Hello everyone, I'm Holden and I'm from Alabama and I just joined the forum and figured I might as well introduce myself.
A little bit about me..
I'm literally just starting to get involved in organized motorsports. No MX5 yet but I do have an FC RX7 and have been through a couple nissan 240sx's, done the track day thing and aside from spirited driving..well that's about all of my experience right there.
Ill try to stay brief. I originally jumped onto the whole drifting band wagon about 4 years ago, it is still a passion of mine due to the perceived emphasis on self improvement vs direct competition but I have had a growing desire to really experience wheel to wheel racing and appreciate it more and the pressures involved. I gave thought to building the FC for an ITA car but still being ignorant of a lot of things, the potential for being out engineered is still so much greater than SM and the cost of running the cars seems much higher.
These little Roadsters have always fascinated me anyway and so does momentum racing so SM really seems like the right stepping stone for me once I can develop some prelimenary qualifications.
In the mean time I hope I can pick up some valuable information and benefit from all of the experience here. Any advice in getting started and how to prepare your skills/knowledge of the racing world/opinions on building vs buying etc...all are more than welcome and appreciated. My current agenda is to just get my hands on a non mutilated stock roadster and get involved with the local SCCA Solo 2 program and incrementaly build the car to meet SM spec while getting my mechanical/driving experience on the way.
Region: SE Div, Atlanta
Car #: EddieFur
Year : Party like it's ____ Posts: 952
Status: Offline
posted
Welcome! Do your homework and spend more time working on your driving skills than your car, you'll end up at the pointy end of the field a LOT faster that way
-------------------- Mazdaspeed // SafeRacer // Traqmate // OPM Autosports // East Street Auto // Cobalt Friction Racers Edge Motorsports Rolex GT RX-8 // i-MOTO Racing Conti Challenge MAZDASPEED3 Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/toddspeed
Region: SEDIV
Car #: 33
Year : Whatever's Available! Posts: 311
Status: Offline
posted
quote:Originally posted by Todd Lamb: Welcome! Do your homework and spend more time working on your driving skills than your car, you'll end up at the pointy end of the field a LOT faster that way
+1 on that...
I started 4 years ago with a $9K very basic race-ready car. By not spending all of my money on the car, I was able to run 25 races over 7 weekends my first season. Seat time gets you seconds of lap time. Expensive cars get you tenths.
Stop by at a race or two and check things out while you're getting ready. I'm in the Southeast... drop in and say hi!
-------------------- Dan Tiley
Sponsored by Race Engineering Spec Miata's fastest and best supported engine program!
Region: Houston
Car #: 91
Year : 1991 Posts: 2171
Status: Offline
posted
quote:Originally posted by Todd Lamb: Welcome! Do your homework and spend more time working on your driving skills than your car, you'll end up at the pointy end of the field a LOT faster that way
Yeah yeah.... what do you know????
Congrats on a great season!
-------------------- Do I turn my 99 Hard S into a killerfast SM or seek a donor?
quote:Originally posted by Todd Lamb: Welcome! Do your homework and spend more time working on your driving skills than your car, you'll end up at the pointy end of the field a LOT faster that way
I believe in this whole heartedly and it is why a class like SM appeals to me. Very strict specifications and very close cars making driver contribution easily 95% of the whole pie there. When you cant rely on mechanical advantage..you have no CHOICE but to look inward for time and analyze yourself and push it.
Qik Nip
Loose Member '09 & '10 Great Lakes Regional Points Champion
Region: Cincinnati Great Lakes
Car #: 60
Year : 1990 Posts: 1487
Status: Offline
posted
Be careful. Tiley and Thornton will want you to grow a tiley beard. They claim it's good for two seconds a lap at VIR. Seriously welcome to the SM collective. Resistance isn't necessarily futile, but it won't do much good. You'll be assimilated. Rick
-------------------- Fortune Cookie Racing SM 60 Directions for use: Race, Rumple, Repair ... Repeat!
Region: SE
Car #: 39
Year : 1999 Posts: 835
Status: Offline
posted
Forget about any other class. SM is THE show. If you can work your way to the pointy end of the field and dominate like Lamb, Foss, Saini, Daniels etc, the pro rides will follow.
I'll say it...... IF YOU ARE FAST IN SM YOU WILL BE FAST IN ANY FORM OF MOTOR RACING. In too many other classes you can buy your way to the front of very small fields, and walk home every weekend with a winners trophy. In SM you will have to fight for every trophy and every trophy will have been earned.
