Mazdeuce does One Lap

docwyte wrote: It cost you more than that. You're not including the required set of tires you had to buy from the Tire Rack. You should also have a line item for the required helmet and drivers suit. You also may want to add a (discretionary) line item for any parts you added to the car for the event, like brake pads etc. Once you add in those other bits I think you'll find the number to exceed $8k...

We'll, there's also depreciation on the car, and possibly an added insurance cost for an extra type of coverage for a short amount of time.

But those are either hard to quantify or considered to be 'non-incremental'.

Problem is many of us have already paid for or would buy anyway things like tires, pads, helmet, suit, etc, and then it becomes a depreciation game rather than initial cost game. Just sayin' if you want to make the budget 100% fair. Personally, I'm ok with the estimate.

When I decided to do One Lap I had never driven on a proper track. I had the V, a helmet, and a couple years autocross experience. These costs will vary a LOT depending on your experience level, the car, and what safety gear you already own.
$1500 for three NASA track weekends. Entry for these is a touch over $300 and after gas and hotel they cost me about $500 each.
$1100 for 18x9.5 wheels which let me run a square 275 tire setup.
$1200 for my first set of tires, Hankook RS3's mounted and balanced.
$1200 for my Bridgestone RE71R's that I did the event with. However I got a 25% discount because they were used on the event so the total was only $930.
$315 for a new set of brake pads.
$540 for a fire suit. More than necessary for One Lap, but proper for any other racing I will do.
$895 for a Simpson R3 HNR that works somewhat with stock seat belts. Not perfect, but the best option, and well worth it.
$100 Nomex gloves.
$300 vinyl cutter and vinyl.
$25 road triangles.
$80 fire extinguisher and mount.
$200 in extra oil and memory cars and odds and ends.
Let's add that up!
$7185
This is what it took me, in my car, to be where I wanted to be the day I left for South bend. Add in the $2763 that the event cost and I'm out $9947 that I wouldn't have spent if I stayed at home and watched TV.
I told Mrs. Deuce it was gong to cost me $10k when we first sat down and talked about it.

In reply to docwyte:

Bloody hell doc, you gotta give a man a couple of minutes to add things up.

The tires need to be included as you have to buy them. Doesn't matter whether you need them or not. You need to buy them from Tire Rack specifically so you can compete in One Lap.

Some people may not have suits (or helmets) so that cost needs to be considered. For instance I didn't have a suit and had to buy one before One Lap..

Lots of people are interested in competing in One Lap and leaving out the required tire purchase and safety equipment out of the budget makes it seem like it costs less than it really does.

LOL! We were typing at the same time. Huge apologies!

And yes the depreciation game gets silly, which is why I didn't try. The new tires have probably 60% of life left, hell, the old RS3's are still in the garage with at least a half a season of autocrossing left in them. I'll pull the new pads off and put the old 65% pads back on for street driving and swap again for any track stuff. The safety gear is currently being used for the NASA time trial that I'm doing and it enables me to hop right into a LeMons team if the opportunity presents itself. If I were to do it again next year in the same car, prep costs would simply be a new set of tires.

mazdeuce wrote: And yes the depreciation game gets silly, which is why I didn't try. The new tires have probably 60% of life left, hell, the old RS3's are still in the garage with at least a half a season of autocrossing left in them.... ...If I were to do it again next year in the same car, prep costs would simply be a new set of tires.

It could be even less, depending on your comfort. If you look closely at the tire rules, the previous year's marked tires are allowed back in. However, this is might have been part of what got the Dublers this year. So, if you were comfortable with the risk of attempting another year on the 60% left on the RE71R's, then your prep costs would be $0.

The Dubler's issue this year had nothing to do with the tires being a year old. Those HHR's have been driven hard for several years, banged thousands of curbs and generally abused. The suspension failure was not tire related. The past sidewall damage was from under inflation and I finally managed to get them to put air in their tires.

Brock2 wrote: The Dubler's issue this year had nothing to do with the tires being a year old. Those HHR's have been driven hard for several years, banged thousands of curbs and generally abused. The suspension failure was not tire related. The past sidewall damage was from under inflation and I finally managed to get them to put air in their tires.

Sorry Brock; should have been more specific that I was referring to their tire change in Denver. Thought I recalled Amanda mentioning (in reference to the change) that their tires were '14's... in addition to the under-inflation.

Brock is right, they beat on those poor little cars. I'm a little surprised they last as well as they do, but they seem to be an excellent choice for that crew. And that brings up my next topic, what's next?
I want to do this again. I have a little bit of a hard time thinking I can make it an annual thing, but I would love to. Maybe every other year? Maybe when the stars align? In any case, what to drive?
The V was amazing. An incredible car for eating miles. Always comfortable. Fast. Good looking. What's not to like? But that's the problem, I do like it. I like it too much to drive it hard. I could do it again and drive at about the same 7 to 8/10, but I feel like I'd be missing out if I did that. I think I'd want something different.
The best thing we could come up with on the 17 hour drive home is a 2010 Camaro SS with Z28 suspension and aero. The cars are trading for less than 20k now, and they're common as dirt. I don't have any emotional attachment to them at all, other than acknowledging that they might be a good tool. The best part? They can (I read) fit a 315 square setup. If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that rubber is king, and the Camaro fits a lot of rubber.

I don't hate Brock any more. In fact, I want to hang out with him again as soon as I can figure out how to make it work.

