New to road racing, and thus IT

[gran racing]

I now find myself with a garage full of more wheels/tires than I've owned in my entire life.

Just a garage full huh? Rookie. My wife always asks since when did our basement become a second garage?

Have you done any HPDEs yet? If not, do some before the school to gain experience (and shake the car down as previously said). In regards to crew, bring anyone that's willing to go. They don't have to even know how to work on cars although that would be helpful. Even bring your wife. There are a lot of simple things that you just won't have time to deal with such as putting fuel in the car, checking tire pressures, washing the windshield, and so on.

The other advice I'd give you is get your wife involved in this obsession, I mean hobby. Does she like racing? Bonus if she does! If not, take some time to figure out things about the weekend she could enjoy. Get her in the garage with you from time to time even if that means she's just reading a book while you're out there. My wife hates getting her hands dirty (with car related stuff) but has saved my butt several times. Anytime she hears "wack! wack!" she runs out, tells me to put the hammer down, then somehow just gently resolves the issue. Gesh, that pisses me off! LOL My wife was not thrilled about the whole racing thing but I finally learned ways to make her like it more. It sure does make things easier for both of us.

Best of luck!

[dhardison]

If you don't already have one, get a copy of Dave's book! (see post above)

http://www.GoAheadTakeTheWheel.com

It's chock full of great info for the novice. I was "on the fence" about racing and his book drop-kicked me over the edge.....

Dan

[R2 Racing]

Welcome to the Great Lakes Division, and it's great to see some new blood joining ITC. Like Dan above, I also live up in Delaware, OH. I actually started racing back in 2000 with an ITC '85 Civic, which we still have, so I'm pretty familiar with the cars. When prepped well, they can run like clockwork. If not, they can be a little finicky. We too are going to be at the Blackhawk Farms school in April as I have two new racers renting my Civic's. If you would like, I'm sure we could work it out so you can paddock by us and we can lend you a helping hand. I'm always willing to help a new guy get his feet wet, as it can be a little overwhelming starting out.

We too also talked about going to Nelson Ledges instead of Blackhawk, but IMO the Blackhawk event will just be a much better event. Yes, it's about 6.5 hours away instead of 3.5, but they're dumping a bunch of money into the track right now for all brand new facilities, the track is well taken care of and safe, and the school itself is actually three days instead of two - school Friday and Saturday which will complete your school requirements, and then an actual regional race Sunday. Conversely, Nelson is just a two day Saturday and Sunday school. Plus the safety, facilities, and track surface of that place leave A LOT to be desired.

I have my own shop up here in Delaware where I prep all of our cars as well as some others, so if you'd like for me to take a look at anything for you or have any questions, just ask.

Kevin
kevin at ruckracing dot com

PS - buying Dave Gran's book as Dan posted above is a great idea. It answers a lot of questions a new racer will have.

[dhardison]

Plus the safety, facilities, and track surface of that place leave A LOT to be desired.

Nelson DEFINITELY has its own "charm".

[boywonder]

Wow, thanks for all the responses!

I have a friend (he's on here somewhere) that bought an ITC Civic last year to get his license and I went to the school (at Nelson) and most of his races to help him out. I'm really glad I did because I at least have a bit of a clue of what to expect. I'd like to do the school at Nelson because it's a lot closer and I've at least been there before, but we have a race (rally) in NY that same weekend, so Blackhawk it is. I've heard good things about Blackhawk and if I can keep the wheels on the car it'd be great to run the regional after the school. That's a lot of seat time over a couple of days and would make the tow worth it.

Good idea on finding a track day before the school. I guess that means I really need to get to work on the car to get it ready.

gran racing: point taken on keeping the wife interested. I'm fortunate that she already enjoys going to the races and she's fully behind my desire to do this. However this is, as they say, where the rubber meets the road, so I want to make sure to make it as enjoyable for her as possible. Also, I've heard about your book elsewhere and it gets rave reviews so I'll probably be picking up a copy soon.

JLawton: you're right, I need to get on the paperwork and get the physical scheduled now.

R2 Racing, dhardison: Good to know there are others with our affliction close by. My friend Jim, with the Civic, lives in Dayton so it's good to know others closer by. When it comes to the garage I've always gone by the mantra "the more the merrier."

So a few more questions: what all would be in a good spares package? Fortunately Jeff sent me off with a good deal of stuff with the car and I'm still sorting through it all to see what I have. Rally has kinda skewed my spares perception though as we carry nearly one of everything with us, but I don't know that that's necessary in road racing. What would you consider essential?

