Vintage racing—any racing—is serious business. I remember distinctly when I first started competing at vintage events: I was running the Mitty at Road Atlanta in my Formula Vee, and guys in Minis and Sprites were going by me at indecently fast speeds like I was a moving chicane. I was terrified. I …
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The world has change so much in vintage racing that I no longer recognize it.. Back in the early 70's I was able to be a front runner/ winner in a Devin Bodied car with a $1500 stone stock Chevy small block Target Master that had the hydraulic lifters pump up and float the valves at 5800 RPM.
By the late 70's that same car was mid-pack with 300 more horsepower and a whole lot of upgrades. Today, To be a front runner in that group requires massive budgets and the real dedicated approach you mentioned.
Cheap, fun, affordable racing can still be had but requires finding those little niches and low dollar events that have received little attention of the big budget crowd.
In reply to frenchyd:
Agreed, for example:
http://www.worldracingleague.org/
You can still find cheap racing but as mentioned you need to shop carefully. I run top 5 overall in my group and could duplicate the car for about $5000-$6000 (dependent on deals found). Now I do realize that I'm a better than average driver so some of the lap time is down to me, an average driver would probably be around 10th-12th in the car but as the Tim's 09 article pointed out some coaching would close the gap. (Note while finishing ahead of the likes of Elva and Lotus sports racers feeds the ego I suspect that if I owned a Lotus 23 I might be less agreessive with it as well)
Here's the rub I run GT-Lite (the vintage version) becuase it's a more open class then then C-Sedan. First C-Sedan in my area is not heavily subscribed nor really is GTL but in GTL I can mix annd match parts more freely thus cutting costs by thousands. In general the motor, brakes and suspension bits are less stressed. Also by running GTL it puts me in a group where I race more for position. Granted I am racing against different class cars but I want to race for the top 5 overall.
Tires are the only thing I can't get around, those gummy Hoosiers are $800 a set and realistically will only be competitive for 3 weekends tops........granted that's a full race season for me. Once they go south they're my track day tires.
Now finally back to Tim's point there is indeed a great feeling of accomplishment when it all comes right and you run up front. This has to be especially so for Tim becuase he is so the wrong size to be a racing driver.........his center of gravity is way to high.
Tom
I loved this article when it first appeared and believe it still stands true. There's plenty of originations to race with here on the west coast. You just need to ask yourself, how much do I want to spend, how much time can I dedicate, and how far do I want to travel.
For me, it's alway about improving, whether that's lap times or car preparation, if I can measure the improvement, I'm happy. Race weekends are a family event, for the big races like the Rolex Monterey week, or Sonoma Vintage Festival, the idea of racing all day and celebrating after with the ones who support you all year with good wine and great food is priceless.
^ +10 to what Doug says...
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