Cheap track support
 

What do you all think of the idea of paying someone for track side support at an HPDE?

Tire swaps, brake pad swaps, rotating tires, belt changes, etc...

I was out to dinner with the entire family last night and we were talking about my brother in laws kid. He's 22 and has been a mechanic at a BMW dealer and also at Roush. He was layed off from Roush back when Roush layed off everyone it seemed.

He's been looking for work but as most here know the traditional job search just doesn't work if you want to get somewhere.

At our last HPDE a few guys were talking about hiring one of the Roush guys to come do the simple stuff on their cars. We all work for Ford/GM/DCX or one of the suppliers so we all know alot of capable people.

Alot of people don't mind doing this themselves or helping out but on the flip side alot of people are there with friends and want to BS, go for ride alongs, etc and not work on their cars.

I thought of that at dinner and suggested that he might post up for his services.

Figure a typical 8 hour day, $20 an hour + gas so call it an even $200 for the day. Under the table not too bad for someone 22 but more importantly he'd be in a better position to meet people where something else might develope.

I figuire he could probably service 4 cars if there was enough time. He has 20K worth of tools, portable generator, etc...full service as it can get without a hoist.

I just know I'd never have gotten where I am today if I had not done a ton of side work and gotten to know people that led to other work and a network of people.

Hell when I started off I'd do side work for free just to get my name out.

I know everyone on here probably does there own work and everyone at the track helps each other out but I think you'd get the idea of what we're trying to do for him. The other advantage is not hauling a ton of crap with you to the track.

Just wondering what everyone thought, what would be a reasonable amount to pay and what you would expect.

I'd rather leave the liability side of the discussion out, that is a bigger issue and one to be worked out if there is some interest. A final inspection by the driver and quick check of things would probably fix most of that assuming its brakes/tires/etc. Then again when you ask for another drivers help you never know what you might get either so I guess you take the liability issue in your own hands asking another driver.

Thanks

Guess I would be concerned about the liability issue about somebody working on my car unless I knew him very well and also knew their level of expertise. Is he an ASE certified auto repair technician? What are his specialties? Brakes? suspension? chassis? Would he guarantee the work?

While you may not need a wide variety of tools to work on a car at trackside, he may find that it could cost him $200 to just show up. $40 in gas is not a lot anymore unless he lives within 50 miles of a track. Hauling enough equipment to service cars could require a large pickup and possibly a trailer. Jacks, ramps, generators and tools can easily fill a pickup truck.

He would have to be paid in cash in order to make this work. There would be no way to do a credit card and I would personally not take checks. Hard to say how many people take large amounts of cash with them for track days. Also he would have to have a fee schedule; either an hourly rate or a specific fee for things like pad replacement or fluid bleeds. There would be no real way he could supply parts unless he wanted to do this as a business.

It may be best to talk to people that you know at HPDE events and offer the services to them. Let them know what specific service things he can do for them along with a fee schedule and definitely tell them about where he has worked and his current situation. It would be easier if he started out with supporting just a few people and see if the idea would grow from there.

He is certified and has experience in chassis and chassis control systems. Chassis controls covers alot since it would include AH and similar systems. At Roush he did prototype builds.

I didn't think of this as a show up and work deal but setting up with 4-5 drivers, coming up with a schedule for tire changes, brake changes, etc.

As far as brakes/tires go to me if you get an opportunity to double check the torque, quick inspection to make sure brake hoses are not misrouted then your pretty much good to go. A 2 minute visual check and confirmation with a torque wrench on wheels and such would be sufficient to me.

Has a truck and for most simple work your not carrying a ton of tools. Jacks, generator, torque wrenches, sockets, torx, etc.

You have to start off somewhere and I figure the exposure would be worth as much as the money.

Why not?

Many of the PCA clubs have suport ppl come to the HPDEs for just that.

More like X number $$ to bleed brakes and change pads, or Y amount for this or that. CHarge on a per item.

;) Start out with a few drivers that attend your events. Let the "Word" get around and see how much interest is generated.

Archer's been doing this for years at Viper Days... MTI in Atlanta is starting to haul cars and work with their customers at the track.

The high end... Porche's, Vipers, Ferrari drivers are more likely to...

$$$ spend $$$ the bucks !!!

:thumbs: Good idea, hope it works for you !

Thanks for the reply's.

I'm going to talk to him this week.

I thought it smarter to have something setup before he shows.

Part of the attraction of racing is people help people. So if someone breaks down everyone helps out. Having someone coming up and saying we'll I'll fix it for X amount of dollars might not go over right.

Now, if you don't want to work on your own car to save time or other reasons thats totally different.

So there is a line there that he doesn't want to cross. At some higher end events this obviously isn't an issue but at some HPDE's it might not fly.

We'll see how it goes and although it might be exspensive to come out to an event some money and exposure if better than none.

He enjoys cars and wasn't too excited about going to being a regular mechanic, wanted to get into something more diversive thats a bit more exciting.

I pay a company $250 per day to service and support my race car. This is per car, so my brother pays the same amount each day.

We find it a very good investment in resources.

You'll get a whole slew of different responses on this one. I'm very finicky on who works on my car. And I know a few of my buddies are even more anal than I am even if its basic maintenance.