I went to a free skip barber at new jersey motorsports track last week and had a blast. I liked driving around the track in a “time attack” style…even though it was super watered down (no passing allowed).
I am a complete novice and don’t care about points, trophies or bragging rights. Let’s face it, I have a scion…so those aren’t going to come my way anyway.
I just want to have fun on the track and meet similar people. What association would be the best for that? Oh, I am downstate NY area if that means anything.
Fun > Competition for me…not looking to trade paint.
Also, what am I looking at for cost? Tires, brake pads, fluids…I get that. But safety equipment? Looks like NASA wants you in a neck brace now.
That is true, it may help a little in a crash but not much. What it does help with is taking some of the pressure off your neck. That helmet gets heavy after awhile.
The collar thing can be worse in a crash on track because it moves the pivot point of your neck higher towards the base of your skull. I believe it’s called a basal skull fracture and can be worse than whiplash. I heard this from a head and neck restraint guy (someone selling HANS and R3s) though, so take it for what it’s worth.
I’ve always heard, “if you have a $20 head, buy a $20 helmet”, same would be true for head and neck restraint.
Amateur racing, you are easily looking at a grand. Track time, like lapping days or DEs is much cheaper since most of the safety equipment isn’t required.
suits are not cheap
the associated clothing (shoes, gloves, baclava, socks, underwear, etc.) is cheaper
head and neck restraint is very pricey
helmets can get pricey
at the risk of sounding like a tard…what is a lapping day and DE? How is that different from the nasa stuff or High Performance Driving…is that like a TrackMasters?
it’s all the same thing.
HPDE = high performance drivers education.
a lapping day is just a more generic name and possibly means no instruction (and that you are expected to be experienced).
a lot of people in this thread are talking way more advanced then you need to know about at this point.
check out http://www.thetrackschedule.com/ find an event, talk to the group who are running it / sign up and you’ll be good to go.
none of this is “racing”… once you have a couple years under you belt if you want to wheel to wheel race you’ll know what to do because you’ll have spend two years hanging out with people who also have the same goal.
Any track time that is not competitive is commonly referred to as a lapping event or driving event. If you want to be specific, trackmasters considers there program to be high performance driving as you said, but it is known as a lapping event or driving event with instruction.
I got a suit over the weekend, paid 500 for a barely-used 3 layer sparco. Safety’s not cheap. That said, if you just want to do a few DEs, get a good helmet (2-300 bux tops) and buy some gloves (2 main reasons - the safety of not slipping on a wheel when sweaty and so you can see your hands in videos and people can see you give point bys) and MAYBE driving shoes or cheap equiv like puma, wrestling shoes etc. That’s really all you need, and MAYBE a CG-Lock depending on your stock seats - as its not safe nor effective to be using the wheel and your attention toward holding yourself from sliding vs controlling the car.
If you want to race? Expect an initial outlay of 2500-4k or more for safety as most groups now require a HANS (or equiv), suit, gloves, shoes (nomex not just “driving”) in addition to the proper helmet specs, plus belts, seats, and cage (even if they allow a bolt-in those usually start well north of 6-800 and most good weld-in ones start at 12-500).
blue,
thanks for the link. you hit it. i am a novice and just need to get my feet wet before stepping up. I realize it’s end of season up here, but I will try the HPDEs first.
I’m sure there are several members on here that do multiple events a year. Tag along and watch your first 2 (sometimes 3) day event to see what you’re in for. Pay your money and drive the second event you go to (again, with people you know) so you have someone to tag along with so to speak.
If you are talking minimums for a DE event, a descent helmet that fits properly, good brake pads (doesn’t have to be race pads) and fluid, mechanically sound car, and an ego checked at the front gate are all you need. Cost is anywhere from $200 to $400 depending on track, club, and days of the week.
