07-10-2006, 01:19 PM
John Wrote:Apoc Wrote:Don't confuse DE and instructing with actually racing. Call me an elitest racer or whatever but there's a big difference between wheel to wheel racing and going around in a circle over and over again to try and learn the line or teach it to someone else. Once you learn the line you need to move on to actually going as fast as possible off it (aka racing). Either do that or get out altogether after a few years IMO.
P.S. - Building a car is a much bigger money pit than buying. You don't want to know what I paid for my car but you can go racing for $10k plus $5k/year.
My times at many tracks are at the very front of the pack for T2 (1:24s at Summit and 2:13s at VIR Full) - and converting my car to T2 spec would be less than $3K at this point (redoing the cage, a little safety equipment, and a few other minor things). Even if I chose another series, I'd still have to fork out a considerable investment, although I'd save on consumables. I also don't have the luxury of time or money to maintain a racecar, afford the expenses of getting it to and from the track, and trying to manage having a daily driver as well.
Given that I'm repeating myself here, I think I've pretty much answered my own dilemma.
Ha, you can take those 1:24 DE times at Summit and toss them right out the window when race time comes. Sure, that might get you at the front of the grid, but then you have to try and get a good start, go into most turns 2/3 wide and stay on track. There is NO 'easy' lap where you can regroup, you are on 10/10ths the WHOLE time for the entire session. There is no hang back and wait until the next turn to pass, you pass when you can, as soon as you can. You are ALWAYS looking in those mirros for that supercharged whatthefuckever is about to pass you and put you into the grass. The WILL NOT wait until you see them and toss a hand out the window.
If the real problem is $$$ then fine, I can understand that. If you have fell out of love w/ cars, fine, I can understand that, but don't for one second think that b/c your DE times are equal to race times that you will just come out for the races and dominate and be bored that just won't fly, as it will not be the case. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide.