I am getting back into racing and would like to get a good idea of the costs involved in racing an SRF in 2012. Aside from the initial cost of the car can anybody provide some hard numbers?

1. How much does it cost to enter a race? How long (in minutes) does the average SRF race last? Does one fee normally include practice, qualifying and the race? How much total track time does all that add up to? Do costs differ substantially at different race tracks? Can you give a price range?

2. How much do tracks in your area charge to practice? How do they charge? (By the hour or by 15 minute interval?)

3. How long will a set of Goodyear tires race? One set per race?

4. How much gasoline do you use during a weekend?

5. How often do you replace other consumables? How often do you change the oil? How often do you change brake pads?

6. Do you buy special insurance for a race? Do some tracks force you to by insurance? How much does this cost?

7. Any other costs I missed?

1) Usually runs about $470 per race, but can vary by track and region. Races are usually about 30 minutes, with another 20-30 minutes for qualifying. Normally have 2 races per weekend. Recent events in SOWDIV have had two qualifying sessions ( one 15 minute, one 20 minute ) followed by a 30 minute race. Net, a little over one hour per day, with two event days, for a total of 2 hours and ten minutes. Some events include a practice day, some do not. Usually a practice day is about $150 per day. As mentioned above, prices do vary by location. The lowest I've seen recently is $420. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the fees for the COTA race are expected to be $700++.

2) Local tracks charge by the day....fees vary by date/event/membership status, but figure $150/day on average

3) Goodyear tires - will last about 12-15 sessions.

4) A few gallons...usually NMF in terms of a budget item.

5) Not sure about consumables. Just dont have enough data on periodicity for a number of reasons I wont go into here.

6) No

7) Costs - dont forget travel costs, lodging, food, tequila shots, etc

Do not calculate cost per minute.
Do not calculate cost per minute.
Do not calculate cost per minute.

mhart073 wrote:1) Usually runs about $470 per race, but can vary by track and region. Races are usually about 30 minutes, with another 20-30 minutes for qualifying. Normally have 2 races per weekend. ... Net, a little over one hour per day, with two event days, for a total of 2 hours and ten minutes.

When you say $470 per race do you mean $470 for the race event which includes 2 actual races or is that literally $470 per race meaning $940 for two races plus another $150 for a practice session?

mhart073 wrote:Usually a practice day is about $150 per day.

Is that for the whole day? Or is there a time limit on that?

Thanks very much for the info.

steve kramer wrote:Do not calculate cost per minute.
Do not calculate cost per minute.
Do not calculate cost per minute.

You can say that again!

Kind of like the old saying, if you have to ask how much it costs you can't afford it.

Full disclosure a friend asked me today how much it cost to enter into a race in the USA. I used to race at a relative's race track so ... I never had to pay. It was kind of embarrassing not knowing the answer so here I am asking the question.

Charlie, Where are you? On the West coast, I have seen test days run from $125 to 400. Some tracks run an open track where it is as much time as you can stand. Others run sessions. At Thunderhill it is $250 for six session or 2 hours. At Laguna Seca it is 5 sessions for $295.
Gas you can figure 1 gal. per 10 minutes. I start with a full tank and 20 gals and that gets me through a weekend. Usually I have gas left over, but when I used to carry only car 15 gal I ran out a couple of times.
I change oil every 3 weekends and xsmn fluid every 3 oil changes. Brakes depends on you, but I usually rotate the fronts to the rears after about 3 races weekends and put new on the fronts.
Some of us carry Storage, Transport, Paddock insurance on our cars. Basically you are covered for everything but on track usage. SCCA provides a liability insurance for any damage at the track. But if it is a track run practice you are not covered. Same for the health and life insurance. (Best check your personal insurance, some are not covering inherently dangerous activities. )
Hope this helps. Racing is not a sport you can worry about the costs. You can control them and SRF is a good way to do that. Just remember to fund the household fund first and diamonds help with the wife.

$470 is for the whole weekend, not per day.

Practice fees cover the whole day....the number of sessions will vary by location and the number of other entrants. Lately, thats meant 8 30 minute sessions per day of practice.

Depends where you are in the US and what kind of event you are running. In SEDiv - regional entry fees start at around $200 for the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and go up from there. Things like Enduros are typically priced separately. Double weekends start at around $300. Double Nationals (3 days with 75 to 90 minutes of practice/qualifying plus 2 45 mile races) run between $500 and $600. Test days vary by track with Roebling (owned by Buccaneer Region) at $150 or so and Sebring/Road Atlanta/VIR run $250 or so.

It appears that test day costs may be higher in the Midwest than in other areas of the country. Gateway (St.Louis) and Gingerman (South Haven, MI) are the lowest cost that I am aware of at around $150 for the day with 3 hours or more of track time. On the other end you have Mid Ohio at $400 for the day with approximately 2 hours of track time and Road America at $350 for the day with, for some event weekends, 1 hour of track time.