Quote:
Originally Posted by Bennyandth3jets
Hi all, freshman in college this year majoring in mechanical engineering. My school offers an emphasis on motorsports with this major, but I was just curious what the best path for me to take would be if I was looking to not only build but possibly race in a high level setting. Although I have worked on cars since I can remember, I've never been around racing in my childhood, so I'm not sure what the normal procedure is. Is there a separate motorsports school to attend? Thanks in advance,
Ben
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There are lots of ways to get into motorsports without killing your budget.
1) Solo - Autocross - Autoslalom
-Very Cheap to start out, can use your Daily with very like risk, can help develop your car control skills you'll need to race
- depending on class and car you there can be as much chassis set up as road racing, not all of translates to road racing but a lot does.
(look at the SCCA or NASA events in your area)
2) Budget Road Racing is all about class.
-take a look at Spec Miata or Improved Touring or may chumpcar.
a Spec Miata ready to race can be found for 7-8 grand, it wont be a national championship winning car but it will get you started. (you are looking at another 1500 for safety gear and about 1K in tires/fuel/entry per race weekend)
-Spec Miata is one class where winning a national championship can get you on the radar of race teams.
-IT you can find and IT car for as little as 4-5K, some are still street legal so you don't need a truck and trailer. Good place to start but no real national level competition
(look at the SCCA or NASA events in your area)
Chumpcar, Is fun and the there is some good drivers, but on average the level of competition is very mixed. But you can buy some safety gear, go on the chumpcar forum, find a team looking for a driver and pay 1-2K and go racing for a couple of hours. (it's not going to a job or a seat with a pro team, but it will expose you to endurance racing)