11B250

Does anyone do this? I met someone who briefly talked to me about it. It sounded interesting. very little money involved. lots of great time and u race a car day and night. car has to be valued at $500 or less and no race related stuff in the vehicles.

sounds fun, cheap and great way to kill time (or yourself I suppose )

I'm thinking about looking into it. One thing that always scared me from road racing is cost. It's one of the reasons I'd never race a corvette. I can't afford it LOL

they do sound a little too long at 7 hours + but I guess that works because i was told they alternate drivers and u get to have fun time and u race for few hours at a time.

StreetSpeed

I've done 5 or 6 Lemons events. Same deal, though Chump is a little more serious than Lemons. I've done everything from a father and son rent-a-wreck team to a 5 car Operation, 60 tires stacked and mounted in the garage, spare parts cars brought to the event, and 5 mechanics working on our whole team 24/7. Owner probably drops at least 10Gs per event to run the 5 cars.

Good way to get started is just go on the forums and buy a seat from someone. Usually you can find someone who'll let you in for about $500 for a 2 day. Expect to get a couple hours driving each day if you have between 4 and 5 members.

Definitely a lot of fun, but if you don't have any experience driving on track I think you'd find the experience a little over whelming at first. I was an instructor and driving on track for 4 years before I did my first actual wheel to wheel race with Lemons. Driving at NJMP with 100 cars on track going into turn 1 4 wide is eye opening and scary the first time. After the first half hour though, all you can think about is how much fun you're having. By the same token I have instructor friends who drive just as well as I do who didn't like the experience at all won't do it again. Different strokes for different folks.

Anyway, I highly recommend the experience. Feel free to PM me with more questions.

SouthernSon

I paid for rides with other teams before going into partnership a couple of years ago. It sounds cheap. It ain't. It sounds like fun. It is!! Look at the rules and you will see where the $500 comes into the picture. Look at the valuations toward the end of the link. Of course, no one can build a full cage, install fire suppression system and install the other necessary safety equipment for the mythical $500.

http://chumpcar.com/rules.php

I would suggest finding 3 others that want to form a 4 way partnership.

Nowanker

I run Lemons events occasionally with friends... they own the car, but I help out whenever possible. The $500 is before the cage/safety equip/wheels/tires/exhaust/brakes/etc. Like the man said: "cheap, it aint". The cost of admission is a little lower than most other racing, but then add up the entry fees, brakes, fuel, tow, etc. Tires are 200TW, but you still go through them. It IS an absolute scream, and more track time in a weekend than you might get in a whole season of HPDE.

jcsperson

A friend of mine has one of the most competitive Chump cars on the east coast. As mentioned above, Chump is serious. They do a lot of development work with their car and it'll do 2:17s around VIR's full course.

I have no talent at photography. These are some of the better ones I shot with a little snapshot camera.

A view up the backstretch


Nice 240Z


Can't avoid the gendarmes


My friend's '92 Acura Legend --- running 2nd at the time. Note the lexan windows which the other cars don't have.


The team dinner table

rfn026

We ran Chumps for a couple of years. My advice is to get a rental ride. That's the least expensive way and you can do it on your own.

Chumps may not be expensive but it sure isn't cheap. We ended up spending about $10,000 on the car. Then you won't believe your gas bill. Between the towing and the 24 hours of racing the bills easily broke $1,000 per event.

Then you have the team. You're going to need 5 to 6 people at each event. You may have that many friends that are into racing but most really aren't into fixing cars at 3 am in the dark.

If I were going back to Chumps I would get a Miata rental ride. Miatas are fast and fun.

We ran one LeMons race and knew right away that we didn't belong there.

Chumps is for racers. LeMons is just goofy. They also take a lot of your money. We spent hundreds of dollars in bribes and they still screwed with us. LeMons makes a ton of money under the table. We had a problem with that.

Richard Newton

PeteZ06

I've been doing Lemons for a few years. Fun events. If someone truly has only $500 into their car then they're the ones running only a few laps before breaking down. I'm pretty sure we're somewhere around $10k into ours already.

