LADIES and Gentlemen Start Your Engines

[Meag]

My ultimate career goal would be getting to race in Nascar.. I hardly ever miss a race and I would love to do that above anything else, problem is, how on earth does one get there? I've heard all kinds of things about how I should start small and get a car to race anywhere and work my way up, but I can't afford a car right now. I have no idea what to do and I don't want to be about 90 by the time I would be racing.. any suggestions?

[southerner]

Nascar is discretely termed a car contact sport down here, little bit of nudging here and there. Great racing though. To get into it,I I would suggest getting in contact with the local dirt track club, and checking out the rules and regulations. Racing a car is a team effort you have the driver of course, but then you have the people swinging the spanners and driving the pusher/tow vehicle. Dont be put of by the comments "but your a girl". Your keen to do it, go out and show them. From what I have read and the photos I have seen of you, you afe a very unique girl who has heaps of personality and is definitely not an airhead and I have a suspicion that you dont sit around to see what happens, you make things happen.
Here in New Zealand we start of with C class which is basicly stock motor and none welded diff, and experience and money invested takes off from there. As I mentioned above The US dirt track clubs will have their own rules but they should'nt be all that different from ours because we copy nearly all of them anyway!

[MrMopar64]

Originally posted by southerner
Nascar is discretely termed a car contact sport down here, little bit of nudging here and there. Great racing though. To get into it,I I would suggest getting in contact with the local dirt track club, and checking out the rules and regulations. Racing a car is a team effort you have the driver of course, but then you have the people swinging the spanners and driving the pusher/tow vehicle. Dont be put of by the comments "but your a girl". Your keen to do it, go out and show them. From what I have read and the photos I have seen of you, you afe a very unique girl who has heaps of personality and is definitely not an airhead and I have a suspicion that you dont sit around to see what happens, you make things happen.
Here in New Zealand we start of with C class which is basicly stock motor and none welded diff, and experience and money invested takes off from there. As I mentioned above The US dirt track clubs will have their own rules but they should'nt be all that different from ours because we copy nearly all of them anyway!

All of the above.......... OR..... you could just find a boyfriend with a race car

MM64

[Stu Cool]

Meag,

Have you considered drag racing? It's a little easier to get started in than most forms of circle track racing because you can race your street car. You don't need a dedicated race car, tow vehicle, trailer etc to go racing. Most tracks offer some sort of bracket race where you can run what ya brung and have a chance to be competitive. It's a great way to get your feet wet in racing and meet some other folks who share your interest. Not wanting to focus on the gender thing, but there are a good number of women who are very successful in Drag racing all the way up to the highest levels of the sport.

One of the other suggestions I have is to drop into the local speed shop and hang out some and get to know folks.

Good luck with your dream!

Pat

[Dave Severson]

Not wanting to burst your bubble, Meag, but any form of circle track racing takes a bunch of money and a lot of work. Even a once a week race nite circle burner will eat up all your spare bucks and spare time. To be even mildly successful in racing takes big sponsorship money, or just be a "hired gun" who shows up at the track to do the driving on race nite.

If you're dead set on it, more power to you. Just wanted to put out a few of the hard truths about racin. If you just like the thought of competing in motorsports, Pat's post on bracket racing would be a very good choice.

[HWORRELL]

Well Meag it's a tuff deal,but not impossible, First ya gotta have seat time and lots of it,most of the young guns have been racing 5 nights a week since they where 5 years old starting in 1/4 midgets & go-carts, then advancing to mini sprints or IMCA or UMP modifieds by the time they're 12-14, then to late models or midgets & sprint cars by the time they are 16-18, O.K. now ya got some seat time but ya gotta be able to talk to the media & sponsers so ya gotta spend lots of time at the Dale Carnegie school, ( I help out an 19 year old driver thats as good as any body, but I don't think he'll ever make the big time cuzz he can't do an interveiw) Now ya can drive and talk but who do ya know ?,Gotta make contacts,ya gotta go meet and talk to car owners gotta let em know who you
are, plus ya gotta run up front all the time,make em start talkin bout ya, Gotta totally devote yourself to racin every minute of every day, Gotta miss holidays and birthdays and family functions, gotta eat bologna & beans so ya got gas money to get to the next show, ( I've seen Tony Stewart sleep in his car and hafta borrow gas money to get to the next midget race in his pre USAC & Nascar days) I started out in 1972 at Lakehill Speedway here in St.louis as did Kenny Schrader & Rusty Wallace, Both those guys Dads where racing legends and they had lots of help,knowledge,and contacts,Both of em TOP notch drivers but they had the other resources to go with it, (specially Schrader, That guy could talk anybody into anything) I spent 30 years as a short driver,made lots of sacrifices, could I have done it in the big time ? maybe at one point, but I'm not sure I coulda made the commitment it takes and then theres the age deal,if your past 30 chances are ya ain't gonna cuzz they want them youngsters, I know for a fact that theres hundreds of Saturday night drivers that are good as anybody in Nascar that'll never get a shot, But so what I wouldn't trade a single second of the memories or fun I had trying and neither would they. One of my last midget races last year it was cold and there was a poor turn out in the stands, the promoter called a drivers meeting and said guys only way we can put on a show is to cut the purse, wasn't a problem, everybody went out there and raced like it was a million to win.Hell we'd a raced for a bag of peanuts. So if thats what ya wanta do go for,but put everything ya got into it cuzz it will be a tough road.

