Tell me about Sportsman ET

[Jag-D]

Howdo folks,

I've been talking with a good friend of mine about Drag Racing, he's currently involved with the NFAA and I'm quite fancying having a go

Not at the altereds mind

I was thinking about taking my time to prep something for Sportsman ET and wondered if you guys could tell me about it so I could see what's needed and potentially decide whether I want to have a crack or not

I intend to do some RWYB in whatever chunk of st I'm running around in next year, if I enjoy it then I might fancy taking it further

[PhilSweeney]

heres some light reading for you http://www.eurodragster.com/sprc/

[Tet]

It's really quite straightforward. Get yourself a race suit and helmet, join one of the clubs (SPRC or APIRA), get an MSA license and you're set. There are pretty minimal restrictions on what you can and can't race. You don't need a rollcage, for example. The full details are available in the white book, which you'll receive when you join the club, but pretty much any road car can be raced with minimal changes (you might need a catch can on your coolant overflow, for example -- numerous coke cans can be seen throughout the pits serving this purpose :-)

The class is pretty friendly, and is a mix of those (like me) that drive to the track, and those that bring the car on a trailer. It's run on a sportsman tree, and the start is staggered according to the difference in dialins. When you first race, you'll need to see the race director to tell them you'll be doing observed runs. The license allows you to get on track, but you won't be able to race against someone in the other lane until you've proved to the race director that you're competent to handle the car. They'll tell you what they want to observe, but it'll typically be something like a burnout and launch, a half pass and a full pass. You may be able to do your observed runs at a RWYB. If not, you can do them in qualifying.

Other than that, there's not much to it. Just turn up and have some fun...

[Jag-D]

Thanks for the info guys, got some reading up to do

I do quite fancy it, gotta see how the RWYB days go first

[ribaric]

Something to think about Jag.... You'll eventually need to choose to go with either a street legal car or a dedicated racer. The legal approach means you can drive to the track, race and, unless you break it, you can then drive home. The downside is that you have to keep it street legal which means it will almost certainly be a heavy car, dripping with glass windows, metal bonnet and boot lid .....blah blah and you'll need to pay road tax, insurance, get MOTs.. you know the deal.

A dedicated racer has the down side of needing a trailer, so yuo'll need a tow car and somewhere to park the trailer. Other than that, the dedicated racer is great advantage because you can make it much lighter, fool around with the "go faster" bits and get much much more from your racing. It will go much much quicker for your money.

The most expensive way to to do this is to keep your car street legal and make it quick.

[Jag-D]

ribaric said:

Something to think about Jag.... You'll eventually need to choose to go with either a street legal car or a dedicated racer. The legal approach means you can drive to the track, race and, unless you break it, you can then drive home. The downside is that you have to keep it street legal which means it will almost certainly be a heavy car, dripping with glass windows, metal bonnet and boot lid .....blah blah and you'll need to pay road tax, insurance, get MOTs.. you know the deal.

A dedicated racer has the down side of needing a trailer, so yuo'll need a tow car and somewhere to park the trailer. Other than that, the dedicated racer is great advantage because you can make it much lighter, fool around with the "go faster" bits and get much much more from your racing. It will go much much quicker for your money.

The most expensive way to to do this is to keep your car street legal and make it quick.

Well the plan was to start of street legal hence the reason why I'm looking at the slower timings of Sportsman class

In an ideal world (if I had the money in other words ) I would love to run a blown Chev that's still street legal, but more akin to a racecar

That aint likely to happen unless I strike oil while digging in my nose

[central]

Scott - how about going down the two wheeled route?

[Jag-D]

central said:

Scott - how about going down the two wheeled route?

I thought about that one, even though the bike has sold I will be getting another...but I quite like the idea of something big and yanky mate

I've wanted a muscle type car since I was a kid and it's something I feel I have to realise before I hit 35

[central]

I can feel a "what car?" thread heading this way

[Jag-D]

central said:

I can feel a "what car?" thread heading this way

Muhahahahaha

I've already decided

I'm going to be looking for a 1970s Camaro when the time comes

[Tet]

ribaric said:

The most expensive way to to do this is to keep your car street legal and make it quick.

Yes, but the beauty of ET racing is that you don't need to make it quick. Of course, everyone (well, most people) want to go quicker, but you can still go out and have fun in a street legal car in Sportsman ET without spending a fortune. If you want a street legal car in Pro ET or at the sharp end of Street Eliminator, then yes, it's going to cost you significantly more than having a pure race car running similar times.