Motorsports / sports cars?
I get it, finance forum.. Background: Lived in the city for awhile, no car lifestyle. Covid got boring real fast though, so I picked up a Camaro SS (didn't see the point buying the family crossover as a young guy).. Fast forward: Buddy mentioned I should hit a racetrack for some HPDE.... Fucking awessssommme recommendation! Ripping corners, laying into the straights, incredible experience. Swear this isn't spam, just wondering if there are any other trackrats out there? What you're in? How you got into it? And maybe where you're located? (low key looking for finance track buddies ha)
When I was 6 i went to a go kart track for my friends birthday and I was immediately obsessed. The adrenaline, the freedom and the magnitude of forces under your control are awesome. After that day, I talked to my parents and decided to pursue racing but nothing serious just as a hobby. My grandpa bought me my first kart when i was 8 and I would spend most of my summers practicing and going to F1 races and there was nothing better than being out there and watching cars go fast from a distance and feel the excitement.
I compare driving a race car at speed to walking a tight rope of variable width. The faster you go, the closer to the physical limit, the narrower the rope. It is truly a balancing act, and one with severe consequences.
Once you become competent to drive a racing car, then you can start the chess game, one against multiple opponents, in a race. I still race and it’s my favorite thing to do in my free time.
I race an oval dirt track - so much more fun in my opinion, slippery track, drifts around the corners - you will be amazed by how much you can push at a corner, the lateral acceleration is exceptional.
Once you've felt the transcendence it's in your blood forever.
Go Karting is insanely fun. Had a friend growing up that starting go karting very early on and now drives for a Formula 3 team
Karting is just something else. It’s the most pure, exciting, and raw form of racing there is. So exciting
im a junior in college right now and race go karts. Did your friend do IB or something finance related aswell? If I tried to use the IB role as a financial catapult to get me up to F4 or as high as I can would it be sustainable with the demands from the job? I know F3 and up is costly, but would it be realistic to balance a season or 2 of F4 while in IB?
Thanks!
Never really tried karting myself, but totally agree about the feeling of being on edge of traction. On asphault, you'd be surprised how much g-force your tires will handle before slipping. I'll take hard righthanders on the gas at 85mph no problem.
Karting is awesome highly recommend but so is Rallying. That's a top favorite, you might enjoy it more.
When I test drove the Lotus Elise, it was the closest car I’ve driven that felt like a go kart. Just incredible skid pad, can corner on a dime.
If you really want to feel adrenaline, a Ford gt40 is a good option. It's a pretty dope car and it was one of my firsts after karting.
I’m dying to drive one of the Superformance GT40 remakes. Seems like such a raw, analog 60s racecar
It is most definitely. And it’s one of my favorite cars to race. It’s hard to believe its a Ford but the styling and body shape makes it one of the coolest cars I’ve ever seen. Such a classic.
Karting is easy to learn, hard to master i have to give it a try
Do you kart too? Or hit track days at all?
No but i will as soon as i get some time to do fun shit
You should pick up a YZF-R6... then we can talk ;)
Bold choice.
Multiply that feeling by 10 when you're on a motorcycle. Even a 3k SV650S, Ninja 400, etc. will give you more smiles per mile than any 4 wheeled contraption.
Not particularly exotic, but the Dodge Charger will forever be my favorite.
im a junior in college right now and race go karts. If I tried to use the IB role as a financial catapult to get me up to F4 or as high as I can would it be sustainable with the demands from the job? I know F3 and up is costly, but would it be realistic to balance a season or 2 of F4 while in IB?
Thanks!
Honestly, it is really difficult to balance the demands of IB with a semi-pro racing career. In IB, some groups work 80-100+ hours per week, and your weekend is subject to getting blown up at any time. I wouldn't be surprised if some seniors race at a regional level, but for juniors, it will probably be impossible. I would recommend the Lucas Oil Formula Car series. It is about 75k for the year, and it has 5 race weekends with 3 races each. Depending on your group, you may be able to block off those 5 weekends per year. There is a 250k sponsorship prize for the winner that can be applied to the USF2000 series, US F4, or TCR. The series is designed for those transitioning from karts to formula cars, and they require prior karting experience as well as 2 other Lucas Oil racing schools.
