$500 Cars Racing at Nelson Ledges, Garrettsville, Ohio

[Usedcarracer]

Anyone familiar with this LEGENDARY road course should know how much fun it is to race here! There are two races scheduled as of now -- the first is April 24th - 25th, and the second is September 4th - 5th, 2010. Both races are at Nelson Ledges Road Course and you can find out more or register for the event at http://www.usedcarracing.com! We hope to see you there!

[TireSmoker]

I would love to do something like this. Are these real 24 hr events like LeMons was last summer?

-Dave

[Fred32v]

If a guy had a GTP setting around,
this would be a great reason to put it back into service.

[Basement Paul]

Pretty sure this is just an advertisement and not a return poster. Still kind of cool though.

-BP

[MostMint]

Been thinking about road racing a little lately and this came up.

Here is a really cool video from the event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Z9Jk4s ... re=related
There are a whole bunch more if you look.

I read the rules and there is going to be a significant investment to get the car set up (needs a roll cage to exacting specifications, fire extinguisher, fire retardant clothes, Snell SA rated helmet, professional seat belts, a safety kill switch, completely welded exhaust, plus whatever else you want do to the car).

Then you are in for a $500 entry fee plus $100 for each driver and another $50 each driver for licenses.

For now I think the next step is to get some track time with my Camaro. A guy at work organizes a day at Nelson Ledges for a cost of $150 or less per person, depending on the # of participants. It's not racing, more like test 'n tune, and they have a lot of rules to reduce risk (I am not expecting any fender rubbing or use of the chrome horn), but you can stretch the car out.

That is where I will start.

[TireSmoker]

That video is great! How could any gearhead not wanna do this?? And the Buick (!!) demonstrates what a wide range of vehicles are capable of being run.

I would love, Love, LOVE to do something like this, especially with you guys, and am willing to put in the effort required to make it happen. But it does take quite a bit of work to get something together. But just imagine how fun a 24hr endurance race would be!! If you go and spectate at one of these races, you'll get the idea real fast of how fun it could be. VeeDub, myself, and a few friends were at the 2009 event at Nelson.

You're absolutely right about the initial investment with rollcage and safety equipment, etc. That does present a barrier to entry. But driving suits and helmets are either 1) a 1-time expense or 2) rent-able.

I know after I did my track day in the Cobalt that I was hooked and am dying to try more road course type stuff. You make a good point about wheel-to-wheel versus time-trial-test-n-tune. When I did my event at Mid-Ohio, in my beginners class, you were only allowed to pass on the pit-straight or back-straight. No passing in the corners or under braking.

Keep us posted on the Nelson track days. I'm interested for sure.

-Dave

[MostMint]

OK so now the wheels are starting to turn. Anyone else interested in this? We'll need a minimum of four drivers.

Right now I would say someone who can fabricate the safety cage is probably key to keeping the cost of this under control. (Calling Racin Jacin)

The first step will be putting a plan together and estimating the cost for setting up the car and running the first race. I'll need to know the cost before I start on this insanity.

Since most cars are going for $300-350 for scrap value I'll need to check with these people to figure out what has to be included in the $500 limit. I know all the safety gear does not count toward the limit.

[TireSmoker]

If you're seriously interested, some friends have an early 80s Toyota Supra already caged for this kind of racing -- its even an event winner! (2007, Lime Rock Michigan event). And I'm pretty sure it could be had for cheap. Needs a motor, although they were considering a GM v6 swap if they were to keep it going. That's probably a little more inline with our collective skill set. Just throwing the idea out there..

I had some initial conversations with them a few months back and I think the car is still available. I believe a few hundred would get it.

-Dave

[Fred32v]

Too many corners for me, but I'd be glad to assist in an advisory capacity, maybe helping with machanical stuff.
Anyway I'd come to watch.

[MostMint]

I had thought about finding a car with that work already done. Is it stick shift or automatic?

I have a 350 Chevy with throttle body I paid $100 for. It has the computer and all. Can we shoe horn it into the car?

I'm also thinking I got the Trans Am for free so maybe we could put that 350 in it and scrape up a junkyard trans. Then we'd need the fab work done for the cage.

Would Fred32v be willing to give us garage space to keep the car?

[TireSmoker]

It's a stick. Not sure how well the small-block would shoe-horn in, plus figuring out a transmission solution. I guess it gets back to that fabrication issue. Car originally had a 2.8 I-6 for reference. I forget what's wrong with the current engine. I'll see if I can find out.

You sure you'd want to gut the T/A like that? I'm not sure dropping the TBI in that car would be a great idea, with all the fueling issues I've had with EFI on the Chevelle, unless 2nd-gen and 3rd-gen fuel tanks are swappable. Just sayin..

Fred: my position is to take all the help we can get, whatever help that would be!

I did some schedule checking and it looks like this year's event at Nelson is Oct 8-9, with an entry deadline of July 8. ChumpCar.com is the sanctioning body. http://www.chumpcar.com

The next closest race (by location) is either in South Haven, MI at Gingerman Raceway on July 16-17 or Summit Point, WV on April 16-17 -- they are both about 300 miles. 24HoursOfLemons.com is the sanctioning body for those two. http://www.24hoursoflemons.com

Directions to Gingerman

Directions to Summit Point

http://usedcarracing.com does not have 2011 schedule posted yet.

-Dave

[Fred32v]

Before jumping in with both feet, it seems to me that Mostmint's Firebird could be easily setup for a track day. Maybe a set of tires, power steering, and a gear change. On the off chance that there was some sheet metal damage, no harm would be do. If that's too big a task then the rest is not realistic. Once a track day has been experienced more decisions can be made, like roll bars etc..

[MostMint]

I'm not thinking the T/A is a collectors item. In fact I was considering putting it on a "diet" anyway to shave off a few more tenths

I could also wimp out and put a carb on it. If the old style HEI works I could use that also.

[MostMint]

Before jumping in with both feet, it seems to me that Mostmint's Firebird could be easily setup for a track day. Maybe a set of tires, power steering, and a gear change. On the off chance that there was some sheet metal damage, no harm would be do. If that's too big a task then the rest is not realistic. Once a track day has been experienced more decisions can be made, like roll bars etc..

I like this line of thinking - something to consider seriously.

Looking at the used car racing website, last year's winner ran 862 laps. Almost all the cars had best times in the 1:26-1:30 range. There were only 13 cars in their event last September.

2 minutes per lap you would complete 30 laps per hr. For 22 hours you complete 660 laps which would be 9th.
1:45 per lap you would complete 34 laps per hr. For 22 hours for total of 754 laps which would be 7th.


I assume over the course of 24 hrs you would lose 2 hrs in refueling, switching drivers, anything else that breaks. That is 5 minutes per hour which might be aggressive.

Speaking of fuel, finishing 800 laps is 1600 miles. You are racing so if you get 10 mpg thats 160 gallons. We'll need a plan to get all that fuel to the track - probably multiple trips to the gas station, assuming a 24 hr service station is nearby.

[TireSmoker]

Looking at the used car racing website, last year's winner ran 862 laps. Almost all the cars had best times in the 1:26-1:30 range. There were only 13 cars in their event last September.

I'm pretty sure that's an anomaly, not the norm, although possibly due to the fact that they changed the date, and also that they finally held it on Labor Day Weekend. At the '09 event, there had to be 40-50 cars, and I'm pretty sure that's more typical.

-Dave