HRG at Limerock

[wendell]

1:03 is hot. I was super impressed with the Miata spec racers. I completely agree about handling. A 550hp 3300lbs camaro is not the fastest way around the track at all. What company? We were in the sunocco padox with most of the Miatas. Maroon/yellow 68 camaro. Best lap was 1:04 flat.

[CFster]

Southern Auto Auction Motorsports. We have a red 90 with white stripes and a white 95 with red stripes. Numbers 52 and 53.

Did you see BSI's trailer? They had 5 identically prepared Pro Miatas - all bright orange. They spend about as much as anyone has on a Miata. The guy who runs it - Stu, once borrowed one of our PPFs (power plant frame - a brace that holds the trans and rear together) down at VIR. He said, "can we borrow your PPF for this race?". Well, we were done with that one particular car at the time so we said ok. Then a crew of guys descended on our car and had the thing out in seconds - it was something to watch. We got a new one in the mail a week later. The Miata guys are pretty good about doing each other favors like that.

Anyway, we aren't in the Pro series. We raced in SM and SSM on Saturday. Interestingly, the Pro series Miatas were turning slower lap times - because they were running the Hankook tires - they're crap compared to the Toyos we run. Almost a full second slower. But the guys who race the Pro series are hardcore racers - a few of those guys are from the Speed Touring, or Grand Am Cup series. They're pretty aggressive on track.

But we have fun in our Regional classes - lots of competition on our level - we actually finished 4th on the first Saturday race. And the fields can get huge - I've seen over 40 cars before.

It's a great series (Spec Miata), because it really hones your driving talent. Because they have no freekin horsepower, you learn to carry a lot of speed through corners where you ordinarily wouldn't. Our lead driver only brakes in 2 spots on the whole track now. Going into turn one and turn two. The rest of the track is either flat or a slight lift - even the uphill at the end of No Name Straight. You point the car right at the flag stand and pray!

Lots of fun!

[wendell]

I only saw the PRO racing sunday. The BSI trailer was out of control. There was a swarm of orange Miatas. King Rat had a pretty serious set up as well. I'm interested in the Miata club racing, got a link?

Still haven't had a chance to up load pics but they're coming. Here's a taste.

[Steve Chryssos]

More!

[wendell]

tease:
the GT350 sounded and ran like a jet powered slot car. The red and white vette is packing a ZL1. The blue one is really fast. The black 'stang is show car beautiful.

[CFster]

I only saw the PRO racing sunday. The BSI trailer was out of control. There was a swarm of orange Miatas. King Rat had a pretty serious set up as well. I'm interested in the Miata club racing, got a link?

Still haven't had a chance to up load pics but they're coming. Here's a taste.

Spec Miata

[wendell]

CFster,
The spec miata class look fairly accessible. Any idea what the Mazda Speed kit costs? Whats a used spec racer go for? Thanks for the link. I'm real intrested in gaining experience in a low cost class ASAP.
Jensen

[Salt Racer]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I might sell my Riviera sometime. Track days are fun and everything, but I think I'd rather go real racing.

Buick will never be a competitive race car (and I don't want to make it look like a race car), and Spec Miata or NASA's CMC seems to be fairly reasonable and accessible.

But then again, it's fun to try out my own suspension designs which you really can't do within the rules of those budget racing series. Wish I had money to keep the Buick and still go racing. Tough dilemma...

[CFster]

CFster,
The spec miata class look fairly accessible. Any idea what the Mazda Speed kit costs? Whats a used spec racer go for? Thanks for the link. I'm real intrested in gaining experience in a low cost class ASAP.
Jensen

I believe when we purchased ours a few years ago they were around $1200. That's a suspension package that includes coil over shocks and front and rear swaybars. If you have a later 1.8L car (vs. the 1.6s) you need to run a restrictor plate behind the throttle body that they supply.

We actually got a good deal on our cars. One we paid $2500 for - then bought another, then another two that had hard tops. Took the hard tops off the other two and sold them. It was easy for us - we're a wholesale auto auction!

Then we put new engines in them, and just about everything else you can think of. We spent way more than the average Miata racer. It really isn't necessary to go racing.

What does a finished car cost? I've seen them go for 10K to over 30K. It's becoming really popular.

But in any event, sometimes the hard part is finding the hard tops. They're becoming nonexistant.

The Spec class runs shaved Toyo RA1s - which you can get from Vilven Tire. The wheels that almost everybody is running are the Team Dynamics II's. They're lightweight - but I believe they have to be over 13lbs by the rules though. You need to run stock brakes - though everybody runs Hawk Blue pads front and rear. The drivetrain has to be stock, stock, stock. They've caught guys running illegal cams and cam gears. You can have a rebuilt engine, and though the rules say you can't have it blueprinted, I don't know how in the hell anybody would know.

Then you have to have the proper safety equipment of course - and make sure you get the lowdown on the roll cages. There is currently a debate going on about what's legal and what isn't with certain roll cages. Don't get caught in the same trap we did - we had to change ours after the fact. Get a SCCA rule book and study it. Then talk to a tech inspector with the book in your hand.

To get into racing you'll need to get a racing license from an SCCA school. You can use your Miata for track time. They send you out in sessions and watch you. Then they verbally abuse you in front of everybody in the classroom - picking apart everything you did wrong.

You can also rent cars from places like BSI. You rent the car - usually by placing a call, and faxing back an agreement with a deposit. Then all you have to do is show up at the track - they'll be there with the car, mechanics and spares.

Speaking of spares - the Toyos last an unusually long time. We can get several race weekends out of them. And we throw away tires that other teams would use for the rest of the season. The same goes for brakes - the're very easy on brakes.

We've run several endurance races - 6,8 or 10 hour races with no problems. These cars give new meaning to the term reliable. Think about it - you have to thash the engines to get any kind of speed out of them. You're constantly on redline. And they seem to take it no problem for an entire day. We used to have a big enclosed trailer with all kinds of spare parts - we were like BSI, people were coming over asking us to borrow stuff. Then we realized we didn't need to be lugging all that stuff around, so we use a suburban, a pickup and two lightweight aluminum trailers. All we need.

[wendell]

Sold. Where do I sign up?! It's good to here that the class is in fact affordable. After seening some of the big outfits like BSI I was wondering just how deep the money pit was. From what I've heard, rule number one in racing is buy a car, DON'T build a car. Does this hold true for the Miatas? I'd be doing all the work my self.

Thanks alot for the information, I imagine there are a few other people on this site that are lurking and starting to keep an eye out fora Miata.
J