The price of racing.

-
I run my 07 Charger R/T in the TMCCC series…street class..cheap(but slow) racing. My best is 13.87 driving in and dropping the tire pressure slightly. Costs me $30 per race plus gas and a cheeseburger. Got one semi-final and one runner up last year. Car was cheap, bought it from State Farm…
TMCCC

96CA0ED6-EF3D-41F5-BA3D-ADF2CC4B13F0.jpeg
 
I run my 07 Charger R/T in the TMCCC series…street class..cheap(but slow) racing. My best is 13.87 driving in and dropping the tire pressure slightly. Costs me $30 per race plus gas and a cheeseburger. Got one semi-final and one runner up last year. Car was cheap, bought it from State Farm…
TMCCC

View attachment 1715865520

congrats. You are proof there are exceptions to the rule.
But….they are few and far between.
The point remains, racing isnt cheap.
 
I’ve skipped two race weekends so far this year, but I do have to travel to get to tracks and I just haven’t been feeling it this year. I pre-entered for March Meet at Famoso and the sad fact is that I don’t want to mess anything up on the car and have to mad thrash to make it there. I’ll also be running at Vegas Muscle cars at The Strip. Who knows…. Maybe that’ll be it until fall.
 
How many passes to you guys get on a typical test and tune night? At my nearest track I have to tow 2 hours to get there and even if I’m pulling in just as the gates open (usually 5pm on a Friday night) I only get 2 or 3 passes before 10 pm. Then drive 2 hours back home. So I’ve got $100 in gas for the truck, $30 to race, $20 for dinner and get MAYBE 3 passes. Hard to not get discouraged and say hell with it.
I know that higher car counts and unexpected delays (oil downs, crashes) will slow things up but it just seems like the program is really slow. Just wondering how many passes you guys are getting on a typical TnT night (approximately 5hrs at track) and how much cash you have into it.
 
How many passes to you guys get on a typical test and tune night? At my nearest track I have to tow 2 hours to get there and even if I’m pulling in just as the gates open (usually 5pm on a Friday night) I only get 2 or 3 passes before 10 pm. Then drive 2 hours back home. So I’ve got $100 in gas for the truck, $30 to race, $20 for dinner and get MAYBE 3 passes. Hard to not get discouraged and say hell with it.
I know that higher car counts and unexpected delays (oil downs, crashes) will slow things up but it just seems like the program is really slow. Just wondering how many passes you guys are getting on a typical TnT night (approximately 5hrs at track) and how much cash you have into it.
I agree with you......some tracks that I have been to have a totally open format where you can make a pass and then get right back in line again with the possibility of getting 6,7,8 maybe more passes if a person chose to do so whereas other tracks have more of a format and call you up by groups and it just seems to drag things out and like you said you might get 3 passes in a 4-5 hour window........those places I typically will avoid.
 
I agree with you......some tracks that I have been to have a totally open format where you can make a pass and then get right back in line again with the possibility of getting 6,7,8 maybe more passes if a person chose to do so whereas other tracks have more of a format and call you up by groups and it just seems to drag things out and like you said you might get 3 passes in a 4-5 hour window........those places I typically will avoid.
I've been to both types of tracks, and much prefer the open style. In fact the first time I was at a track that ran the class format I was unaware of it and got chased out of the staging lanes twice before someone finally explained it to me. Think I got 2 or 3 passes that day, not nearly enough to be consistent with a completely new car.
 
whereas other tracks have more of a format and call you up by groups and it just seems to drag things out
That’s exactly how they do it. There’s like 10 or 12 staging lanes and you have to go to a certain lane depending on what your car “is”. Street car with radials, street car with slicks, big cars, dragsters, power adders, etc, etc. I guess they don’t want a 15 sec street car going down the track at the same time as a 2000hp outlaw car but it sure seems to slow things down. Plus you can stop at your pit and make adjustments before heading back to the lanes and you won’t miss your “turn” but for guys like me that want to hot lap a few times before making any changes, we get the shaft.
 
Hey @pittsburghracer , what’s the TnT format at Keystone? That’s only a little farther than Quaker City for me. Might be time to switch tracks.


Keystone calls you up in several groups. Slick car, street cars, jr. Dragster, and possibly bike. We also have closed test days for I think 350.00 for a set amount of cars that has to be scheduled. We also have several street car only nights.
 
Keystone calls you up in several groups. Slick car, street cars, jr. Dragster, and possibly bike. We also have closed test days for I think 350.00 for a set amount of cars that has to be scheduled. We also have several street car only nights.
On average, how many passes can you get in?
 