Welcome to the class and good luck.
PS - remember its not how fast you are, its how good you look! Make your car distinctive!!!!!
Region: NASA Mid-West
Car #: 077
Year : 1995 Posts: 180
Status: Offline
posted
Welcome. I'm a newb as well. Been here since this past summer. Right now I'm keeping my mouth shut, and learning. To steal a line from 'Cool Hand Luke' when Luke first got to the prison camp, I'm doing more "work with my ears" right now.
quote:Originally posted by Danny Steyn: Forget about any other class. SM is THE show. If you can work your way to the pointy end of the field and dominate like Lamb, Foss, Saini, Daniels etc, the pro rides will follow.
I'll say it...... IF YOU ARE FAST IN SM YOU WILL BE FAST IN ANY FORM OF MOTOR RACING. In too many other classes you can buy your way to the front of very small fields, and walk home every weekend with a winners trophy. In SM you will have to fight for every trophy and every trophy will have been earned.
Welcome to the class and good luck.
PS - remember its not how fast you are, its how good you look! Make your car distinctive!!!!!
Exactly the reason I purchased a Miata this past summer. After taking the Corvette Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain, getting hooked, purchasing a C5 Z06 Corvette a few years ago, and tracking it several times, I've come to realize after talkng with guys in the NASA Mid-West paddock, that the Miata will get me to become a better driver.
After volunteering in Tech this past summer, to gain an even different perspective on motorsports, I plan to work up the NASA ladder, TT next year, then maybe jump into wheel-wheel racing in SM, or maybe hop back in the Vette. Although I think racing will give me plenty of great stories to tell as I get older, and help me to learn about myself.
Welcome! Remember, the mind is designed to solve problems.
-------------------- "Driving is a serious business" - John Milner, 'American Graffiti'
Region: Central Florida
Car #: 3
Year : 1992 Posts: 1304
Status: Offline
posted
Holden if you would like to meet some of the racers on this site and get a feel for the class.....then come down to Sebring Thanksgiving weekend for the Turkey Trot.
Since SCCA requires you to pass a "school" to attain a regional competition license. Well..I fail to see any "schools" via SCCA's website :-/ This could be due to my extremely poor ability to sort information and navigate the website lol.
So how did YOU attain your competition licenses?
the Skip Barber base at Road Atlanta is close to me ..And their three day school seems like my best bet so far. It says graduates are then qualified to apply for Regional SCCA licenses.
But is this the only school option to attain a regional license?
Region: kc
Car #: 20
Year : 92 Posts: 1801
Status: Offline
posted
Here's the 2010 schedule for your division. There is a double school at Roebling. Don't know how far that is for you. If you do a double SCCA school, you can race the next regional. Two regionals and you get a license. Cost is way less than Sippy. You don't learn how to win, like you can at Barber or Bondurant, etc.
Region: Central Florida
Car #: 3
Year : 1992 Posts: 1304
Status: Offline
posted
Holden
Roebling Road is just outside of Savannah and will cost you approx $400 for the entry fee, plus hotel, gas, etc.
Skip barber will cost $3200 discounted for the 3 day school and a $250 fee to get them to issue a letter saying you are ready for a regional license. If you aren't ready for the Feb schools, CFR has a school at Daytona in April and at Sebring in July.
I did the skip Barber school...it was great! They prep the car and you drive for three days.
Welcome to the party, you'll find the SEDIV group are a helpful lot and a fun group. I don't know what your time table is but a couple of suggestions:
1. Work a couple of races (or lots if you want, we can always use the help), a weekend in tech would be good along with a few weekends in F&C. This will really help when you go racing both with knowing procedures but you really can learn watching what the hotshoes do. If you can't race a weekend you can still work the event.
2. Even if you do Skippy doin an SCCA school wouldn't be a bad thing, you'll learn how the weekend works from start to finish.
3. Depending on your car/build schedule do some DE's. Atlanta Region runs the PDX during quiet time on Sundays (muffled car a MUST) while NASA has a strong DE program and Porsche Club runs a very good DE program at Road Atlanta.
-------------------- All this has happened before, and will happen again
quote:Originally posted by Gatoratty: Skip Barber sale today only....$2799 for 3 day MX-5 school.
Yeah I cant actually go to a school right now. i was hoping there was a year around schedule of driving schools so I could plan ahead and start saving.
It still makes sense that I should build/buy a car first too. Im sure there is a time limit after completing school where you have to complete your privisional events, and get your license right?
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