Racing on the cheap

[dave parker]

If you had to look at Matt everyday like I do you would not even consider the potential success of the short,round, Asian male prostitute scam.

Better yet he could probably make more having people pay him to keep his clothes on.....


cheers (as i try not to spit out my beer)
dave parker
wdcr ITC#97

[mgyip]

Sigh - it's NOT a scam, it's a Business Proposition and you're right that it actually works in reverse. The more they pay, the more I put on.

One sure-fire way to decrease your brake pad spending is to use your competitors brakes - this has a double-benefit of saving brake pads on your car AND overheating your competitors brakes which can result in the gain of at least one position

Hurt, truly hurt (sniff, sniff, sob, sob)...back to the drawing board for other ways to make racing cheaper...

Haz-Matt

[This message has been edited by mgyip (edited July 01, 2005).]

[jc836]

The reality is as I and others have and will state-there is no such thing as cheap. This sport will use every available dollar you have. That is unless you develop a logical budget. This also must include things that are generally not considered part of the usual expenses.
We budget for brakes, tires, fuel, travel, updates based on the GCR (belts, fire suppression, etc)and a number of spare parts on an annualized basis. Race meetings are budgeted based on travel costs to determine how many we can go away to. Our limit has and remains 2 long tows each season. our home track (BeaveRun) is 1 hour away and I can comfortably do 2-3 FATT events above the Race weekends-BUT I sacrifice a long tow to have the time here.
Take a piece of paper and write down the actual disposable income and start deducting from there. It will be an eye opening experience.

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Grandpa's toys-modded suspensions and a few other tweaks
'89 CRX Si-SCCA ITA #99
'03 Dodge Dakota Club Cab V8-Patriot Blue gonna tow

[Bill Miller]

Originally posted by jc836:
The reality is as I and others have and will state-there is no such thing as cheap. This sport will use every available dollar you have. That is unless you develop a logical budget. This also must include things that are generally not considered part of the usual expenses.
We budget for brakes, tires, fuel, travel, updates based on the GCR (belts, fire suppression, etc)and a number of spare parts on an annualized basis. Race meetings are budgeted based on travel costs to determine how many we can go away to. Our limit has and remains 2 long tows each season. our home track (BeaveRun) is 1 hour away and I can comfortably do 2-3 FATT events above the Race weekends-BUT I sacrifice a long tow to have the time here.
Take a piece of paper and write down the actual disposable income and start deducting from there. It will be an eye opening experience.

That's pretty much the way I did it. I figured a certain amount for each weekend to go for W&T on the tow rig, trailer, gear, and the car. I also figured in a certain amount for contingency, because I knew I would eventually have to spend $$$ on an un-planned event.


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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608

[pgipson]

When I first started racing my wife worked full time. Her salary was enough to support my racing (although I never overtly said as much). Buy tires, entry fees, some track days for extra seat time, minor repairs on occasion. Life was good. I was getting better and the car looked good.

Then she decided she needed to stay home (I think she found my race expenditures categories on Quicken). Struggle to find some extra coin for a track day here or there. Run the tires a little longer. Try to baby the transmission with the deteriorating 2nd gear synchros.

Moral -- Keep no records of racing costs. pay everything in cash. Don't make the car look too good.

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Spec RX7 #11
Scottsdale AZ

[emwavey]

I'm hoping money spent at the beginning of the season was an "investment" for not only the remander of this season, but also for more seasons to come. It adds up quickly.

I spent a pretty good deal getting the car and the tow vehicle up to snuff. The seat is good for at least 4 more years, as are the belts and the window net... And quite a bit has been spent on the tow vehicle as well.

Looking at the projected cost of running one or two more races this year isn't too bad. Room, food, gas, and entry fee (plus a new fire bottle). I have Toyos and brake pads, oil and fluid.

There are some things I'd like to get, a new set of tires (probably next year) and another 10x10 pop-up canopy. The truck also needs two new rear shocks and probably some type of repair with the universal joint(s).

Thanks for sharing and for the space to brainstorm and rationalize.

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-dave
nerdsracing.com
8)

[This message has been edited by emwavey (edited July 05, 2005).]

[Bill Miller]

Originally posted by emwavey:
I'm hoping money spent at the beginning of the season was an "investment" for not only the remander of this season, but also for more seasons to come. It adds up quickly.

I spent a pretty good deal getting the car and the tow vehicle up to snuff. The seat is good for at least 4 more years, as are the belts and the window net... And quite a bit has been spent on the tow vehicle as well.

Looking at the projected cost of running one or two more races this year isn't too bad. Room, food, gas, and entry fee (plus a new fire bottle). I have Toyos and brake pads, oil and fluid.

There are some things I'd like to get, a new set of tires (probably next year) and another 10x10 pop-up canopy. The truck also needs two new rear shocks and probably some type of repair with the universal joint(s).

Thanks for sharing and for the space to brainstorm and rationalize.

Did I miss something? How are you getting 5 years out of belts? Also, I didn't think there was an expiration on seats or window nets.


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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608

[tom_sprecher]

Oh, I don't know, maybe they're FIA certified belts?



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Tom Sprecher
Team SuperTech

[dave parker]

Bill,
FIA belts are good for five years.
Window nets are not dated in SCCA club racing.
FIA homologated seats that are rigidly mounted(meaning they do not slide back and forth) are not required to run a seat back brace for five years from date of manufacture.
After the five year period you will need to:
a. use a seat back brace.
b. Install a new FIA homologated seat.

cheers
dave parker
wdcr ITC#97

[Bill Miller]

Thanks Dave!

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608

[emwavey]

[This message has been edited by emwavey (edited July 06, 2005).]

[jake7140]

1) Race weekends are "family vacation time", and thus hotel (swimming for the kids) or camping/eating and travel expenses are put against the family budget and do not come out of the meager race budget which is for mechanical and entry fees only.

2) Race expenses are paid in cash, records kept by hand, not computer, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

3) Change goes into the big tupperware container at work, and vaporizes.

4) Nobody really wants to know how much it really costs anyway. Outsiders will think there are "better" uses for the money no matter how much it is. If you don't use it on racing, it will just get lost into another do-dad for the house or other such frivolity that pays no lasting dividend either.

5) We're really in the business of creating irreplaceable memories for our families that not many other people get to do. Which lasts longer, the story about new siding on your house, or the time at Road America where everything went wrong, came in with brakes smokin', etc., etc.? There's just something different about it that you can't put a price on. Some thnigs in life just have to be chalked up to that.

6) USE ANY TRICK YOU CAN, but never lie.

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Steve
[email protected]
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/jake7140" TARGET=_blank>My racing page
</A><A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/elrss" TARGET=_blank>Elkhart Lake Racing_&_Sipping Society
</A>

[gran racing]

Yes, being very vague is a great technique. When asked how much did that cost? I got a great deal on it! Or, it cost enough.

I once made the mistake of going into the theory of how racing actually made us money. Didn't previously know how to work on cars to repair out daily drivers, more motivation at work to get more money (speaking of which...), and a few other clever ideas. Yeah, that didn't go very far.

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Dave Gran
NER ITB #13
'87 Honda Prelude si

[mgyip]

However one way to save money is to DIY as much as possible. This has a dual benefit of saving money AND giving you the knowledge that YOU did the work so that if anything fails (or succeeds) that YOU are the reason.

Depending on your time constraints, DIY the hard stuff as well - you'll gain a world of experience if nothing else. If you can't ultimately fix it, you'll end up paying to get it done right BUT it was already broken before you started...