On average, how many passes can you get in?


Lol. 2 for me. By time I get in and unloaded, BS to my friends I usually miss the first one. And then I usually quit early as the humidity sets in and I don’t get good info anyway. Honestly I rarely go to test n tunes as I try to have my car race ready at home. Then on race day I get two time trials, 1st round, and if needed my buyback (25.00). All for 65.00 and the track prep on race day is more to my liking. On test n tune nights I’m going to say a guy up there just to make hits and puts the night in will get 3-4 with a chance of 5 if he pushes closing time because Greg will extend the hours if it’s a bad night with delays. It takes me 55 minutes on average to get there.
 
We pay a $25.00 pit pass at the weekly tracks... cars are free.

Purse is $1250 to win $150 to start. Early season we get 20-24 cars. Late in the year car counts fade to 14-16. One lap in practice gets you the $150 minimum.

Tires are $155 this year...gotta run the same on all four corners. Shocks are crazy...$4000 to $7000 for a six shock setup (tacky medium, slick) plus one shock on the lift arm and another left rear in front of the quick change for traction (basically a 95/5 valving). But not everyone can afford that so a lot of guys buy used hi $$$ shocks or obsolete twin tubes.
 
We pay a $25.00 pit pass at the weekly tracks... cars are free.

Purse is $1250 to win $150 to start. Early season we get 20-24 cars. Late in the year car counts fade to 14-16. One lap in practice gets you the $150 minimum.

Tires are $155 this year...gotta run the same on all four corners. Shocks are crazy...$4000 to $7000 for a six shock setup (tacky medium, slick) plus one shock on the lift arm and another left rear in front of the quick change for traction (basically a 95/5 valving). But not everyone can afford that so a lot of guys buy used hi $$$ shocks or obsolete twin tubes.



most of our local dirt track racers seem to run Hoosiers tires which for some reason were damn near impossible to het last year. A local, very good racer had to pick n choose the races he entered last year and did great but could have done so much better. We even have a local speed shop that takes 18 wheel trucks to the races with Hoosiers and they couldn’t get them. I know guys struggled to get slicks last year too.
 
I run my 07 Charger R/T in the TMCCC series…street class..cheap(but slow) racing. My best is 13.87 driving in and dropping the tire pressure slightly. Costs me $30 per race plus gas and a cheeseburger. Got one semi-final and one runner up last year. Car was cheap, bought it from State Farm…
TMCCC

View attachment 1715865520
I have a good friend who races his Grey Chrysler 300 on Friday night street car shootouts at Little River and wins all the time. When Texas Motorplex had the Mopars at the Motorplex he would usually win that too. I hope that event comes back, I loved to race in that thing.
 
Well I found a way to save on racing last year:
Tranny went out on me in early May of 2020 so I pulled the motor to freshen it. Machine shop I took it to jacked up the motor so bad I had to go to a junk yard and find a different block and start over in November. Needed new custom Ross pistons. Ordered them 1st week of Dec. Still waiting...
Oh, the transmission? Rebuilt and back to me in 2 weeks.
Saved a lot in entry fees, fuel, tires, etc.
I would not recommend this method....
 
Guy i know here local just went to a 110 octane pump near me.
Was 7.50 a gallon last fall when i went there.
He just posted on Facebook its 10.99 now…ouch..lol
 
Guy i know here local just went to a 110 octane pump near me.
Was 7.50 a gallon last fall when i went there.
He just posted on Facebook its 10.99 now…ouch..lol
Wow that would be nice! 110 has been $11 a gallon down here for at least a year now. Was $10 for a long time. Can only find it at the track or 55 gallon drum but I have no place to store it.
 
Guy i know here local just went to a 110 octane pump near me.
Was 7.50 a gallon last fall when i went there.
He just posted on Facebook its 10.99 now…ouch..lol

Makes my pump 93 seem cheap. :usflag:
 
most of our local dirt track racers seem to run Hoosiers tires which for some reason were damn near impossible to het last year. A local, very good racer had to pick n choose the races he entered last year and did great but could have done so much better. We even have a local speed shop that takes 18 wheel trucks to the races with Hoosiers and they couldn’t get them. I know guys struggled to get slicks last year too.
Rubber trees have been dying due to a fungus... Producers have pulled the trees and waiting for the new plantings to produce in 3-4 years.

Nylon is scarce as are other supplies.
 
-
Back
Top