Chump Car, Part 2

[IROC]

I had started a thread a few months ago relative to a Chump Car effort I was involved in, but abandoned it when it turned into unfounded accusations of cheating, etc.. The race was this past weekend (at 14-hour enduro at Road Atlanta) and rather than add on to that past thread, I'll just post this one.

Tiny bit of back story: two guys I work with and two of their friends decided to build a race vehicle (a 1995 S-10 pickup truck) for the Chump Car series. The two guys I didn't know bailed and so the guys I work with asked me to simply drive with them since I have a lot of track experience (although zero race experience - just DE). I didn't do any prep work on the truck - I never even drove it until the first practice session last Friday.

First off, we FINISHED! Plus, we finished 33rd out of ~95 starters. The truck is a bone stock 1995 S-10 (230k miles on the engine) with the only performance mods being lowering springs in the front, lowering blocks in the rear and a larger front sway bar off of a Tahoe or something. Kumho street tires. That's it. 165hp of raging fury that redlines at 4500-5000 rpm. Absolutely no cheating - we were completely within the rules. In fact, in a sea of cheaters, we were somewhat of the oddball in that we left a lot on the table.

The truck:



You can see in the background what our competition looked like. I think we surprised a lot of people with that thing. Our fastest lap was a 1:59, but we ran ~2:05s all day long depending on the driver/traffic/mayhem. We had one extended pit stop (15 minutes) to replace brake pads, rotate tires, fuel, driver change and to remove the front grill and install our night-time lights but other than that it was like clockwork all day long. As a data point, I passed a 944 going through the Esses. That truck was awesome. In fact, I turned my fastest laps during the last stint at about 9:30 at night (a 2:03).

Our team won the "Spirit of Chumpcar" trophy for being the team that best exemplifies the series. The award:



The whole thing is still sinking in, but one thing is for sure - I've done a lot of DE over the past 20 years, but nothing prepares one for the absolute mayhem of full-out racing. I also have a new-found respect for Chevy S-10 pickup trucks

[Jim Richards]

Great job, Mike! I love that award...car parts with a motorcycle (made of car parts?) on top. LOL!

[1990C4S]

How were people cheating?

[strupgolf]

They were not cheating, because they did'nt get caught.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

How were people cheating?

Basically with cars built waaaaay beyond what the rules allow. It got out of hand years ago and Chump Car decided to more or less just let it go. I don't know all of the details and I really don't care. We're just out there to have fun.

BTW, the driver right before me (I got in for the last stint - 8:15 pm until the finish at 10:00 pm) accidentally broke the rear view mirror with his helment getting out, so I drove an hour and forty-five minutes at Road Atlanta in the dark with no mirrors. I don't recommend that.

[wdfifteen]

Fantastic!!!

[cockerpunk]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

How were people cheating?

chump has very specific rules about what is allowed, the idea being to keep costs down. such as the total cost of the car can only be $500. but you can replace "wear" parts, and you can sell anything you bought the car with to reduce its dollar figure, and buy other parts with it, which enters into this whole world of black market buying and selling, and phony paperwork "proving" you only spent such and such amount, when really, you spent WAY WAY more.

i seem to remember, that a decent chump car, costs 5-10 grand by the time you are done. even though the rules state your car should only cost $500

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by IROC

.... but nothing prepares one for the absolute mayhem of full-out racing.

+1.

I have not done a single DE since racing with the SCCA.

So much more fun when you can use the whole track, and pass where ever you please!

Congrats!

[gtc]

So now we know:
Mustang < Well Set up 944 < Well Set up S-10 ?

[intakexhaust]

Why did you run a truck? Cheby Chump Truck series?

[IROC]

Originally Posted by gtc

So now we know:
Mustang < Well Set up 944 < Well Set up S-10 ?

Exactly. Adding more power to the truck would expose some weaknesses for sure, but as it is now, it is very drivable. Very neutral and has good brakes. We have trouble getting the power down coming out of slow turns (7 and 10A), but other than that I am pretty impressed.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

Why did you run a truck? Cheby Chump Truck series?

The guys that bought it both had S-10s in high school and they just thought it would be fun (this is East Tennessee after all). It would not have been my pick, but what the heck. It's a standard cab truck and my 6' 3" frame doesn't fit very well with a cage, etc.

I don't understand Chump Car valuations, but all cars are supposed to be "less than $500". Well, show me a 944 with 944 Turbo brakes, etc., for less than $500!! I think what Chump Car does is "make up" a value for different vehicles and then add $$ to the value based on performance mods. If you exceed the $500 limit, they assign penalty laps. Our truck was valued at $230, so we've got a lot of room for mods. Cockerpunk nailed it above...

One of the veteran Miata teams (who shall remain nameless) gave us a hard time about the truck with the statement, "you do realize that those things aren't exactly known for their handling". Well, we passed them fair and square on the track and finished 10 spots ahead of them in the race.

[ZOO]

A bunch of my friends from Ottawa, ON competed in this event. They had some mechanical issues, but loved every second of it. My CHUMP experience was a blast -- but we only had to share the track with 25 cars. I can't imagine the excitement of 100 cars.

[Bill Douglas]

Well done and congratulations. It sure sounds a fun even if everyone stays in the spirit of what is intended.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by ZOO

A bunch of my friends from Ottawa, ON competed in this event. They had some mechanical issues, but loved every second of it. My CHUMP experience was a blast -- but we only had to share the track with 25 cars. I can't imagine the excitement of 100 cars.

I think we met those guys. Did they have a VW Rabbit/Golf of some sort?

[Racerbvd]

Congrats, yea, one only has to look at your picture to see some aren't really competing in the spirit (nice Bimmer) I heard about it from a friend who was racing there.

[trekkor]

Glad you had a nice time.

Our Lemons race at Sonoma is in March and we are thinking about doing the 24 hour race with Chump Car in SoCal again.

[trekkor]

Here's our latest 'trophy':

Flying Lizard Motorsports: TUDOR United Sportscar Championship Racing Team
( scroll down a bit )

[lendaddy]

Can I ask how cheaply (car, entry, parts, etc) this can be done? I would love to do it but don't want to drop anything close to 5-10k

[trekkor]

$4k for the car ready to race is to be expected if you do all the prep and fab work yourself.
Finding a good used race seat and belts still in date will save you a fortune.