However, in IB it is hard to be able to train for the racing series. Many serious drivers train for 25-40+ hours on the sim per week, and in IB, that is not sustainable. Between IB and racing, you would be working/training for 18-20 hours per day. It is also not uncommon for IB juniors to struggle with staying in decent shape, let alone racing at any sort of competitive level. Overall, I would advise against trying to race competitively as an IB junior, however at some point in my life I would love to race too. If I were to race as a junior, I would probably stick to karting. My plan is to go into finance, save up a ton of money, retire somewhat early, then race in either rally, TCR, or a low-level Formula series.
PM me if you are successful in racing while working in IB- I would love to do the same
Thank you for your input!
Also, do you do karting right now?
I am located in nyc (working in finance) and grew up racing karts. Took time off for school and only did HPDE events during college now getting into racing a full series with SCCA in the northeast. It can be an expensive and time consuming hobby but it’s what I enjoy to do haha. Would happily connect with more car guys in the city! Feel free to pm me
My dad collects cars so I was doomed from the beginning. One of my buddies owns one of the condos at thermal, he lets me keep a car there so I do! Try to get out 2-3 times a year, but later in life would like to get out more. Current track car is a 991.1 gt3 no pccbs as it’s a waste of money, perfect car for the track.
What’s the difference between a motor car and a sports car?
I've done a lot of racing. Track, drag strip, etc. I owed a race car (a while back), and a few sports cars over the years, and I had a lot of fun with all of these.
I was also involved for a while with the import racing scene, and I considered getting into Type-E racing, in recent years, etc.
There are a few track experiences where you can pay to race on the track, with an exotic or racecar.
Also, there are a few places that teach racecar drivers, and they usually will let you go for a day, as a shortened sort of lesson.
Whenever I travel to certain places, my assistant will try to arrange to rent the track for me, with a car provided, and so I sometimes get a few hours of track time, in between meetings.
I was able to take my 911 (at the time) on the Autobahn, and Nurburgring, a while back, which was fun.
There is a NHRA drag strip in Jersey that used to open the track (for a fee) to race your car for fun, on the actual track.
There has always been an underground racing scene in Jersey and Brooklyn as well.
The most I do lately is to take my current car (Roma) out for a few loops at night (the highways around NYC, form a sort of driving course), which can be relaxing and a lot of fun, especially when traffic is light (late at night).
There is actually a group of guys who race around the NYC highways at night, and they post videos (search for "Swim Team" and Wheres981 on YouTube). I don't know them, but I think I've seen a few of them at times, so there is a bit of a racing culture around.
As long as relatively safe about it, I think it can be a lot of fun, and a great time.
P.S. In NYC, there is a private membership club, where you have a membership, and they own a variety of exotics, and you get to reserve your choice for a day or something. Might be worth checking out if you want to try a variety.
Also, OP mentioned his Camaro -- love those, definitely a lot of fun, and they get moving, for sure.
Great topic. I had been curious if anyone had a similar interest.
I knew about the NYC club but never had any more detail, do you know how much the membership runs a year?
I think it starts at something around $200/mo, but there are a variety of other membership levels and costs likely.
Check out the site. They offer a lot of events and other stuff that arguably might even overshadow the cars they offer. I think they have their own race cars, access to racecar driving programs, a virtual racing simulator, and some other stuff.
I looked into it briefly a while back, and it looked like a lot of fun.
It's the club that was featured on the show Suits, at one point.
Yes, they apparently have an original 1965 A/C Shelby Cobra, as well as a bunch of other stuff.
(Link Below)
https://classiccarclubmanhattan.com/
Great topic.
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