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Any circle track racers?


351mach11647545510

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Columbus motor speedway is literally a mile away from me and I really want to get involved with it. I was thinking of getting into the crazy compact class initially just to get started on the cheap, but then trying to get into the super stock class. Looking for anyone currently into this to bounce some questions off of.
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i used to race. Started out with legends at shady bowl and Mansfield motor, then stepped up to the coors cup series right around when MMS started up grading the track and put all the "new" additional bleachers in around 2003-4?(right before the BUSCH series started coming). We ran 358 dry sump motors similar to what ARCA was running at the time but with different templates...but got out of circle track all together when MMS continued making spec changes to our class to try and attract more national attention.

 

anyways enough lamenting about my brief racing career, what kind of questions do you have?

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i used to race. Started out with legends at shady bowl and Mansfield motor, then stepped up to the coors cup series right around when MMS started up rading the track and put all the "new" additional bleachers in around 2003-4?(right before the BUSCH series started coming). We ran dry sump cars similar to what ARCA was running at the time but got out of circle track all together when MMS kept making spec changes to our class.

 

anyways enough lamenting about my brief racing career, what kind of questions do you have?

 

can you die in a dwarf car?

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can you die in a dwarf car?

 

Anything is possible, allthough your strapped in there so tight and that cage is so small it would be hard(assuming you didn't burn up or something). With that 900 or 600cc sitting inches behind you, youll likely go deaf than dead.

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Columbus motor speedway is literally a mile away from me and I really want to get involved with it. I was thinking of getting into the crazy compact class initially just to get started on the cheap, but then trying to get into the super stock class. Looking for anyone currently into this to bounce some questions off of.

 

different people might have different opinions(although i doubt it) but CMS is a shit hole with shit owners to boot. i think we ran there once maybe twice with the legends. That was enough for us.

 

Having only watch the compacts....its looks nutty as hell. I don't even know if i would consider it racing...its more like demo derby at higher speeds.

 

legends is relatively cheap to get into and provides a much better experience.

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lol, yes the people watching is phenomenal. i mean those people are there strictly for the racing... i think the dwarfs are closer to 1100cc or 1300cc...

 

Im 99% sure that you have to have at least 1 purple sock on to get into the shady bowl grandstands.

 

i'm not sure what the dwarfs run....wikipedia says 1200cc. DAMN. We ran 600's and swiched up right before they went to 900s! Man, maybe i should get back into it..

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Raced crazy compact for 2 years, it was a blast but a ton of work. Especially if you wanna race each weekend. People out there are idiots and wreck you alot! It gets expensive also. Time you buy your nascar license,a couple sets of hoosiers over the season, buy a car and do all the safety stuff to it.

 

But all in all it was a blast, just hard to be competitive with all the cheaters sometimes

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Raced crazy compact for 2 years, it was a blast but a ton of work. Especially if you wanna race each weekend. People out there are idiots and wreck you alot! It gets expensive also. Time you buy your nascar license,a couple sets of hoosiers over the season, buy a car and do all the safety stuff to it.

 

But all in all it was a blast, just hard to be competitive with all the cheaters sometimes

 

if you aren't cheating you aren't trying :p

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Yeah but they should be honest, its meant to be a budget competitive class. They mill the heads, different cam, tune, weld steel through rear beam to aid suspension rigidity, etc...

 

Really the rules are simple, stock motor, automatic, single cam max 2 valve per cylinder. only camber mods to right front wheel.

 

Alot is in the suspension and air pressures, getting the right amount of coils cut from springs, spring rubbers, brakes

 

its super fun and would do it again, but its just so hard to justify how easy the car can get totaled out there.

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Its extreamly helpful to have a few solid people who are willing to come out with you every weekend to help with the hot laps, qualifying and the actual race(expect to pay their pit pass). You make friends with other teams and set up next to each other. With the crazy compacts their cars were always beat to shit and there racing crew was the dudes pregnant wife.

 

you can buy full legend care set ups for probably 10-15k. Of course its helpful to know people who run legit garages who you can turn your car over for quick fixes/prep between races...We used a guy on the west side practically right next to CMS but i cant remember his name for the life of me.

Edited by Sturg
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Was it Jerry Buck?

 

 

I have been around that track my whole life and kind of took a break from it over the past few years. It is a very expensive hobby and takes up 100% of your free time.

 

Buy a cheap rwd car and set it up for some drifting. I will be renting out CMS 6 or more days this year for open drift days.

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Was it Jerry Buck?

 

 

Could have been..but i honestly have forgotten the name. Who evers' shop it was we had our trailer and wench "stolen" off their property and promptly stopped using them.

 

the guy did all sorts of circle track cars running in various leagues.

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OP heres my advise.

 

Take a long hard look at why you want to do this. Its a lot of time and potentially a lot of money to dedicate to one single hobby. The cars can't be used on the road and if you are get serious about it you eventually have to make a decision about going full time. traveling and all that come into play. In circle track racing the highest i would recommend going, on a hobby level, is legends, drawrfs or midgets.

 

Personally i have no affinity towards one type of racing over the other, but it seems to me that guys who do track days at mid ohio have the best of both worlds. Multiple classes, as much money as you want to spend, "race cars" can be street legal, and traditionally the most amount of damage taken will be self induced.

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You can find a used CMS compact car for 1500-2000, tires are around 380 for a set. Figure on going through 4-6 tires. The right front tire mainly will be the only one to replace. Most of those cars go through rear wheel bearings like its the cars job. Overall its not TOO expensive. Each weekend I used to spend about 100 bucks getting me and the wife through the gate and gas to and from the track. If you dont break or damage anything its a pretty fun and cheap hobby but I estimated to run full season at CMS around 5-800 bucks after the car and initial tire purchase.

 

Most everyone builds cavliers/sunfires. I my self will build a 2.0 gti next if I do a car.

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Yea, it's just for fun to get a taste for it. I don't have the time or money for another class at the moment. Just want to do a couple of races a season. Like I said, it's literally right down the road and would do my damnedest at a budget racer as far as car purchase and all the dumb stuff. Really don't care about it getting banged cause I'm expecting it. What type of speed range do you run and any suggestions on a good car for the class?
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Could have been..but i honestly have forgotten the name. Who evers' shop it was we had our trailer and wench "stolen" off their property and promptly stopped using them.

 

the guy did all sorts of circle track cars running in various leagues.

 

Well Jerry is right up the road and well known in the sport. He has won Nascar mechanic of the year several times and is a genious at chassis and suspension building. Probably was stolen...I know he has had an issue with theft many times at his place.

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everyone uses a cavalier and sunfire, parts are all over at pick and pull and the like. So repair is easy, and cheap.

 

If you do it right for about 2k you can get everything you need to be rolling. But that is buying everything for the right price and doing everything yourself.

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I have a 2001 Z24 car with no title I would like to sell... It is an auto car, but no engine or trans. I have Z24 wheels on the car and have spare steel wheels and other stuff too. it has some dings and dents for sure. It has a Manaflow exhaust on it now, but I'm sure you can find a junkyard exhaust. It is lowered, but could put a stock susp on it from my other car. I'm sure I could work with you depending on what you would need on it.
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