BTW, the CTS-V is one of favorite cars. Great comfy choice. http://www.ridelust.com/2011-cadillac-cts-v-wagon-ridelust-review/

Well, unless you're really familiar with all the tracks you won't be going much over 8/10ths no matter what car you're in.

Best bet is to look at the categories and try and pick a car that'll be competitive in that class. Then decide how far you're going to prep the car for the track, with the realization that every track mod you do takes away from the highway transit civility of the car.

I really wanted to enter my LS 951 in Vintage Foreign this year, but my co driver and I couldn't swing the ~$6000 it'd cost to run it.

Hopefully I'll be able to run it in the next few years...

Dragging you into this stupid hobby is all my fault. I'm glad your wife still lets us hang out...

Brock - if one were so inclined, could One Lap be done in a Morgan 3 wheeler?

In reply to birkenstockguy:

You're an idiot, but if Brock somehow allows it, I'm first in line for right seat.

docwyte wrote: Well, unless you're really familiar with all the tracks you won't be going much over 8/10ths no matter what car you're in.

This is what will get me into trouble if I see that next years is going to be East Coast and be at VIR and NJMP as i am comfortable running those tracks at speeds faster then any Malibu should ever go.

This is on my bucket list and am hoping to do it with my Dad before he gets too old.

SWMBO understands this but is hopeing for me doing it later rather then sooner.

docwyte wrote: Well, unless you're really familiar with all the tracks you won't be going much over 8/10ths no matter what car you're in.

I will gladly drive anyone's car at 11/10ths on track FOR FREE! A bargain at twice the price!

In reply to Fr3AkAzOiD:

There were quite a few father/son/dauther pairs st One Lap this year. It looked like a pretty special time. I'm hoping that a couple of my kids want to do it with me someday.

In reply to birkenstockguy:

Bring it. It may not be the smartest choice, but it has to more comfortable than a Ariel Atom for the week.

Brock2 wrote: In reply to birkenstockguy: Bring it. It may not be the smartest choice, but it has to more comfortable than a Ariel Atom for the week.

Well, at least I have the rest of the year to plan this hare-brained idea....looking forward to seeing next year's route.

mazdeuce wrote: In reply to Fr3AkAzOiD: There were quite a few father/son/dauther pairs st One Lap this year. It looked like a pretty special time. I'm hoping that a couple of my kids want to do it with me someday.

I can tell you that doing the Targa as a husband/wife team is a great bonding experience. I'll bet One Lap is the same.

mazdeuce wrote: The best thing we could come up with on the 17 hour drive home is a 2010 Camaro SS with Z28 suspension and aero. The cars are trading for less than 20k now, and they're common as dirt. I don't have any emotional attachment to them at all, other than acknowledging that they might be a good tool. The best part? They can (I read) fit a 315 square setup. If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that rubber is king, and the Camaro fits a lot of rubber.

Would a late model v6 camaro with this much grip be effective in One Lap?

Sure sounds like a good DD option.

I've driven a current (now last-gen?) v6/manual camaro and while it's not a bad car, it's not a particularly good one. The interior seems to be less ergonomic then the 4th gens in some ways and it actually doesn't feel particularly sporty, although im sure there are a million fixes for that. As far as pure track times with huge traction im sure it's actually quite good, but there are probably still more entertaining ways of buying your way to a track time for the same money.

Keith Tanner wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: In reply to Fr3AkAzOiD: There were quite a few father/son/dauther pairs st One Lap this year. It looked like a pretty special time. I'm hoping that a couple of my kids want to do it with me someday.

I can tell you that doing the Targa as a husband/wife team is a great bonding experience. I'll bet One Lap is the same.

CAN be a great bonding experience. Can also be a fast road to marital wreck. Depends on the couple.

The final piece of One Lap came in the mail today. Every team gets a yearbook about the event. We ordered a second so that we can each have one. Pictures, stories, the whole event is laid out very well. We're featured in just one photograph, the drag race. I want to believe there is a sliver of air under that front tire, because that would be awesome, even though I know there isn't.
The lack of photos or stories about us reflects the fact that we were minor players in an exciting event. We finished back in the pack, didn't crash and weren't involved in any shenanigans, just the way we planned it. The book is coming home with me at Christmas to show the families. I like to share this craziness that I'm involved in.
I desperately want to do the event again, but it's just not in the cards right now. This whole stay at home dad thing comes with some compromises, and not being gone for a week is one of them. Five years? Seven? I will do it again, but it has to fit in with my life and not be a major disturbance to it. In the mean time my co-driver and I are going to try and do at least one interesting thing a year with the car. We're signing up for the Big Bend Open Road Race this year in the "slow enough you don't need a cage" class. We'll sign up within minutes of registration opening and hope to get accepted.
In the meantime I'll just keep hauling the kids to school and hitting a couple of autocrosses a year.
If anyone wants to message me about One Lap, please feel free. It really is one of the best things you can do in a car.

I'm sorry I didn't think to give this advice earlier. One of the best ways to 'get in the book' is to write up your story on your own (hence the pleading emails from Steve Rossini to send them in).

I'd be glad to help you put your own book together... based on the photos I have; and gleaning info from the thread here. Pulling that together in time for Christmas might be a bit tough. I usually use Adorama for that, and I think there on a bit of a delay with getting things printed, what with the holiday crush.