Chumpcar now allows IT cars

[Flyinglizard]

Chumpcar is allowing the IT cars to race in their own class, no claimer, no win cash.
This group has had a pile of races at cool tracks.
Roebling is coming up on Aug 20- 22. Twin 7 hr races. Lots of track time for the cash entry. Bring 4 drivers and the cost is $250per.

Sebring will have an 11 hr race on Sat and sprints on Sun. Sept 25 and 26

http://www.chumpcar.com/events.php
MM

[Knestis]

Who thought that an IT driver would ever have the opportunity to say, "I'd never go out on track with those jalopies!"

:)

K

[Flyinglizard]

The speeds are pretty high . The prep level is a lot higher than most IT cars. Thats what happens when there are no rules and guys with too much free time.
My golf- 2/3 liteweight weighs 1898# with 10gals fuel, cut off roof and doors, big Mk 3 brakes, dynamic rear steer with side load bars, Good engine with a small weber, high compression , etc. It should run about SM lap times, with a lot more straight speed.
The cage is in better also.

[tom91ita]

interesting. no SFI H&NR required.......

[Flyinglizard]

4 of our 5 drivers have either the HANS or D fender. Funny , by far the wealthiest guy, will use a neck coller. Go figure.

[Speed Raycer]

I've got to say, in 21 hours of racing in Iowa, I saw 3 cases of car to car contact. CHUMP is real racing guys. While some of the Citrus cars & drivers will show up with a little bit of theme, CHUMP is all about seat time and racing. At times, the racing was as good if not better than the IT races I've been in. Yes some of the cars could use the occasional new quarter panel, but I've seen just as many IT cars that could use the same thing. It's the real deal guys. Build cool stuff and take it racing.

They're running Hallett at the end of August. Should be a blast.

[Flyinglizard]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29663275@N05/4791243609/in/set-72157624364375861/ Some pics.
Power to weight seems to be the common engineering goal. MM

[snk328is]

I also raced at the last ChumpCar race @ Iowa Speedway (good seeing you Scott!) and I had a blast!

It's a relatively cheap way to get into endurance racing without all the drama and BS that seems to be a regular occurrence at the other crap can racing series. The organizers make it clear that the focus is on racing and NOT bribing the judges.

I believe Grassroots Motorsports is also going to be a national sponsor of the series (can't seem to find an official announcement online but I swear I read it in the last issue) so that's a good thing.

I really think that this series will take off, because the fun-to-cost ratio is through the roof!

Post Edit: Speaking of cool cars, I was with a team campaigning a pretty bitchin' ride.

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt257/snk325/ChumpCar/IMG_3091-Copy.jpg

[Reins]

I picked up a cheap ITC civic off this site months ago and have been running it in Chumpcar. I can't commend the series enough for keeping the driving clean and the BS to a minimum.

snk328is, was that you running the Alfa at Iowa? That thing sounded great and the carnage to your front passenger side hub was incredible :o.

[Flyinglizard]

I may have one seat open in the "A" car, Liteweight,purpose built Chumpcar for Sebring.
I have a lot of interest and may also run the ITB car. The cost is $750 per seat.
The ITB Golf will be at Sebring this weekend for the school.
MM

[snk328is]

I picked up a cheap ITC civic off this site months ago and have been running it in Chumpcar. I can't commend the series enough for keeping the driving clean and the BS to a minimum.

snk328is, was that you running the Alfa at Iowa? That thing sounded great and the carnage to your front passenger side hub was incredible :o.
Hey Reins,

Yes, I was one of the drivers on the Alfa team. Were you part of Team Party Cat? Looked like y'all were having some engine problems. Too bad neither of us could finish the race. :(

Will you be at Gingerman?

[JIgou]

Not to sling poo.....but the discussion in this thread is (in my eyes) the exact opposite of what these guys experienced: http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/411129.aspx

Has the philosophy of ChumpCar changed a bit as the year has gone on, or is Kyle missing something in his story?

Jarrod

[Flyinglizard]

I actually proposed to outlaw Miatas, just because of their potential to ruin it for the real crap cans. The light weight, great handling and the required craptires make it last and run very well.
John says that any mods to the Miata or the E30 will bring some minus laps. John races Miatas so they will stay. A real 500$ one is on the edge of the rule intent.
I took off my E bay coilovers, as I can duplicate the rates with cut up junk.
I also am trying to get some rules like a compression limit and a intake pressure limit. Too much free time, a welder, and Ebay turbos are a bad thing,IMHO
Race it before it gets crazy while it is stil fun,IMHO. MM

[wcmcarlos]

Not to sling poo.....but the discussion in this thread is (in my eyes) the exact opposite of what these guys experienced: http://sccaforums.com/forums/thread/411129.aspx

Has the philosophy of ChumpCar changed a bit as the year has gone on, or is Kyle missing something in his story?

Jarrod
There is another way to see it, perhaps the chumpcar organisers do not want to see the races turn into the demolition derbies that we witness at a typical SCCA club race.

[Reins]

Hey Reins,

Yes, I was one of the drivers on the Alfa team. Were you part of Team Party Cat? Looked like y'all were having some engine problems. Too bad neither of us could finish the race. :(

Will you be at Gingerman?

Yep, I am on team party cat.

We wont be making it to Gingerman because we need to take some time to make sure that the civic is running properly. How about you guys?

We'll be back for next year.

