They can be an indicator to whether or not a different engine was in the car at some point. Also, check for holes that have been drilled for wiring that are no longer in use. This makes the firewall a good indicator of what the car has been through. While people often replace a front clip, they rarely take the time to replace the firewall. Inspect the firewall for bends and wrinkles. If the owner is willing to let you, don’t be afraid to scrape off some paint to get a better look. It is easier to see cracks on a chassis painted a light color, such as white, than it is one painted a dark color. Check these welds for wear and cracks, as they are the most likely to experience fatigue first. High stress points exist where the roll cage connects to the front and rear suspension areas. When these are broken, you know that the center section has probably been tweaked. Check the welds that connect the floorpan with the center sections of the car. While the front and rear clips may deceive you, the center section does not lie. It is incredibly easy to put a new front or rear clip on a car these days and make it look brand new.
Crawling on the floor to inspect a chassis may seem like an inconvenience, but it is a lot better than buying a chassis that is cracked and ready to come apart. Make sure to look at it from multiple angles. This is the easiest way to know for sure where there may be an issue with a particular chassis. Kaleb Hart, from XXX Race Components suggests that you get a look of the chassis while it is bare – with nothing else on it. Make sure the tubing isn’t bent or damaged. Check the chassis thoroughly for cracks, or paint chips around welds. The biggest thing you need to check for is whether or not the chassis is straight. Racing is a volatile sport – one minute you’re up, one minute you’re down. However, once they are in the sport, they lose sense of that. The majority of people that get into racing do so simply because they enjoy it.
When lofty expectations aren’t met, drivers become discouraged and racing becomes more frustrating than it does fun. Do you want to run for a points championship? Are you trying to rack up wins? Your most important goal should be to have fun. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you end up in a wreck and don’t have the money to fix your car, because you performed bad planning and are racing in a division outside of what you can afford.Īlso, don’t forget to set goals. Planning ahead is one of the most beneficial things you can do. These guys are veterans and they can humble newcomers very quickly.ĭon’t be discouraged, be reasonable. You will find many Street Stock and Four Cylinder drivers that have been running their divisions at their home track for over a decade. Never assume that a division will be “easy” just because the cars are inexpensive.
Dirt racing has not been known to be a highly profitable venture at any level. Don’t pick a class based on the class or event’s purse. If you’ve never raced before, a Super Late Model or a 410 Sprint Car probably aren’t the cars you should pick to get your feet wet in. When picking a class, consider your skill level.
Here are some of the largest series in the Late Model, Sprint Car, and Modified classes:Ģ.Loading Radios, Transponders & Scanners. Unlike the more tightly organized asphalt series such as NASCAR or drag racing series like the NHRA and IHRA, dirt track racing tends to be regional and the guidelines specific to local tracks, although bigger series like the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil Late Model series’ are national competitions. These race series’ are broken up into classes according to their style. Dirt tracks are the most common style of race track found in the United States, in part due to the composition of the track (dirt and clay), the costs of the vehicles, and the graduated series’ that encourage drivers to move between categories and run in multiple events.ĭirt track cars run the gambit from stock car-style Late Models to hybridized Modifieds to open-wheel Karts, midgets, dwarfs, winged and non-winged Sprint cars. Dirt track racing is high-speed, high-powered racing on oval and circle dirt tracks featuring a variety of vehicles which are often lighter with stronger suspensions than their asphalt racing equivalents.