In reply to frenchyd :
I kind of like the chaos of it, but there really isn't that much. Race officials are good at drilling into peoples heads that it's an endurance race. We've only had one incident in 5 years, and it wasn't a major one. A little banging with a hammer and 15 minutes later we were back on the track.
NHMS there are 100+ cars at a LeMons event, so it's busy. I think doing it has greatly increased my spatial awareness.
I really wish I wasn't in the literal middle of Canada and knew of some more friends that would want to build a car for LeMons racing, and the races weren't so far away.... One day maybe. For now I'll live vicariously through everyone else here.
DjGreggieP said:I really wish I wasn't in the literal middle of Canada and knew of some more friends that would want to build a car for LeMons racing, and the races weren't so far away.... One day maybe. For now I'll live vicariously through everyone else here.
A group of us in Saskatoon ran a few years of Chump races in Edmonton, using a pair of Integras.
Gimli is not a very long drive from Yorkton. Take a tent and some sandwiches, and you will fit right in. Pack a bunch of perogies, and you'll be their new best friend. High end cars in Manitoba look very much like crap can racers at the best of times...(Sorry, Manitobans) Go introduce yourself at the track. Ask for George from England who owns the GT5 1200 Datsun. If he's not around, somebody else will need your help.
It's as good a way to start as any.
DjGreggieP said:I really wish I wasn't in the literal middle of Canada and knew of some more friends that would want to build a car for LeMons racing, and the races weren't so far away.... One day maybe. For now I'll live vicariously through everyone else here.
You can use "OK, stupid" to find a team for an arrive and drive. I highly suggest you try it out first before embarking on a build.
Streetwiseguy said:DjGreggieP said:I really wish I wasn't in the literal middle of Canada and knew of some more friends that would want to build a car for LeMons racing, and the races weren't so far away.... One day maybe. For now I'll live vicariously through everyone else here.
A group of us in Saskatoon ran a few years of Chump races in Edmonton, using a pair of Integras.
Gimli is not a very long drive from Yorkton. Take a tent and some sandwiches, and you will fit right in. Pack a bunch of perogies, and you'll be their new best friend. High end cars in Manitoba look very much like crap can racers at the best of times...(Sorry, Manitobans) Go introduce yourself at the track. Ask for George from England who owns the GT5 1200 Datsun. If he's not around, somebody else will need your help.
It's as good a way to start as any.
That's the plan for next year with the Intrepid, or the BMW maybe. I've made the drive to Gimli once to watch, I believe I met George, didn't get a chance to really talk to him as he was thrashing on someone else's VW at the time. I did meet a guy with a formula 4 that let me sit in it and that was awesome, and I know Ian and Brooke decently enough. It's definitely what I want to do. I'll probably run in the 'Time Attack' when I am able to, but w2w looks like a lot of fun as well.
DaveEstey said:In reply to frenchyd :
I kind of like the chaos of it, but there really isn't that much. Race officials are good at drilling into peoples heads that it's an endurance race. We've only had one incident in 5 years, and it wasn't a major one. A little banging with a hammer and 15 minutes later we were back on the track.
NHMS there are 100+ cars at a LeMons event, so it's busy. I think doing it has greatly increased my spatial awareness.
I assume you've had a steady bunch of guys to race with if only one incident in 5 years? That seems to be the trick.
When I went to Chump Car events I noticed a marked higher level of skill over the LeMons events I attended. Maybe Skill isn't exactly the right word(?) perhaps I should have said situational awareness? Or just doing the right thing under the conditions.
Back when I built my first $500 Chumpcar I made the mistake of reading the rules and figuring a way to beat them. Legally. Then I called their tech inspector to confirm something on the rollcage and found out about penalty laps and crushing cars.
Now the rules are all spelled out with points assigned to performance enhancers. And crushing cars has gone away. So once again I want to go racing.
In reply to frenchyd :
Yup same team for all 5 years. Two of us are race instructors and the other 3 get instruction haha. They've all gotten WAY faster though.
In reply to DaveEstey :
That's the nature of development. Both legal ( ok Gray area ) and flat out cheating comes with development. Plus experience. Finding out that limit, the line that works for that type of handling. Rejetting carbs or rewritten programs to pull a little better/power/mileage/ etc. Learning weaknesses and crutches, work arounds.
The advantage of having multiple drivers on the same car. A good crew chief will spot areas of potential gain individual drivers don't see. Then combining the best of each driver to advance the whole team.
Since it's based on cheap old cars rather than new most entrants won't see those opportunities Opportunities that professionals take for granted but work just as well in these series. In fact better because they aren't already used.
In reply to frenchyd :
Yeah I've grown a lot as the team captain. I used to let things fall as they may. Now I have a talk with each driver leading up to their stint.
In reply to DaveEstey :
Exactly. Who does your mechanical work? Body work? Race prep?
I used to do all that but the part I found hardest was record keeping. Keeping track of suspension setting for a given track as well as gearing.
Then on top of that keeping all that tuning data. I see that level of record keeping in Formula 1 racing and extreme high level endurance racing. LeMans Daytona etc but it could be a serious advantage to the first who adapt it
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