Joe Newbie, 20 Builds a "Stocker"' in 2023

[Bob Sherwood]

I think Newbie is folding up his computer , headed to his shop with his head hanging down , thinking I'm never going to be able to build a stocker cause all these guy want to do is beat the past to death and not give me any real information on what to do.!!!! tell me factually how to build my own motor , what to use for a rear end and trans and how to set them up , what to do to my suspension to get down track. These guys don't have someone to mentor them and with class racing having a 100 rules you have to follow that you don't know anything about. Overwhelming for a newbie to even think about undertaking ---in my opinion. Class racing with all it's silly a---rules --- or heads up or bracket with whatever I choose . Tough sell to a lot of racers

[1347]

Originally Posted by Bob Sherwood

I think Newbie is folding up his computer , headed to his shop with his head hanging down , thinking I'm never going to be able to build a stocker cause all these guy want to do is beat the past to death and not give me any real information on what to do.!!!! tell me factually how to build my own motor , what to use for a rear end and trans and how to set them up , what to do to my suspension to get down track. These guys don't have someone to mentor them and with class racing having a 100 rules you have to follow that you don't know anything about. Overwhelming for a newbie to even think about undertaking ---in my opinion. Class racing with all it's silly a---rules --- or heads up or bracket with whatever I choose . Tough sell to a lot of racers

If Newbie finds the right people, some on classracer, some at the track in person, he will find plenty of people to help him get out there to race. A new racer needs to make up his mind what direction he wants to go in. It could be a Billy and Mark car which will get you under the index without spending every dollar you have and more. It could be a v8 combo that could be made to run .5 under to get you out there, with room for improvement as you progress, or an all out effort to run with the Killer B or A crowd.
Sometimes the bitching on this site deter people.
I've had people come up to me and ask if there is anyone really happy classracing after reading posts on here.
I just recently watched a person say they wanted to build a class car on facebook only to be told if he doesn't have 40k for an engine. 50k for a good body, a motor home and a gold rush trailer he should not even try. I jumped in along with Gump, the Worners and a couple others and told that person he had no idea what he was talking about. That I was able to get out and race with some success by the help of some very good people I call my friends. I try to help others the same way.
Sometimes the doom and gloom on this site is not a positive in a sport we complain is dying without new blood.

[MR DERBY CITY]

Newbie finally wakes up from the bad dream he was experiencing. He realizes he doesn’t have enough money to finance a race car where the payout is ridiculous. He can’t imagine sitting around all day listening to old men gripe and complain and only getting 2 time trials if he is lucky and rain isn’t in the immediate forecast. He laughs when he reads the rule book pertaining to cylinder heads because veteran racer told him ALMOST everyone has acid ported heads. He is interrupted by a phone call from his buddy asking him if he would like to go to Tucson to watch some heads up 10.5 inch tire racing , HELL YEAH !!!

[AJ Laferty]

Rulemaking has consequences. Lack of enforcement has consequences. Racing for money creates multiple effects.

How can you drive down the cost of racing in general, not necessarily just stock/super stock?

Please share your thoughts.

[Paul Merolla]

Having only been at this game, actively racing I mean, since 2013, I was Joe Newbie not that long ago. A big part of the attraction to class racing for me was the fact that it isn't easy! The fact that the car has to be built to a well-defined set of rules and specs dictates that it's going to take a decent amount of time and money. If I wanted something cheap and easy, I could've put together a bracket car...but that doesn't appeal to me.
I got a lot of help from experienced racers, saved my pennies, wheeled and dealed, and busted *** over a period of 11 years to make it happen.
Started out with a $3,200 engine that wasn't the latest or greatest, but good enough for a tenth under the index on the first run. To say that was satisfying doesn't even come close.
Started off with a truck, camper, and trailer that cost a total of $24,000.
I never added up what it cost to build the car...it just never mattered to see the total, because it was all little chunks spread out over time.
Since I've started racing it, it's been super fun to keep picking at it to make it better and faster, and that's what's so appealing for me.
We racers all have some degree of mechanical "urge" we're hard-wired with. This class racing thing is what satisfies mine.
If it was easy, it wouldn't.

[Mark Yacavone]

Here's one I turned up while searching for something else.
Still looking for it.
This will keep you busy for a while in the meantime..


https://classracer.com/classforum/sh...ad.php?t=64827

[1347]

Originally Posted by AJ Laferty

Rulemaking has consequences. Lack of enforcement has consequences. Racing for money creates multiple effects.

How can you drive down the cost of racing in general, not necessarily just stock/super stock?

Please share your thoughts.

I don't think you can. In all forms of motorsports, and even sports in general, money changes everything. When I was a kid, we played little league, and then there was a all star team that did some traveling. It was all pretty local, and wasn't expensive. Now parents spend 10s of thousand of dollars for Travel clubs, showcases, private lessons etc. You will see it in all other sports too.

Look what happened to a sport where you put a mini bike engine in a go kart that looks like a dragster and race against other kids, created by the late Vinny Napp. That original car still exists, and if it didn't have the Castrol GTX paint job that says David Knapp on it, and you showed up to race it, you would be laughed at. The amount of money spent on those engines and cars could buy a decent engine for a stocker. A friend I worked with had home built a 1/4 midget and a jr dragster for his kids in the 90s, he brought them in his pickup truck to the racetracks, by then, most of the kids were already hanging out in their motorhomes inbetween runs, as his kids sat on folding chairs on hot asphalt.

Look around, it's just not classracing.

[Mike Gray]

I think Paul Merolla’s post is right on the money. I’m a newbie to stock eliminator and haven’t made a single pass yet. I did race in super-street and super-gas for about 15yrs. A .90 car is an easier build than a class car and you can purchase 800hp crate motors for less than my stocker engine. But where is the challenge? It may be in the driving but a lot of us like the engineering/building side of challenge also. I sold my cars and took time off to raise my kids and now it’s time to go racing again. I’m retired and that’s probably we’re a lot of the new class racers will come from as they raid their 401K to build a competitive car. Sure it’s expensive but if thought out and done carefully the money invested won’t totally evaporate.
You guys make stock sound real hard but I’m planning to be legally under the index first time out. A front runner probably not, my goal was to keep the car legal and see how far I can push it even if it ruffles some feathers.

[Birch motor cars]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

I just don’t think any youngsters are going to be beating the door down to build stock eliminator cars. Usually the only new blood we see is when their family has raced a stocker or super stocker. As my good friend Larry Hill would say, “ why would anyone spend so much money to go sooo SLOW ??

We need to bring the old IHRA Crate Motor packages to the NHRA and we will have a new gen of young people filling the lanes. Right now all we have are a bunch of old guys holding the door shut on the new blood that wants in. Oh boy I can see the steam flowing now !!! LOL !!!

[1347]

Originally Posted by Birch motor cars

We need to bring the old IHRA Crate Motor packages to the NHRA and we will have a new gen of young people filling the lanes. Right now all we have are a bunch of old guys holding the door shut on the new blood that wants in. Oh boy I can see the steam flowing now !!! LOL !!!

we do have crate motor packages. you can run the IHRA crate motors at national opens.
But in reality, the engines offered in the new Copos, Cobra Jets, and Drag Packs can be run in Super Stock. Those motors are more in tune with the younger generation compared to old crate engines from 15 plus years ago.