[tom_sprecher]

4 of our 5 drivers have either the HANS or D fender. Funny , by far the wealthiest guy, will use a neck coller. Go figure.

I take it you have never read the book: The Millionaire Next Door.

[RedMisted]

Is Chumpcar honest-to-goodness endurance racing and nothing more? I don't fancy the LeMons model, what with all the sideshow b.s. (Guys racing in chicken outfits with doghouses on top of their cars, etc.) I take my racing too seriously for that...

Sorry, but I'm out to win, not to make a fool of myself.

[Flyinglizard]

Yes it is real racing with real racers. The field has been around 25-35 cars so far. Roebling is about 28 so far. Sebring is about 32 or so. Not 100 cars on a 50 car track. Contact is not the passing method.
My team/car has a no contact clause. Go 4 off twice, and we bring you in., Hit a car on your option, and we bring you in. We want to win the race , not the lap.
This seems to be the standard mindset, more or less.

[jungle]

Chump is real racing....HOWEVER...it is a cross between HPDE & Racing....since many of the ppl out there don't have a comp. license they have no concept of a dive bomb, they have no concept of "black car behind me.....black car behind me......where is the black car, i can't don't see him in my mirrors, there for I shouldn't dive all the way down to the apex"....the officals are intentionally vague on a lot issues like this.

I thought we were being smart by using a car that is a great ITB car as our chump car...a 1995 VW Golf. Turns out, that what we needed was an ITS or ITR car. At Brainderd if you didn't have an E-36 or well prepared E-30 you didn't win. Yeah so supposidly one can get a fully functioning E-36 for $500! I haven't found out yet...

At Iowa it was a Ford SHO in 4th(yeah right...find me a $500 SHO that can hold up to 24hrs of racing!!!), an E30 in 3rd, an E36 in 2nd (recieved 20 penality laps), and a Turbo Saab in 1st.

my teams blog:
http://team-short-bus.blogspot.com

IMHO as the car numbers increase, the rules will get tighter.....we are going to take our Golf to Autobahn for Lemons and see if it is more competitive there.

All in all it was a great time, and I can't wait to do it again

[Speed Raycer]

The SHO was a $350.00 car with clutch problems. Fixed said clutch. Fixed the biggest problem with the SHO trannys with the 3/16" rod from a funeral flower stand. Did that myself so I'm fairly confident on that one. Still has the same plugs and wires that we started with. Pretty sure that we haven't even done a compression check.

And yes, it'll be at Hallett to hopefully pull off another 24 Hours straight. BTW, we led with the SHO for the first 5 or 6 hours til Lloyd popped us for 5 minutes for hitting the cones. Never could recover..... didn't help that I stuffed it in the tire wall in T2 with 2 hours left

[snk328is]

I picked up a cheap ITC civic off this site months ago and have been running it in Chumpcar. I can't commend the series enough for keeping the driving clean and the BS to a minimum.

snk328is, was that you running the Alfa at Iowa? That thing sounded great and the carnage to your front passenger side hub was incredible :o.
Yes, we are planning on being at Gingerman. We've registered and now we just need to fix the wheel bearing that failed (and buy spares).

To those of you who are Monday morning quarter-backing, why don't you come out to a ChumpCar race near you and decide for yourself?

[SLUF]

Been wanting to chime in on this and finally have a chance! We are running the Chumpcar race at Hallett in my IT7 car at the end of August. We'll be in their "EC" class for non compliant Chump cars. I've been wanting to do an enduro since I first saw "LeMans" many eons ago on the big screen. We ran a Lemons race in Houston last year but all that gimmickry and playing games with flags is not for me. Since everything I own/race is a POS we should fit right in!

We have assembled a pretty good group of SCCA/BMW/NASA/IMCA drivers for this effort and even have a dedicated crew and support vehicles. May be overkill first time out but the fun factor cannot be denied. Can't wait!!!!!

[Flyinglizard]

We have one full car, and we may rent seats in the ITB Golf.
The rate is $800per driver for the weekend. The Chumper is 1860# dry, and the IT car is about 2000# dry. so it will be slower .
I have one for sale also for 2800$ that would make and nice Chumper..

Organ Donor racing. turning body parts into speed...

[Flyinglizard]

Just got back from the Roebling Road Chumpcar Race. What a blast!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/boyblunder2010/page3/ some pics are here. Our car is the Cut Golf # 13,red/white. Bigass roof scoop kept us plenty cool.
The racing was very good . Non contact racing. As it often works out , the fast guy are more experienced passing, and knew what to look for in a passing situation. I think that the only metal to metal was two newbs. Soft spin and tow hook out of the woods, both continued later.
Our faithful Transponder had no hit sat AM so we were hand timed and missed a few laps. Took 11th out of maybe 32 starters.
Sun , TX worked for us and not for others. Still we were in the hunt but I think we were shorted about 5 laps. Those 5 laps would take up from 6th OA, to 3 rd OA. Maybe I am wrong.

Anyway the car cross section and the level of track consideration was very nice . Better than any open track days ... I had to draft a Mercedes Diesel to keep the clutch going late in the race, while pointing by a 72 LTD.
Next race is Sebring. Sept 25-26
The Sun 4 hour enduro is open to IT cars and will cost 400$ for Sun only. Great deal for a lot of track time.
Send any info request and entry cash to
[email protected]
Email me for any details or go to the Chumpcar site. See ya at the races. Organ Donors/Protech