driving a racecar on the street

After soliciting comments on tow vehicles, I'm now looking for thoughts on just driving the car to the track; at least for this year. I live 50 miles from Lime Rock, but I'm going to try and get to driving school at NHIS in April. The latter is about 3hrs from me. I may have stock suspension still on if I make it to the NHIS school, unless someone it becames clear to be that driving stock at the school is a bad idea.

I know a few people here drive their cars to the track, and I know others thinks it's a bad idea. So lets here the opinions.

I know a few people that keep their cars registered and legal for the street. Most are SS folks, but a few IT folks as well. I know Kirk's old car was street legal, as he drove it home to NC, after the Summit Point 12 hour last year! :023: :119:

Ben there, done that.

I recommend it highly! And you are crazy to try, LOL!

It is truely the gentleman racer approach, and I did it for my first year racing in my ITA RX-7. You will never have another first year and you will always remember it like it was yesterday.

I decided it would be cool, and would save money. It was, and it did...sort of.
Heres the result:

1st school, Pocono. Drove there loaded to the gills, stock suspension, Toyos, alone with tools and tent. In the practice race, the leader spun on the banking, and I was running 4th...he flopped down in front of me, and BOOM...new car time. My most excellent instructor, just retired CRB chair, Kurt Weiss, kindly loaned me his van/trailer to drag the 3 wheeled mess home. Got signed off though, so no real harm!

1st race, Lime Rock. "new car", general confusion, I was missing parts and tools, but I missed all the wrecks, finished two laps down..(sheeesh!) but drove home.

2nd race, same thing, but only 1 lap down!

3rd race, NHIS...3 hours with my girlfriend in the car...stopping every 50 miles because the new lowered suspension rubbed the tires with too much gas in the tank! My doubts as to the suspensions engineering were confirmed when the panhard rod removed itself while being closely followed by a panicing Mustang. A hasty weld job by a unknown nice guy got me home, slaloming between potholes the entire way.

4th race..LRP..finised ON the lead lap...12th! Whoo hoo! Still missing things and such, but drove it home.

5th race Watkins Glen...blew the street motor. Gulp. Girlfriend sick so had to find hotel instead of tent. Hitched ride to airport, rented car, left race car there and drove 5 hours home. The the next weekend, I rented a bumper hitch, borrowed a trailer, and "borrowed" the work van (shhhh!) and made the 11 hour round trip to get it. Expensive "weekend".

6th race, LRP first Busch support race, went faster than ever on new "junk" street motor, now with only 110,000 miles on it! Finished 5th, in the trophies, and WON money! And it drove home.

Notice a trend? The car KNEW when it was far from home, and of course, Mr Murphy had his way.

But, it was a great year, and really taught me lots of lessons. I'm glad I did it that way. Won't do it again, though!

Jon,

You know Joe was running with a stock suspension on his SM car, right? I did my NHIS school on very old and worn out stock suspension. My crew (including Jake Fisher) kinda teased me esp. on the down hill section of the track leading back to the roundy round track as it jumped around a bit. I rode in your car with you and its stock suspension is fine. Worry about the cage and other safety items first!

In regards to NHIS and a 3 hrs drive each way, let's use my truck and trailer for that event. I'm not doing the NHIS race anyways.

LRP for one year...Of course having a tow vehicle would be much better, but if this makes or breaks your first year of racing, drive the car to the track. Worst case is you leave the car at the track, bum a ride home with me, then you take my truck / trailer to pick it up. I'm sure you could fit four tires in the car; good thing I just bought all of those tools. Oh, notice how I said LRP not NHIS, the Glen, Summit Point!

The bad - driving a car with a full cage without a helmet on. Then again, who knows, you might just wear your helmet then too. :D Right now worry about getting the necessary items done. You really need to get moving on that cage if you want to do the NHIS April school!!!

gee dave that is a great offer.
i knew we would get you to nhis one way or the other.

jon you owe dave a hotel room.

Con-fuse-us say, "He who drive race car to race track, thumb ride home."

Con-fuse- us also say, "He who sticks 'For Sale' sign on race car while racing, soon have 'Race Car Parts for Sale' sign on broken heap. :D

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Originally posted by charrbq@Jan 21 2006, 11:02 PM
Con-fuse-us say, "He who drive race car to race track, thumb ride home."

Con-fuse- us also say, "He who sticks 'For Sale' sign on race car while racing, soon have 'Race Car Parts for Sale' sign on broken heap. :D

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He also say, "Cost to have Billy tow race car home on rollback, less than one month truck payment." I have the local tow company's phone number in my racing binder.

Here we are headed out for the hour-long trip to the NASA VIR 3.5 hour enduro last year...

http://it2.evaluand.com/gti/images/packed1.jpg

Of course, to be fair I have to point out that I was very glad that we towed to Rally TN. :D

K

That's awesome Kirk!

The one other minor item that got annoying when I drove my car to tracks were all of the ricer kids wanting to race me at stop lights.

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Originally posted by Knestis@Jan 22 2006, 02:23 PM
He also say, "Cost to have Billy tow race car home on rollback, less than one month truck payment." I have the local tow company's phone number in my racing binder.

Here we are headed out for the hour-long trip to the NASA VIR 3.5 hour enduro last year...

http://it2.evaluand.com/gti/images/packed1.jpg

Of course, to be fair I have to point out that I was very glad that we towed to Rally TN. :D

K

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I suppose I look at it from the perspective that the closest race track to me is a 6 hr. tow. That'll eat up the roll back miles in a hurry.

Chris - I thought there was a solution coming that would make your closest tow "no problem". ;)

I have a nice 'heavy-duty' tow dolly for sale.

Save on AAA, flight expenses, and (possibly) your girlfriend.

