Actually getting into racing
Hello, my name's Anthony and for my entire 17 years of life I have loved cars, motorbikes, and racing. I was a mechanic for most of my life but actually being in a shop fixing other peoples vehicles quickly diminished my hope for being a master technician. As I'm rapidly approaching adulthood and starting to get my feet on the ground I feel the need to ask how can I turn my dreams into a reality. I currently live in the Richmond Virginia area and frequently attended races at VIR (only as a spectator). i started to get pretty competitive in the local cart scene with the K1GP and various gas carts but my family couldn't afford it forever.
In around 4-5 months I am moving up to Dayton Ohio with my girlfriend to start our life together. I did some reading and figured out there's a 3 day program at The Mid Ohio Sports Car Course for $2050 and you get to race your own car! I was curious if this course is worth it to take and really - how should I go about getting my SCCA amateur racing license? What order of operation should I follow?
I'm sure this sub has heard it a million times - a nobody wants to become a somebody but I'm serious here. I really enjoy this stuff I'm just confused on the order of how everything falls into place. I've looked into spec Miata but I'm more curious on a mixed layout of cars. I also don't know the classes to heart but I will continue researching tonight and a little into tomorrow. I don't have dreams of going into F1, NASCAR, or GT3. I mainly want to stay in the middle. not beginner but not pro either. I feel that's where the heart of racing is at. 200hp - 500hp cars on fun technical tracks.
All comments are helpful. Thanks!
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u/C0git0 8d ago
Go to race school, then join a Lemons or Lucky Dog team. Put in some time on the sim and don’t bin someone else’s car unless you can afford to replace it.
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u/RevolutionWorking297 7d ago
This. I’ve raced just about everything with four wheels and Lemons is by far the most fun I’ve had. The competitors are, for the most part, friendly and helpful. Build it safe, have fun and then work on getting faster. In the plus side they don’t pull cars off the track and crunch them these days but be sure to bring a sharpie in case you get put in time out. Saw one guy had to write “I will not go off track again” 500 times on his car before he could go back out. Also bring something to bribe the tech guys.
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u/gy6_ajc 8d ago
I used to sim race a ton on both Iracing and cassette corsa. had close to 1500 hours in total on a full Monza setup + VR. Sold that setup a while back. I've heard of people racing in the 24hrs of Lemons race most notably was Motortrends ROADKILL. Sorry for my lack of knowledge but what is a Lucky Dog team?
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u/C0git0 8d ago
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u/incomplete_ 8d ago
This and Lucy Dog are by FAR the easiest ways to get involved with endurance and circuit racing in the US
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u/Poison_Pancakes 8d ago
What you’re looking for is known as club racing. The SCCA and NASA organize club races all over the country with many different classes. I don’t know much about NASA but the SCCA runs driver schools a couple times a year. You’ll need to organize your own car (there are a lot of shops that offer arrive and drive services) but it will likely be the least expensive route to getting a competition license.
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u/gy6_ajc 8d ago
That's something else that I've been held up on. Go the SCCA race school route or the Mid Ohio school route. Thanks for telling me the name of the class I was looking for!
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u/Just-Succotash3018 7d ago
This. Here’s the best thing about club racing for someone in the OPs position: you can volunteer. Besides just being at a race track which is fun in and of itself, you can meet people, learn how things work, and figure out what the best path into racing is for YOU. Since the OP is in Richmond right now, there’s a PCA Club Race at Summit Point in mid September that needs volunteers: https://clubregistration.net/events/event-details.cfm?event_id=17292. Not suggesting a 17 year old tries to start racing Porsches (it’s financially crippling. Ask me how I know….) but if OP is serious about getting into racing by any means possible, this is an easy and immediate opportunity to get a look into what it’s like. I don’t know if you have to be 18 or not, but if they won’t let a minor volunteer it’s still less than a 3 hour drive from Richmond and would be a fun road trip to see what club racing is all about. If you decide to head up there, OP, send me a message. I’m racing that weekend and would be happy to chat.
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u/Thesupplierguy 7d ago
All schools are NOT created equal. Here are some differences. Road Racing Schools Overview
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u/GawinGrimm 7d ago
Just stay away from Spec Pinata (Miata) Unless you like rebuilding your car every other weekend.
The Mid Ohio course is a good way to start.
To get your feet wet rather than a spec Miata try a Formula V if you are interested in open wheel or a SRF (Spec Racer Ford) You can get either of them for about the same price point as a Miata and will spend more time on track with a cleaner bunch of racers and much less time hammering out dents. Several of the hot "young guns" coming up the pro ranks rite now did SRF.
Getting anyplace in racing takes 2 things. Money and Talent. A lot money can get past some of the talent and a lot of talent can get you past some of the money but you still have to have quite a bit of both.
On a typical SCCA race weekend with a C5 Z06 we spend about 5K for the weekend. When you figure in travel/tires/fuel/crew/meals ect. A SRF or Formula V would be a bit less as tires and fuel are much cheaper.
A typical Trans Am series weekend in GT class can run into the 10-15K. In TA2 arrive and drive is 40-50K + cost of anything you break.
The higher up the series the higher up the costs.
Seat time is everything. NOT simulator time. The simulator will help you learn the track not how to drive the car. Track days are a great way to get set time. Karting is an affordable way to get seat time. SCCA is a very fun way to learn as most people are very friendly and helpful. I know in SRF I have seen drivers give up a practice session to play follow the leader with a new driver to show them the lines. It is a good family of racers and a good weekend. Time Trials is also a great way to have fun and learn to drive fast without breaking the bank.
Other series like Lemons is great for seat time on a low budget. Usually a small team of driver/crew and 12 hour races.