Like someone else mentioned, the first time you're going 3-4 wide into a corner and youre in the middle is a hair raising experience

Bill32

A friend asked me to crew at a Lemons race, after watching 2 laps, decided I'd never drive in one. Idiots.

I've also teched Lemons cars at our events and told them to go home.

jcsperson

The E30 Bimmers are pretty quick too.

Xian

Solid points by everyone above... LeChump is "cheap" racing but that's very, very relative. To get toward the front with Chump, you're likely going to have ~$7k into the car assuming you know what parts to buy and how to prep the car right the first time (i.e. little to no development costs). LeMons can be cheaper but not by a ton... and it too hinges on picking the right car and knowing how to develop it.

I run with Hong Norrth (MX3's and a Supra) 2-3 times per year. We've gotten multiple Top-10's in both Orgs, won LeMons several times, and pulled Podium Finishes at Chump along with some wins. Rental prices are all over the place depending on who your run with/rent from. I know the KSR guys have some fast machinery and offer true "arrive and drive" packages but their fees are also on the high end. I'm sure that there are teams out there in the $600-700/race range but you're going to be in a mid-pack (at best) car that may not be fully sorted and/or reliable.

As an avenue to try racing, I think they're both great to run with. LeMons tends to have a little more respectful driving and less folks trying to run at 10/10ths. Chump can be a little more aggressive but also depends on the track and event (VIR was a bloodbath one year whereas Daytona is typically pretty clean).

jstout

I have rented seats in Chump cars and actually took the checkered flag my first time out. Have since partnered in two different cars. You have to make a fundamental decision on what you want to do. If you want to show up and drive, renting is the thing, then it is just a question of how much you are willing to pay versus how far toward the front of the pack you want to be. If you would rather build a car and get a group of friends together, make sure everyone in can pay their way. It will not be cheap, but probably a lot cheaper than any other kind of racing. The deals where 3 guys will pay, and one will do the work, doesn't work out well in the long run. Last piece of advice, don't do the 24 hour races. Too hard on the equipment, and they are typically long hauls to get there, and that gets really frustrating to pay all the additional expense and then breakdown that far from home. The ride home can be deafeningly quiet. Jerry

Rexracer77

I have done about 8 Chumpcar races, was at the very first event at PIR.

Like others have said, its not "cheap" but cheap compared to other forms of racing. The guy is to have a solid group of people invested in it, that are going to be of the same mindset.

Our team has built 2 cars, a Iroc Camaro, which has only finished 1 leg of 1 event, and broken down every other time, and a ZX2 Escort. The Escort had basic maintenance items done (plugs, timing belt, etc) and lasted 24 hour races, multiple 12/16s and 8s with no mechanical failures, until we lost 3rd gear, but still finished the race (the syncros were going when we got the car).

So if you want to run at the front of the pack, plan to spend 7-10k on the car, thousands in tires/brakes, etc. But as I just sold the Escort, I can say that a total of $4100 went into that car, to buy it, build it, and operate it over 66 hours of racing (6 events), yes this includes all tires/wheels, and brake pads.

I would call that pretty cheap all in all. And no it wasn't slow. Yes the V8 mustangs/camaros will beat you down the straights, but you will have plenty of people to pass and plenty of people to pass you. A solid Mid pack car.

Rexracer77

JC - what year was this? I flew back and ran a 24 at VIR August of...2011?

jcsperson

That's March of 2013.

Painrace

At some Chump races pro and retired pro drivers drive a session or two!

Jim

SouthernSon

11B250

thanks guys. I would enter into a partnership with a group of people. If anyone would know, I was approached by a FWC lieutenant that does this. from south Florida area (I won't mention a name, but maybe some might recognize by title) they have a miata that they use to race. It has been a while (over a year maybe), but I still have his card and could ask if they're still doing it.

tmtraylor

Here they are today at Road Atlanta...looks like a blast! Miata and 3 series BMW were the most common. A couple of 2ng gen Camaro/Firebirds, 300ZX, Acura Legend Coupe, Jetta, various Hondas and a Jag!!!!

jcsperson

"This video is private."

tmtraylor

Rookie maneuver...corrected and added another clip:

http://youtu.be/zFwOwzsnvFo