E-mail if you're interested.

~Edwin Robinson.

My MR2 is tagged for the street, but I have been told that it does not meet the letter of the law for one reason, the belts. The seat belts in the car do not have DOT tags on them and no DOT no street legal.

I also have a big fear about riding around with the cage bars so close to my head, am I making a big deal out of this or not. I won't drive the car on the street with a cage in it for this reason.

Make friends with the SS guys! You can borrow their car for the ride home if you have a problem and put your car in their trailer! Seen it happen more than once! ;)

Come on Matt, ya can fit a car in a friends trailer but ya can't fit the Neon in F Production eh. :o :) :D

Now I undersatnd why ya think the non-ported 1st gen RX-7 fits well in F Propduction. I'll need to see the response with the 100 pound weight reduction just given for the car in ITA. :happy204: I look forward to testing. ;)

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Originally posted by ITANorm@Jan 23 2006, 07:22 AM
Chris - I thought there was a solution coming that would make your closest tow "no problem". ;)

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There were way too many problems. Doubt that it will ever happen again.

I've driven from California to Hallett in OK.. Twice.. Raced on the track and drove the 3000 + miles back home..

The thing that can make this happen is:
1. Very good matainence on the car
2. a plan in case something happens.
3. Drive smart.. hold back 1 to 3/10ths on track
4. Make smart decisions.
5. keep your eyes open.
6. and if you think something bad is going to happen it usually does. So think positivly.

If your new to driving on a race track you have to be especially carefull. Lots of Autocross drivers drive their car to the track and race it.

it can be done.

But figure in a tow vehicle for the future.

and bring lots of spare parts where ever you go.. : )

-Stacey B.

Did it this past year - and would like not to do it again. Kept the tags and Ins on the car and drove it to the track filled w/ gear (only 45 min to Mid-Oh). The downside is that, as was said, you throttle it back 3/10, and the big downside is that you can go home on a rollback. Seen it happen more than once.
But, at least you'll be racin'
Alan

Another friend of mine used to drive his spec miata to the track. And years ago, I met a guy that towed his FV to the track w/ his SSC car!!! :119: Now that's what I call hard core! :023:

When I first got into this madness we call a sport, I ran Time Trials (Solo I) for the first couple of years. Always drove the car to the track (Pocono, LRP, Bridgehampton, Watkins Glen, Bryar). God must have been smiling on me, because I never had to have it towed home. My friend wasn't nearly so lucky. And when I think about how many times I went through Turn 9 at Bridgehampton, w/ the car sideways, and dropping the right-rear tire off the track, I was REALLY lucky. Ah the good old days, when we were too stupid to know any better!!! :happy204:

I did my first drivers school in a friends 280z and drove it to the track...the track was Moroso in WPB and I drove from Naples FL. my friend followed in his nissan truck (neither of us had a trailer at the time and my car was still in pieces). the car ran flawless and I didnt get a scratch on the car. It was more dangerous driving home afterwards than the entire weekend on the racetrack! It was an experience I will never forget. :happy204:

I dont understand the danger of rollbars on the street...if they are padded right, whats the difference between padding and metal and cheap plastic and a/b pillar? If belted in right you shouldnt come near the bars (unless they intrude pretty far in the car)

I kept the license and insurance on my car due to the fact I still run Solo2's with it. I also drive it to work at least once a week (short commute) during the warmer months. As far as the cage concerns, I'm short enough and my seat is low enough that my head is pretty far from the bars.
But as far as driving it to the track, I only drove it once this past year and that was the short 12 mile drive to IRP from my house. Of course that was the one and only weekend of the entire season I had a DNF (missed shift, popped rocker arms off the motor in Sundays race). :bash_1_: And yes, the flat tow home behind a friend's truck (couldn't find a trailer that was either available of that the car fit in) was far more exciting than the racing...
I'll drive it again this year to IRP, but any trip over an hour and I beg/borrow/steal a trailer and tow vehicle.

I keep our ITA Neon tagged for the street. No emissions in Nebraska!! Run a few autoX's with it and drive it to Midamerica Motorplex which is only 1/2 hour away. Run it at 10/10ths when we are there as if we break we can deal with it at our leisure. My wife is an employee of the track in the summers. (We actually store our trailer AT the track) We put the racecar on the trailer for any other track.

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That's awesome Kirk!

The one other minor item that got annoying when I drove my car to tracks were all of the ricer kids wanting to race me at stop lights.
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Try working on The Pike for 2+ years driving the IT car. :blink:

TCPIP - yep, can be done. I have a full race suspension. My biggest issue was that when I was fully hydrated, I could barely make it beyond Worcester before needing a bathroom break - downfall of race suspension and 6-pt harness. And we always left so early that the rest stations up there weren't open yet. And in the summer it's *really* light between 6-7am. *And* there are a *lot* of people in those parking lots at that time of day LOL

I did a full race season driving the car but I always had a backup plan. You are within towing distance for AAA from Lime Rock - you do have AAA right? ;) As for NHIS, I had a place I could leave the car if I had to, esp if we wrecked both cars and could only get one home.

Good luck! :)

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My MR2 is tagged for the street, but I have been told that it does not meet the letter of the law for one reason, the belts. The seat belts in the car do not have DOT tags on them and no DOT no street legal.[/b]

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FWIW I have 2 street cars with 4 pt harnesses in them. I've been in a few roadblocks with them, and the cops have looked them over with interest, even questioned me, but I never got a ticket. Also, I got pulled over in the IT car for crossing over a white line (*nice* little trap they had going there!), again they didn't even say a word. (too busy writing tickets for the 2 dozen cars they had pulled over!). This was a fully lettered, caged, no interior, already on the track car.

Diane