DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Daytona 500 time changed for today...7 PM

Yes! Do a CHUMP/LeMons car! The races are so fun! If you don't build one for the October race at Nelson, you're welcome to come out and spectate or be our teams chef, or wrench on the car, whatever.

Sweet! I'm so all over that... one way or another :-)


Did I read the rules right in that the only real rule is that the car has to be under $500 value, lol??


Any idea what the safety gear runs (roll cages, etc..)??

Gotta have a rollcage, 1 piece seat, fuel cell, a few other things...there is no price limit on safety items, so you can buy higher end tires and brakes.

I sent my husband a link to this thread, hopefully he'll chime in with cost info. I have no idea. Otherwise, I'll ask him in the morning.

::contemplates taking a stroll down to Pearl Road Auto Parts tomorrow and looking at clunkers::

Do it! (just picture me as the little devil on your shoulder, and ignore any angel that might show up) and grab a few friends to drive and have fun too, it helps to spread out the cost.

Been wanting to head up there anyway to look for a rolling frame/body for a rat rod, anyway, lol

This actually is super cool.

I may have to revive the old race track in Hawaii and start this.

Give me the info on the LeMons race in October. Maybe I'll work it in to a trip back to see family.

Who? Me?

The race series in October is ChumpCar at Nelson Ledges Road Course .

Between those two sites, you should be able to find most info about the event. If you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Oh, ok.

I wouldn't skimp on safety gear. If it's a common car that's been used in any sort of racing, you can probably find a pre-fabricated bolt in cage starting around $750. Pick up a copy of Grassroots Motorsports magazine at any bookstore/newsstand and you'll find plenty of ads for cage builders. If it's for something a little less common, then you'll have to get a custom cage which usually go for 1200 to 1500. The other option is to fabricate one yourself If you know someone who can do pipe bending and welding. I wouldn't build a cage any less than the standards that the SCCA uses, and you can find that here:http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/2012GCR-updatedMarch.pdf (Appendix I)

I know it's expensive, but the most valuable piece of safety equipment should something happen. I would (and do) build to exceed SCCA specs with adding extra large cage plates for the feet and extra braces and gussets at all the joints.

You will also need a 1 piece seat. Personally, I like Kirkey seats. And you can fabricate custom mounts to adjust for different drivers (we're not all short and skinny like Juan Pablo, AJ Almendinger or Mark Martin.)

Beyond that will be your own personal safety gear. You can almost always find closeout sales on suits and helmets. Make sure the suit meets current SFI standards and that the helmet you purchase is at minimum an SA2005 snell rating. Another piece to seriously consider is a HANS (or comparable) device.

So, now that you have everything so you if you do wind up upside down and on fire, you'll be protected, you won't be trapped in the car because your seat came loose and your head is still attached to your neck, beyond that is where the fun starts. Whatever you buy, I'd seriously recommend you get something that's running as a daily driver and is nearly 100% rust free. Finding that car will be difficult in northeast Ohio, so you may want to look for one in less severe climates. We lucked into the Jetta as even though it had over 240,000 miles on it, it was still a daily driver and lived in a garage it's entire life.

Look into the rules of Lemons and Chumpcar and you can decide to run one or the other (or both). Lemons seems to be more geared to "the experience" as teams show up in crazy costumes and themes. There's a set of wacky penalties in place to keep anyone from really getting too serious about it and keeps everyone in check. After all, how serious can it be racing old clunkers. Chumpcar on the other hand seem to be more geared toward the racing. But with the lax in penalties, it also opens up the door for more "bad" things to happen should they go wrong. I'm pretty comfortable in ChumpCar because of my racing experience, but emphasizing speed in a field of less experienced drivers in some questionably built cars worries me to some extent. If you're just starting out with a batch of fresh rookies, I would run Lemons events (note I didn't call them races) first...

What else?

Just clicking Smokey

If anyone is interetsed in making an old Volvo their chump car/lemon car let me know and I will put you in contact with my fatherinlaw(kind of) he has a Volvo repair shop and scrap yard right up the street from me in Rootstown/Ravenna. Hes got some stuff sitting in their with some pretty decent stock performance.

KING

I talk to Carl and/or Mark on a weekly basis...