Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I searched and found an old old thread about the true costs of running a racesaver car for a season. I currently race two karts and spend anywhere between $100 and $150 a week on parts, travel, gate fees, etc. I have roughly $7K invested in the karts, and I am looking at trying to get a racesaver car for next year.

My questions: Do I really need to spend $10K on a motor just to turn laps and learn a sprint car? How old of a chassis is still useable? How much can I expect to spend each race night assuming I dont crash? Is it possible to be on track under $10K?

Thanks.

Nothing personal, but if you have to ask "HOW MUCH" than you cant afford it.  Besides when someone tells you this is what it costs, thats what it cost him.  That doesnt mean it is the same for everyone else.   Do your own research come up with a budget and then Double that bottomline number.  That is the reality of what it will cost you, YES DOUBLE IT.

You can race on whatever budget you want to.  If you want to get out and race, you can absolutely do it for $10k.  Don't let anyone tell you that you can't.  One question to ask yourself is if you will honestly be happy just being out there.  Many people want to be competitive right away or it doesn't take long just being out there and they want to be competitive.  If you are one of those 99%, then you need to research what kind of budget it takes to be competitive, not just be on the track.  I don't have experice being competitive, but I was the guy that just wanted to be out there, who became the guy who wanted to be competitve.  Still can't afford to, but still want to.  Don't let anyone tell you not to do it or that you can't do it.

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I'm not asking "HOW MUCH" to see how to pinch pennies. I'm asking how much I should be calculating for to get going. I realize the costs are different for everybody. I already race, I understand it takes money to be competitive. This question is part of my research to determine a budget.

I think for sprint cars, I just want to be out there. I dont even HAVE to race it every week, I have my karts for that. If I want to go race and save a little money, I can race the karts that week. I have no doubt that I will at some point want to be competitve, but I feel like I have plenty to learn before I would even be close to talented enough to need the big budget race winning program. I just want to have some fun and run a sprint car.

Ok realistically for the CAR ONLY no spares no trailer no extra parts with a fresh engine say 5 races on it and be competitive out of the gate 25 to 30 grand.  thats a complete car with tires and motor Built turn key wiht nothing else

For something that is SAFE $7,500-10,000 for a car. $3,000 in NEW safety gear. $7,000-13,000 for decent used engine.

There are some guys touting getting into sprint car racing for less than $10,000 all in, but that stuff is junk! Rear ends need to be freshened, steering gears need to be freshened, bearings need replacing in birdcages, wheel centers need to be looked at.  

Bare minimum to be a lead lap car in the feature with a capable driver would be between 12-15k (for just the car) if you find good deals. Join the group "Sprint Car Exchange" on Facebook. I think it's got close to 20k members now and its basically an online swap meet. You can find some good deals if you watch there long enough. 

I know people who have sunk more than 40k into a Racesaver car to give you some perspective. There are builders charging 20-25k for engines and for the guys who can afford it an extra 10-20 HP over the rest of the field is a huge advantage in a class that is so restricted.

I remember going to a 600 micro track and getting very excited about the classes.   I knew that people were sinking money into their cars, but I thought that maybe it was not all about the mighty dollar.   I then went into the pits and saw 30 foor Hot Shot rigs pulling a 40 foot trailer for a micro.   I was completely blown away.    I am sure that you have seen the same think in the karting world.   

While you have 10K in you whole sprint car operation, someone will have 10K in thier pit mule.   As others have said, it can be done for less money, but it is going to be very hard to be competivie or to enjoy the sport as you should. 

youll be spending in the $10k range for a used engine by a builder.

if you shop used parts (injection and ignitions) you can build one yourself under 10 

you could get a complete race ready racesaver in a car but the old rule of you get what you pay for is gonna come in hard there 

Where are you located? A guy named Josh Johnson nearly won a race last weekend at River Cities Raceway in a sprint car that he spend $2800 on TOTAL. Scroll down on the following link for more information.

https://www.facebook.com/Upper-Midwest-Sprintcar-Series-UMSS-109129537216

I'm in the same boat as you, looking to upgrade to a 305 this year. From what I can tell a decent roller can be had for around 5000-7000 if you shop around for deals. There are lots of buy/sell pages on facebook. If i guy has the ability to do it himself I think a decent engine could be built for under 6000, again shopping around and buying used when it came to injection, headers. Etc.

$15,000 total, spend a little extra and buy decent stuff. Trying to save a buck you are probably buying junk and will regtet it. Buy from repitable people who ran competitive. Go talk to someone who is competitive and ask for advise. 

