I'd like to go racing, and check off a big box on the bucket list, but how do I do it? Options

[Type 47]

OK, I know you need to have a huge fortune to go racing so you can make a small fortune; but I don't have either.

from the time i saw my first SCCA showroom stock race I wanted to race. That was in the late 70's and at the time was thinking about the rent, not race tires.

Fast forward 30 years and I don't have to think about the rent, but racing is still super expensive.

I discovered tracked events (car clubs call them HDPE's) around 95' and have been doing them ever since. Not racing, but close. Kind of like qualifying with some rules.

So I've done track events on 13 different tracks. I started out at Gateway, in St Louis the track closest to home, and have about 2k miles on the 1.6 mile track. I started to go to Road America in 2001 about twice a year, so got about 5k of hot lap miles there. Autobahn, Road Atlanta, Barber Park, Heartland Park, Indy GP, Putnam Park, NCM, Ozark, VIR, Spring Mountain, and MAMP (what a shit hole). About 14k hot lap track miles over the last 22 years.

So now, every time I buy an $800 set of brake pads or a $500 set of scrub tires I'm thinking this is the last set and them I'm hanging up the helmet. Problem is...when the tires start to get used up, I've got a half set of pads left and buy more tires, then more pads. Been doing this for a couple years now.

So is there a path to do some racing at some level (PCA, SCCA) without blowing my retirement savings?

[brant]

I say do it...
and I love racing a 914
so my vote (does not matter) would be to use the car you love other than a chump mazda or something...

vintage racing is lower contact for sure
you won't be at the sharp end of the pencil
but you will have an absolute blast still and plenty of people to race against in a small bore type class (EP)

you need to proceed with rules.
or you will regret what happens.
biggest mistake anyone ever makes when they think they "want to go racing"

you really should pick a club and pick a set of rules
before you start modifying the car
and read the rules 10 times... things like how the role cage is built, or what is legal in the motor...

I was the porsche eligibility person for about a dozen years out here.
can not remember the number of times an applicant argued with me because they chose not to follow rules, not to read... I guess that each time it happened they must have thought they were "special" and the rules didn't apply to them??????

so for example... someone built a 2056 and then tried to "argue" that it was a legal motor when it was not a legal displacement.

vintage is a bit more strict to rules, because the whole premises of vintage racing is to have the car prepared to the way it would have been legal back in the day.

there is always nasa, wrl, and other places to play with more lenient rules...
but that's not as fun to me as seeing a real gt40, or some other amazing real car on track.

I raced a street legal 914 for a lot of years in the past.
you can still have a lot of fun!!!!
and with out a huge budget

a 914/4 is really in a more competitive class than a small /6 can be.
small bore is made up of tons of british roadsters
MGB's, sprites, mini coopers, etc.

[Type 47]

I say do it...
and I love racing a 914
so my vote (does not matter) would be to use the car you love other than a chump mazda or something...

vintage racing is lower contact for sure
you won't be at the sharp end of the pencil
but you will have an absolute blast still and plenty of people to race against in a small bore type class (EP)

you need to proceed with rules.
or you will regret what happens.
biggest mistake anyone ever makes when they think they "want to go racing"

you really should pick a club and pick a set of rules
before you start modifying the car
and read the rules 10 times... things like how the role cage is built, or what is legal in the motor...

I was the porsche eligibility person for about a dozen years out here.
can not remember the number of times an applicant argued with me because they chose not to follow rules, not to read... I guess that each time it happened they must have thought they were "special" and the rules didn't apply to them??????

so for example... someone built a 2056 and then tried to "argue" that it was a legal motor when it was not a legal displacement.

vintage is a bit more strict to rules, because the whole premises of vintage racing is to have the car prepared to the way it would have been legal back in the day.

there is always nasa, wrl, and other places to play with more lenient rules...
but that's not as fun to me as seeing a real gt40, or some other amazing real car on track.

I raced a street legal 914 for a lot of years in the past.
you can still have a lot of fun!!!!
and with out a huge budget

a 914/4 is really in a more competitive class than a small /6 can be.
small bore is made up of tons of british roadsters
MGB's, sprites, mini coopers, etc.

thanks for taking the time to explain this. I think I would have to start with buying a sorted car that fit into vintage, SCCA, or PCA racing.

A big commitment.