Also, I'm trying to separate my needs/wants when it comes to the car as I don't want to blow a bunch of money (funny, huh). I know I need to put a camera in the car so that I can learn as much from my track time as possible, (ie., see where my hands are, where I'm looking, etc). Is a system that can overlay telemetry onto the video worth my money at this point, because that's not cheap. Whereas I could just mount my point and shoot digi and record video for free.

Thanks again, and keep the advice flowing!

[tom91ita]

in lieu of a track day, get that car to an autocross.

it is cheap.
it is likely closer.
you will learn the basics of car control for that particular car.
you will get some idea of where to set tire pressure, etc.
if it is about to break, you will break it.

autocross may be the worst deal on a $ per minute on track but don't dismiss it from a learning viewpoint. you will enough going on with situational awareness on track to be learning car control near the limit as well.

when is the driver's school? post up that you are looking for crew/help here or on http://www.roadraceautox.com/ and you should be able to find some if your rally friend can't help out.

and save 7/31-8/2 or so for Mid-Ohio and the IT Spectacular!

[dhardison]

When it comes to spares I've found that you'll need what you didn't bring and won't need what you did bring - . So I bring only the spares/parts that I know I can change between sessions or at worst overnight. If I'm racing at say Mid-O which is only a stones throw from my house I bring somewhat less.

I race a Ford so that generally necessitates more spares than say, a Honda , but here's what I generally bring:

1 set of wets
1-2 sets of dries (in case of flat-spot, puncture, etc)
Front knuckles with new bearings/hubs/studs - complete, ready to install
Front rotors
Front pads
Front Struts/springs/sways
Front calipers (loaded)
Pair of CV axles
Rear hubs/bearings - complete, ready to install
Rear spindles
Rear drums
Rear shoes
Rear shocks/springs/sways
Tie rods
Spare serpentine belt/timing belt
Spare belt tensioners
Misc hoses/clamps/tubing/tie wraps/duct tape/JB weld/bolts/nuts/screws
Necessary hand tools/drill/bits
Necessary wrenches/ratchets/torque wrenches/sockets
Necessary jack/jackstands
Necessary fluids/sealants/fuel
Small generator/drop-light/extension cords
Battery charger

Probably more that I can't remember........

Dan

[AjG]

Just for the record I don’t think Nelson Ledges is unsafe and I hate to see new people getting that idea. It may ‘feel’ unsafe (fun) and look unsafe (ratty) but don’t let that fool you. They also put on a great driver’s school.

[RacerBill]

Ditto everything that has been said. Double ditto on Dave's book. I have been involved in SCCA since 1966 and still the book was well worth it.

When you talk to Jim, tell him I said hello. He was one of my students at a PDX at Mid-Ohio where he caught the bug.

BTW, where are you located in Columbus? I am in Grove City and would be glad to give you a hand.

As an aside, most of the folks who post here, list at least their first name, so we don't keep calling each other 'Hey, you!'

Good Luck. Have fun, Be Safe!

[boywonder]

dhardison: I see you drive a Focus, we race a Rally Spec Focus. That's a lot of spares, I'm still digging through everything I brought home but so far I know I have: 2 spare carbs, alternator (weighs a ton for its diminutive size), distributor with cap and wires, timing belt, spare door mirrors, gauge cluster, and numerous brackets and misc items that I haven't figured out yet. Plus two doors (one with glass), hood, front bumper cover, two valve covers, head, bottom end, and tranny. Also, 5 Hankooks unmounted, 2 Yokos mounted, 10 Kumos mounted (4 full depth, rest shaved), and 4 spare (albeit, a bit banged up) wheels.

AjG: I've been up to Nelson twice now, once as a passenger during a track day and while quaint, it didn't seem unsafe. I thought it was pretty bumpy though. I've heard for some track bike guys that it use to be a lot worse.

RacerBill: Jim's a good guy, he let me borrow his trailer to go pick up the car this weekend. I'm located downtown in German Village.

Oh yeah, my name is Ryan.
Nice to meet you all!

[mc-integra111]

If anyone hasn't been to Blackhawk Farms in a while, I think you will be impressed. As Kevin mentioned money is being spent, and spent effectively. The improvements are continuing for the 2009 season as well.

I am not familiar with Nelson ledges, so cannot compare, but Blackhawk is a good track for a school in my opinion. The track is wide enough to provide racing room and there is plenty of runoff room. The track is hard on brakes, which should give you lots of threshold braking practice. The average speed is fast, meaning keeping your momentum is important. Since you have ITC car, you will need to get very good at this.

As a final piece of advice, if you do the school at Blackhawk, don't lift at the kink right before turn 7. When I did that in my school the turn 7 workers really got something to watch.