reality, this book is a must-read.

In this book you will learn how to:
* Race on your budget – from economy to extravagant
* Maximize “seat time” – get the most racing for your buck (including free track time!)
* Modify your car to produce the greatest amount of gains
* Overcome the most common obstacles
* Gain racing experience before you have a racecar
* Build your own racecar on a realistic budget
* Become a front-running driver

“Whether as a hobby or as a potential career, Go Ahead - Take the Wheel gives you everything you need to know to get started in racing.” Michael Andretti

“Buying this book will save you a ton of wasted expense and aggravation and get you on the track sooner with less hassle. So if you've had those "I could be a racer!" notions and are thinking of going to the next step, your first step is buying this book.” MOTORTREND

Maybe you're already racing but are still relatively new to the sport. Yes, you too will find this book useful! Even if you are a seasoned veteran, take a look at this book’s website. There are numerous links to racing related businesses, and some very cool club racing, high performance driving, and autocross videos.


www.GoAheadTakeTheWheel.com (http://www.GoAheadTakeTheWheel.com)


Your Help Is Needed!
Please spread the word about this resource


If you are a retailer or affiliated with a club/region and are interested in selling this book, please contact us through the website for discounted retailer book rates and terms.

Posted with ImprovedTouring.com's permission

[gsbaker]

And a nice write up in the Central Florida Region's publication, "The Checker", for October 2007, which states, "It truly is a 'How to' of SCCA racing."

:023:

[gran racing]

Very cool!!!

Bill just gave me the heads-up that it was in the CDOC ad for the "Best New Book Pick". - Nov. Sports Car pg. 25. :happy204: Thanks for pointing these out to me guys, I'm usually not notified about this stuff.

[gran racing]

Things have been progressing with my efforts. Mike Dickerson from the national office officially announced the regional affiliate program I'm offering. Regions receive a substantial discount, I handle all fulfillment, among other benefits. There are a few regions that already have taken advantage of this. Now I just need to figure out how to sell the other 100 regions on the concept.

I also decided to take the plunge and signed up with a distributor to get my standard edition into book stores. <gulp> They dictated that the "official release date" of this book is 3/1/08.

Going along with this, keep your eye out on the April Road & Track edition for a review. I just hope it's good. :)

[lateapex911]

If only Peter Egan were the reviewer! (you'd be "read" by every single person that picks up that magazine....)

[ddewhurst]

Dave, Dave Wheeler of Advanced Autosports book "The Spec Miata Constructors Manual" contact list names your book. Every little bit helps.:023:

[gran racing]

I received a phone call from Dave a couple of weeks ago asking if I'd mind him referencing my book in his. That was very cool of him!!

You're absolutely right - every little bit helps and I am extremely appreciative of all the support this book effort has received.

I've been trying to obtain reviews on Amazon, but for whatever reason haven't been very successful. Might any of you be willing to write a brief (even a sentance or two) review on Amazon? http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0977786005/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?%5Fencoding=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

[mbuskuhl]

Might any of you be willing to write a brief (even a sentance or two) review on Amazon?

You are up to (9) five star reviews now!

[gran racing]

That's awesome! Thank you so much Mark.

[dhardison]

Bump for a great book! The excellent info within Dave's book along with some "pressure" from Matt "shut this party down NOW" Downing convinced me to start racing this year. Can't wait for driver's school in April!!!!

Added a Amazon review for you as well.

Dan

[gran racing]

Wahooo!!! I'm am soooo psyched about the review published in Road & Track's April edition (page 36). Hopefully this will help more people get out on the track and put a dent in my book loans. :D

"Dave Gran takes the guesswork out of getting started in road racing, providing a comprehensive step-by-step process along with rough cost estimates for Joe Enthusiast to get his feet wet. Beginning with the basics, namely acquiring seat time for those who have no experience, to eventually shaving off precious tenths in your battle for the pole, Gran keeps a cost-conscious mindset in his approach, interspersed with insider tips from a regular guy who has been through it all. Go Ahead - Take the Wheel is a useful tool for anyone interested in road racing."
Road & Track magazine

[spnkzss]

I'll have to agree. I bought the book early last year and didn't read it until the end of last season. Even with 5 years in racing, the book was an enjoyable read. Very informative, and just what I needed to get into the mind set of the new build. I think the answer was don't, but I did anyways. :p

Congrads.

[astondb4gtz]

Just received the book today and it looks great - exactly what the doctor ordered for this n00b!

It is refreshing to see some straightforward information - something that can be mighty hard to come by in the motorsports world....