[Stu Cool]

Meag,

Another thought, HWORRELL mentioned go carts. If there is a local cart track get out there and get the seat time. I do not have personal experience there, but I have seen some folks that are into that very seriously. Beacuse you can carry one around in the back of a truck your expenses can be a lot less than a car and you are still learning how to drive a race vehicle. And some of those carts are darn fast. It would be a good place to start and see if that's what you want to do.

Another thing to look into is one of the racing schools that are scattered around the country, there are schools for road racing, drag racing and circle tracks. Because they build a foundation with theory and help you develop fundamentals they really can reduce the time it takes to get experience. Often times they can help you with contacts too.

Pat

[Hot Rod Angel]

Originally posted by MrMopar64
OR..... you could just find a boyfriend with a race car

Why do that when you could drive the car yourself and bypass the whole boyfreind deal altogether???

You go girl! Drag racing would be cool, and maybe a bit easier to get into! If you get into the circle track circuit, you'll need a pit crew, so it might as well be chicks too! I'm sure Jerilynne, Sway & I could help ya out!

Don't pay any attention to the "you're just a girl" stuff. I get that all the time when I work on my Stude, but when they ask me questions about what's been done to it, I can answer everything that comes my way, cause I did it!

You can do it, and don't let anyone tell you any different !

[Jerilynne1965]

ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! You SAID it ANGEL!!! Meag...you've got an awful lot of inner drive...you're clearly highly intelligent..you've got street smarts, you hold on to information and process it well...yer a very fast learner....you're personable, you've got the added advantage of being extremely photogenic...hey I think you got everything you need! I don't happen to be as quick on the uptake as far as the mechanicals go...but I make a hell of a sandwich!!! So let me know if I can help crew yer team!!! An remember this cool saying..."It's never too late to BE what you might have been!"

[pro60chevy]

Meag, How far away from you is Star Speedway in Epping? It may not be called Star Speedway anymore though, it's been about 20 years since I've been there, but every time I go to the drags, I can hear them running around the track from there. It's just down the road a piece from New England Dragway. If it's not too far, it may be worth a trip to check them out. While you're in the area, stop by the drag strip and say HI, I'll more than likely be there.

[The Al Show]

There's also another circle track in Lee N.H. just a few miles north of Star speedway on rte.125.
In Maine we have the Oxford Plains speedway. They have one or two nascar races a year but if you want some real excitement and seat time they have two enduro races a year. You can race any old junker that will run. Winner gets $1000. The cars are usually three wide around 3/4 of the track before they start. After a few laps they spread out a little and the whole track is full. All it takes is a junk car. Anyone can enter. It's more like a rolling demolition derby but they don't hit as hard. You won't get discovered by a sponsor but you'll have a lot of fun.

[Hot Rod Angel]

Originally posted by Jerilynne1965
I don't happen to be as quick on the uptake as far as the mechanicals go...but I make a hell of a sandwich!!!

Hooray ! Now I don't have to cook! See Meag, I TOLD you Jerilynne was the a great choice for pit crew!

Look out Jeff Gordon...the NASCAR LIPSTICK DIVISION is in the house!

[Meag]

Originally posted by Hot Rod Angel
Hooray ! Now I don't have to cook! See Meag, I TOLD you Jerilynne was the a great choice for pit crew!

Look out Jeff Gordon...the NASCAR LIPSTICK DIVISION is in the house!

HELL YES! Ladies I do believe we will knock those Nascar boys out of their socks! Thank God at least one of us can cook. You girls are too kind! Drag racing already has plenty of chicks so now we have to take over Nascar. I have considered drag racing but only for fun.. Once I have the chance to put some work into a 68 Camaro

I want to be up there racing for Chevy with Dale Jr. I have dreams about winning the Daytona 500, getting out of the car and taking my helmet off and then... gasp! It's a woman! I have always wanted to do that so if I race and make it my career I'm going for the gold!

I actually passed Star Speedway by accident and had no idea there was a track that close.. I think it's about a half hour away, so I'll definety be going there

Go Karts are so much fun! I seem to have "braking issues" but this might not be a bad thing. We have a little track in Lawrence and they have a slippery one next to it where they put powder on the track so you slide.. that one is even better. I've made alot of trips there recently.

Oh man lol.. find a boyfriend with a race car? How about get a race car incase the boyfriend turns out to be like the last one Great idea for some but I'm the kind of girl who likes to rely on only myself to get ahead (and my lipstick division team of course)

I was trying to look up racing schools but I couldn't really come up with anything except one day courses. I'll keep looking though I would love to do that. I've been wanting to take courses at Wyotech because I want to know everything I possibly can about cars before I'm going to race them. Would that be a good decision for what I want to do? Maybe I could get a job test driving new cars after that and work on the getting to Nascar thing at the same time. It's very confusing! I appreciate everything you guys have told me thank you so much for the advice

[Stu Cool]

Not sure what you found on racing schools, but here are a few to peak your interest.

http://www.finishlineracing.com/

http://www.buckbaker.com/

http://www.drivetech.com/

http://www.skipbarber.com/

http://www.espnrussellracing.com/

I found these searching for "Racing School" at Google, there were a bunch more too.

Stand on it, and turn left!

Pat

[Meag]

Thank you so much those are very helpful