Check out Mid Ohio and go to the next SCCA even there. Ask for a weekend membership not a ticket from the track. Talk to everyone. Officials, drivers, crew, flaggers anyone that wants to chat. See what cars you like. Ask them their average cost per weekend. Most all of them will tell you.
I myself dont do anything but member track days. I do however work as a crew in motorsports and have for the last 12 years. Even if you dont end up driving you can always find a place to work even if its just the odd weekend part time. Nothing beets going to the track and having a blast and getting paid for it.
Hard work is everything.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.
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u/Nonster_ 7d ago
Kind of depends on how much money you've got. Generally the best routes are SCCA/NASA for regular club/sprint racing, ChampCar or Lemons for budget endurance racing or Karting. Near Dayton you've got a good handful of Kart tracks. G&J Kartway, Wilmington Raceway Park, and Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati. MCC has rental kart leagues and could be a good way to get started. Or Ohio Valley Karting Association is a club that races at G&J
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u/ffejotron2000 7d ago
Anthony- I live in the Dayton area. There some a couple of small kart tracks around here and different clubs that race competitively. The biggest one I am aware of around here is Ohio Valley Karting. https://ovka.com/
SCCA does a lot of events south of us in Cincy at Edgewater Sports Park. They do autocross and rally cross. My stepson does drift events there as well.
There are also a lot of circle tracks around here. Darana (formerly Kil-Kare) Speedway in Xenia, Eldora is not to far up the road, Shady Bowl in DeGraff, etc. if those sorts of things interest you.
I believe the Miami Valley Sports Car Club does Miata racing. https://www.mvscc.com/
Good luck! If you need any advice on where to move, where to avoid, etc hit me up. I relocated here 16 years ago and its not a bad place to live at all.
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u/gy6_ajc 7d ago
I used Dayton as a general location but I'm going to be moving to New Carlisle OH. which come to think about it is only around 25 minutes away from Dayton lol. I mainly want to road race via endurance or Club spec races. Rally has interested me for a long time (and thats where I've learned proper car control and how to maintain and hold 4 wheel slides in both FF and FR cars) but for the most part road racing interests me most. Maybe I could get into drifting too but nothing too crazy.
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u/ffejotron2000 7d ago
New Carlisle is the home of 571 Grill and Drafthouse! One of the best places to eat around.
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u/NightshopArgument 7d ago
for my entire 17 years of life.....I was a mechanic for most of my life
You've been a mechanic for most of your life? And you're 17?
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u/gy6_ajc 7d ago
I was always helping out with friends and family learning how to fix stuff and observing over bigger jobs. I've been doing oil changes and basic maintenance in various driveways since I was 6 years old. I took auto tech last year, graduated early, and went into a shop a few months ago. said shop eventually got sold and the new owner was after money not after teaching me how to advance in the field. so yes i have been a basic mechanic for years and just last week I had to go get a shifter ball and clutch pedal assembly of my buddies Mk1 VW rabbit diesel for his other running VW diesel.
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u/RyanEversley 6d ago
Do that school for sure, I did the Panoz Racing School when I was 16 to start my career and get my first license. After that start attending Champ Car or WRL races and asking teams if they need help for the weekend and see if you can find a deal for some sweat equity to get behind the wheel. Biggest thing I'd say is the more people you know in the industry the better chance you have of success so show up, introduce yourself to everyone, ask a million questions and try to build as big a network as possible.
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u/Dark_Guardian_ 8d ago
start with autocross
you can take your daily and its pretty cheap, you can then progress from there building a more competitive car and then turning it into a circuit car of whatever class you want (or get into stage rally instead of circuit)
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u/legal_stylist 7d ago
I would advise against this. I auto crossed for a number of years, and while it is good practice in regard to car control, it translated into essentially nothing when I started road racing.
Go auto crossing if you enjoy auto crossing. If you’re bound and determined to go road racing, do that. 24 hours of lemons would be my advice.
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u/turbomachine 7d ago
The answers are always the same
Step 1 - get a job and earn good money
Step 2 - buy a Miata
Step 3 - work up the ladder. Autocross, hpde, crapcan endurance, and beyond as the budget allows.
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u/Lawineer 7d ago
Most of those programs kind of suck. They're meant for 50th birthday gifts to your dad so he can say he learned to drive a race car.
Best way to get into racing without insane money is karting and sim race.
Brutal honesty, you have zero chance of becoming a professional driver (as in, someone pays you to race their cars) at any level if you're starting at 17. It's like picking up a baseball for the first time at 22 hoping to become a pitcher. You're supposed to be drafted by now. It's not "way too late" type thing, and you may advance enough to get some free amateur seat time here and there in something like WRL.
With that said, you can still race and have fun. I didn't do my first real race till 40.
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u/b5-avant 7d ago
The Mid Ohio school is world class.
Also if you read their post he literally says he has zero illusions of becoming a pro driver.
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u/gy6_ajc 7d ago
My biggest fear happened with mechanics. I wanted to be a mechanic my entire life and loved cars as a whole but actually being one just made me bitter, confused, and struck down. I feel I'm better off fixing my own junk than other people's junk. same thing applies to racing for me. I've had some spirited drives in many different types of vehicles (all within limitations of course) and i just enjoy lower power lighter weight cars opposed to the big leagues of say F1.
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u/Lawineer 7d ago
It’s pretty difficult to mass teach racing. It really needs to be 1 on 1 with a pro coach and data. Once you get past basics, there’s only so much you can teach even 5 people at once.
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u/illbeyourdrunkle 7d ago
Join or start a lemons team. We race in your area