XtremeVette

Iam curious as to what guys do to protect their cars when racing them? I show my car a lot and just like keeping it in the best condition I can for a 12 year old car. At the same time, the racing bug has bitten me. I did the Dale Jarret Racing adventure over the weekend and well. I really would love to hit some tracks for the first time in the vette. Suggestions? Yes I know I can always buy another vette if Iam afraid of dinging the paint up on mine, but I would like to first try the whole track thing out to see if I like it and if its for me.

Oh and do you guys just specifically do auto x on non-oval tracks or are their oval tracks as well that guys run on? Iam just a huge fan of racing altogether...just wish it was a bit cheaper to get into

c4cruiser

I have seen cars with blue painter's tape all over the front and on the edges of the wheelwells. That might be one of the cheapest ways, but you could wind up with the adhesive sticking so there could be lots of cleanup work afterwards. If you are just thinking about trying an HPDE, the tape may be the best way to go.

Some people use Cleartastic; it's pricey, but does a good job for everything from track days to street driving.

FKING1

Painters blue tape

XtremeVette

yep know all about the blue painters tape. Do any of the guys use the front bumper bras?

Highpower500

Bra and blue painters tape. Seemed to work for me so far.

68sixspeed

I have a clear bra on the front and rockers, also behind the tires. If it gets sandblasted too bad I'll just have it redone.

Bill Dearborn

I use Collision Wrap. It works well and goes on easily and comes off just as easily. I have left it on for over two weeks when doing multiple events and when I finish on the last day I just pull it off. Works better than PlastiDip (which I tried), better than the green tape (Scotch 233+, which is better than the blue painters tape) and is better than some of the other films you see mentioned. It is 3mils thick and can take some hits from stuff being thrown off the track by your tires and other car's tires. I use the green tape to keep overlaps from peeling apart or to keep the edges from lifting. Here is a picture of my car at about 100 mph while using the product.

You may notice there is more product on the sides than the front since you get more debris from your own tires. The stuff that hits the hood and front fenders doesn't do as much damage as the stuff from your own front wheels especially if you are running R compound tires or slicks.

It comes in 18 inch by 100 ft long rolls (what I use) and 36 inch by 100 ft long rolls. The 18 inch rolls cost about $45 and I can get between 20 and 30 track days out of a roll depending on whether or not the events are running close together.

You can buy it on line or at a local automobile paint and supply store that supplies auto body shops. Here is just one of many places that carry it. Do a search to get the best price.

http://www.autotoolworld.com/RBL-Pro..._p_165565.html

Bill

waddisme

I ran the bra on mine for a while. It did protect the paint, but it is hard to keep it from flapping in certain spots, which damages the paint. After my hood started taking shots, I give up on it. I have red duct tape on the rt front now from a little incident at RD ATL:

[IMG][/IMG]

However, that has faded now and it is really hard to get off. Oh yeah, my windshield is pitted so bad, I am going to have to repl soon just so I can drive it on the street. Long story short, it is hard to keep car show shape if you track alot. But that is why I got an '02 C5 6 years ago instead of a newer model.

RDnomorecobra

most HPDE events I've ever heard of are road courses, or held at oval tracks but use part of the oval and part of the infield to basically make a road course. I would not run a true oval if given the opportunity in anything other than a caged race car, unless they were just parade laps of course.

Bill Dearborn

From a safety aspect driving an oval is more than likely not any different than running on a road course. Sxxt happens on either one.

The wall is intimidating and makes you think about how mortal you are but in some cases a wall can be safer than no wall at all. A wall channels you in the direction you were traveling and tends to keep the vehicle on track where fences and guardrails placed away from the track allow the car to go off track where it has a better chance of rolling over.

From my standpoint I don't like ovals or rovals since I consider them boring.

Bill

waddisme

I have done the 24 hr course at Daytona and loved it. It did take a couple of sessions getting comfortable in those turns at 150+. However, it does make doing Charlotte boring. If I had the chance to do Talladega open track, I would do it

RDnomorecobra

I guess my thought is that if you are pushing it on an oval and lose it, or a tire or some other failure, it is likely you will hit a wall. On a road course - of course it matters which one and where you go off and what caused you to go off - you stand a good chance of adding 11 lbs of pebbles to your car and perhaps other issues, but may not hit anything solid. I've been off several times and never hit a permanent structure - knock wood. That said, the only portion of an oval I've been on is turns 1 and 3 at Pocono as part of their infield road courses, so I defer to the more experienced. I would have a hard time choosing to dive into turn 1 there at speed coming off the front straight.

Sorry if I've gone way off original topic. I'll shut up now ...