Trying for Nationwide Crap Can class unity

[CPLUCKER]

I have been racing SCCA for 12 years in ITB and ITS and just recently gave up on trying to race chump car.

year 1
we built a VW jetta, I built the cage for $300 in tubing, gave the team my old race seat and belts etc. we still ended up with like $4k in the the $500 car . we got 6 hours of our 1st 12 hour race, blew the gasket and replaced it then it blew again in 14 min. I ended up with $1800 and 50 hours in it and I got 27 minutes of drive time .

year 2
the team decided the jetta was to slow so we bult a 86 rx7
built the car, spent a bunch of money and time making a $500 car, cut pring to the right rate etc. ( way easier to just buy the right springs ) ended up with $6k in the car. we blew the engine in the first 2 hours , bought another at the track for $300 changed it an blew it about 20 minutes later. I eneded up with about $1000 in the deal and got to drive for an hour

year 3
re-build blown rotary, not enough compresson to start, bought running car for the engine, swapped the engine. started the race, blew the side seal on lap 2 and got blacked flaged for smoke ! AT A CHUMPCAR RACE !
spent $800 drove o minutes.

my SCCA ITS experience is I bought a ITS 280 z for $4k and have raced it for 3 years with only brakes and tires

so my exerience is that chump is no cheaper. much more work , more hassles ( tech, changing rules, etc. ) and the pain in the ass factor of the team people were mad about not getting to drive etc.

So I am just going with the cheap low hassle low work SCCA, where I am competitieve know the rules, and have lots of fun.

your mileage may vary...

Chris Plucker

[Flyinglizard]

Having 4 fly in drivers is a very hard deal . I ran 3 cars with 4 drivers each for one year.
Just running a car 14hrs is part of the prep issues. Nobody said it was going to be easy, or cheap.
There is around 80hrs prep-or repair, per car every 24hrs. Not a good business model. I had to get rid of drivers that "sprint" attitude.

6 hr races would be the nuts, night races would sell huge.IMHO.

SCCA could do better than Chump with some simple tweaks.

Having a class for your already built cars would be a good start.

[lateapex911]

I wonder if that 80 hour prep figure that Mike gives is accounted for properly in the balance sheet when the Chump guys say the racing is 'cheap'. At shop rates, it sure isn't.
I suspect they 'divide by 4" and everybody works for free. Thats great, but if you aren't the first driving stint, and the the car fails in some area that ANOTHER guy worked on, I can see being pretty annoyed.

I still say the major cost saving areas are the tires.
AND the lesser desire to win at all costs.

[Xian]

Jake, you're just trying to be difficult. You know damn well that the labor isn't figured in.

I think 80 hours is way on the high side FWIW. After the Daytona 14, the Tr0nsAm needed pads/rotors and fresh oil. Yes, really. Now it's ready for the RA regional and will have 3 or 4 drivers in it covering the double SARRC, ECR, and Pro-IT. I'll bet it's on the same tires as Daytona. Which are the same tires as it was on for RA before that.

I feel like I'm setting myself on a repeat loop but the prep requirements are lower because the "warts and all" aspects of cars can be "fixed". And since the suspension/brakes don't see the same loads (thermal and G) that race tires provide, you don't burn through ball joints, tie rods, etc like IT cars. It's way the hell cheaper than IT but its also way the hell different. Apples, oranges, etc.

Yes, equipment failure happens but it's not as common as you'd think (assuming you keep a focus on simple prep and attention to detail). Could the car explode or get crashed before your stint? Of course... But that's no different than any other enduro. Nature of the beast.

FWIW, from the outside looking in, you and some others seem to be trying to find ways to tear down Chump. My $0.02 would be to accept that it's an alternative to folks who like cars and like racing and who also have become a bit disillusioned with the idea of "amateur" racing with SCCA. As much as I'd enjoy some of the aspects of getting back into IT/Prod/ST, the tire costs, prep requirements, and cubic dollars to run at the front just aren't for me. Entry fee/track time is also out of whack compared to Chump. I'd never suggest that someone give up IT for Chump but it's well worth checking out.

PS
There was a Chump 300ZX at Roebling yesterday... They were turning 1:20's on street tires. Obviously it's not a "real" race car though.

[Flyinglizard]

80hrs per 24-28 race hrs.
Not every 14hr race.

The Turbo Jett gets a fresh head gasket every race, new oil every other race