I moved up to 305s from micros last year. I’d raced micros for 10 years and had nice stuff. I sold a roller and spares and bought a 2012 Maxim roller. I put a body on it, a good set of shocks, new torsion bars, a Butler seat in it, and a new tail tank. Everything else was just as I bought it for my first year. I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on it, just in case I didn’t like it or tore it up while learning. 

In my opinion, you don't need to spend $10K on an engine to make laps and learn. I didn't anyway. I spent $6000 on a fresh engine. It had some injectors on it, from what looked like, the early 70s. They worked fine for my first year. All I needed what something that ran and I could learn the basics of how to drive the car. That's what I would suggest to you as well. That $6500 engine has the capability to be competitive with those $20-30K engines with the right modifications, once you feel comfortable enough with the car.   

As far as night to night costs go, how far are you away from where you're going to race? 30 miles? 60 miles? The further you have to drive, the more its going to cost. No entry fees, as far as anywhere I race. Just a pit pass for you. So I'd say about $35 for that. I'd carry 25 gallons of fuel. You probably won’t use that much, but I like to have extra, just in case. Fuel prices vary, so figure big at $5 per gallon that would be $125. 

Spares. People always over look these because they don’t see the value in paying for something to just sit in their trailer or shop. I guarantee you the first time you have to load your car with a broken rear or front end or mangled radius rods or bent wheels, you’ll invest in them. They can be easily found used on FB market place or hose head classifieds at fair prices. I have less than $1000 in my spare front and rear ends. Both in good shape and fresh. 

I know this is long and I may get crucified for my answer and that’s fine. Just my opinion. If you’ve got any more questions, give me holler. 

918-214-4966

My advice to you is to buy a team out or buy a car and motor together.   Trust me from personal experience you do not want to be piecing your first car and motor together.   Try and buy it complete. Better deals that way plus you know everything should be right. Because you don't want to buy a piece here and a piece there to put the car together. Because you might buy a piece that doesn't fit and now your stuck with the part. Or sell it for a loss from what you paid.  You always take a major loss selling parts.  Buying a spare rear and steering and front axle separate is OK,  and deals can be found.  But to start out try and buy a car and motor together.  Also I hope you get around people you can trust and will give you solid try advice. Because a lot of people will flat out lie to you.  

And remember trucks and trailers don't win races.  I can't tell you how many people have the big haulers and pit mules and don't know jack about racing.

Call Roger Haden directly and talk to him about it.  402-238-2595.   

Short opinion:  $11k to hit the track decently with the least pain.

Plenty of nice 4500$ rollers for sale every year.   Owner built $6k engines, complete, has been done by many.

Things you can't or don't want to do, you have to pay someone to do.

Some guys can fix a frame.  Some guys can build their own engine.  Some do their own shocks.  Some do their own painting.  Some build their own trailers!   Don't have the ability or desire to do any of that?  Luckily you can buy it already done!

You can buy a $8000 roller and $20K engine.  Probably be pretty nice stuff.  For a while.

Everyone has their own idea of what's nice enough, current enough, competitve enough, shiny enough, affordable enough...

Can you make learning laps for the first season in a $2500 roller with a $4k engine?  Yes.

Yard sale that piece and you won't feel like your puppy just died. 

But

1.  You WILL catch on to driving it & want better stuff     & 

2.  You WILL have to upgrade to see the leaders at the end of the race.

Of course, that's JMO.  You know what they say regarding opinions..  haha   

And for sure, if you are the next Dave Doug Kinser Shatzenshield, don't mess around:  get a 20k$ car and a 30k$ new engine and get out there on the highway & let the world see your brilliance!

Peril, not variety, is the true spice of life.  
J. Cooper

Where does sponsorship fit into any of this?  

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. Obviously the sticker price relies on how much, and how nice of stuff you want to have. I do appreciate the info from everybody. The track I would race at most is a little more than 2.5 Hours away, and they race 305s every other week through the year. Honestly the target for the sprint car for the first year would probably be 5 or 6 races just due to the funding and travel required.

I have just a handful of sponsors that are on board with my karting program, most are around the $100 for the season, but thats fuel or travel for the season so I took it. I think I could probably find a few that would hep out with fuel and tires but probably not much more than that.

MDL, Thanks for the breakdown. I know that at some point I will definetly want to be more competitive, I just dont know if I will ever have the funding to be that way. I doubt that I'm a kinser in disquise, but I have had good success in a short time with the karts. $11K seems fair for my area.

Great Thread.     Thanks for all details guys.     

Good Luck Jaymancds.   I usually root for the underdogs so I hope you can do it cheaply.