Sounds good, but all spec classes are NOT created equal. The two viable classes at my local track are Spec Miata, and Spec Neon. The average cost of an entry level, race prepped car for Spec Miata is around $10,000. Conversely, the cost of a similarly equipped Spec Neon is more like $3500 - $4000. Guess which class I chose?
Unfortunately, with my super-tight budget even a bargain price like $3500 might as well be a million. I needed another option - enter "The Project"
When I took my Driver's School to get my competition license, I got a LOT of help from a guy by the name of Greg. He rented his newly built Neon to me so that I'd have something to drive, and flat out let me borrow all of his personal safety gear. Race suit, helmet, gloves, the works. Borrowing that gear saved me close to $700.00. I can definitely say that without his help, I would still be trying to figure out how to get started.
I mentioned Greg's "newly built" car - that's important. You don't generally build up a new race car without a damn good reason. Unfortunately, Greg had a very good reason. His old Neon met a stationary Miata at about 60mph. The chassis is now about a foot shorter than it originally was and is basically useless.
Greg's original plan was to get a junk car with a good chassis and transfer his race engine and all the other the race goodies over to it. He bought the junk car, but before he got started swapping, he found a new race car that would require very little prep to get it on the track. He decided that was a better plan.
That left two junk Neons that needed a LOT of work to combine them in to one functioning race car. Perfect for someone with more mechanical ability and time, than money (read: Me). Greg and I worked out a very reasonable price, and they now both live in my garage.
Next Post: The Operating Room
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