Thanks Dave - great job!:happy204:

Morgan

[vipspiffy]

Just got my copy! Excited to read it.

Just wondering what's the difference between the original and the scca edition?

[dickita15]

The original talked about racing with other sanctioning bodies, the SCCA edition does not reference the N word.
Besides the original had much better cars on the cover.

[wcmcarlos]

Dave,
I worked the SCCA membership booth at Sebring 12 hr, and
St. Pete Grand Prix, and I pushed your book as a "must have"
along with the GCR.
I was amazed at the number of people in those 6 days, who
said they were doing a build without either book.
I followed much of your advice in my own prep for the RR double school.
Thanks for giving the public such a usefull tool.
Carlos

[gran racing]

Thanks for the positive comments and supporting this resource. I sincerely appreciate it!! It means a lot to me that you and others have thought highly enough to do that.

Yeah, the concept of people not even reading the printed GCR let alone my book has surprised me too. Over the past few months I've been giving thought about how I can get my book out there in a way many more people will utilize it, while at the same time not totally shoot myself in the foot (still gotta make those loan payments somehow). I have a plan on how I'm going to do this which includes making the contents available online for free while incorporating ads on the various text pages. Who knows how it'll all work out, but it's worth trying. My goal is to get this up and running within the next month or so.

[gran racing]

Hey guys,

I decided to make my book available online for people to access for free. If you haven't seen it, take a few minutes to even read the first chapter or two (goto the Contents page).

If nothing else, I have to imagine many of you would be interested in all the free stuff various great companies are giving away.

Isaac - Intermediate head & neck restraint system ($895 value)
ChaseCam - $400 gift certificate
Carbotech - free brake pads
SCDA - free HPDE entry
TrackDaze - free two-date HPDE at VIR or Summit Point
and some racing books

(There's no purchase necessary, no annoying spam lists being collected, or any other catch / BS.)

Could you do me a big favor? There are tons of chat forums out there and I'm only going to post this on a couple (rr-ax, Honda Tech and Vortex). Would you post a quick thread announcing this website? Feel free to just copy the first post in this thread or whatever you'd like. I'd really appreciate anything you'd be willing to do to help get the word out there. Thanks for your continued support with this project.
Dave

[spawpoet]

Dave,

Just FYI, but the link isn't working. I think beacause it has caps in it.

chris

[gran racing]

Interesting. It's because the font is in bold - I didn't realize that. Thanks! I also had an issue with one of the e-mail addresses related to the giveaways. Got that corrected as well.

Thanks for the heads-up!

[ECR]

Dave...totally unrelated to your post...read in the auto-x site you are looking for a driver side window switch...turns out that i may be able to help.
Please contact me at [email protected]
David Leira

[rasperin]

Hey guys,

I decided to make my book available online for people to access for free. If you haven't seen it, take a few minutes to even read the first chapter or two (goto the Contents page).

If nothing else, I have to imagine many of you would be interested in all the free stuff various great companies are giving away.

Isaac - Intermediate head & neck restraint system ($895 value)
ChaseCam - $400 gift certificate
Carbotech - free brake pads
SCDA - free HPDE entry
TrackDaze - free two-date HPDE at VIR or Summit Point
and some racing books

(There's no purchase necessary, no annoying spam lists being collected, or any other catch / BS.)


Hey Dave,
I just bought your book (from amazon), but in my downtime to read things at work (I'm a programmer). I know it's up on your site but would you happen to have a text document with it all compiled together? If not I'll stick to your site.
Thanks!
Ray

[tnord]

Ray -

Glad to hear you bought the book. I just sent you a PM suggesting it! Check your PM and email/call/PM me with anything else I can help with.

[court76wi]

It is a great book. I have the yellow non-SCCA version...

[Duc]

Just got mine. Would have done a few things differently, aka less of a head first approach that I have been. Still a good read for anyone. Two of my co-workers are picking it up.

D

[lateapex911]

Where are you from Duc? Hows the Toyota running??

[Duc]

Deltona, FL just south of Daytona (20 minutes and I am in the pits!). I tore up my transmissions due to a SUPER quite throwout bearing failure at Daytona last year. Next time I am not going to push it as hard on the car. So right now the trans is almost ready to go back. All of the double springs will be off, and going up forsale soon.

The biggest recomendation I would give to others is buy something that you are 100% sure is legal and cheap to repair (because you will). I have spent more money fixing issues on this car than racing. And being a Toyota that is expensive. Used transmissions go in the 1k range from auto salvage shops. Even on the forums, up until lately the transmissions were going that high. So wrong.

I will be running the June Bug Bash in Sebring so we will see how it does.

D