DeVaney 1

Shayne R. DeVaney

Research Paper

Ms. Miller

English IV

Nov 4, 2022

Building a Race Car Team

A person can not be expected to jump in a race car and go out and win, it is gonna take a

lot of practice and time. Building a race car team requires skill, sponsors, a crew, time, and a

mind to safety. Racing can be very dangerous so the right safety equipment is up to date. The

race track should have an Ambulance on site. Even though racing is very expensive to get into, it

is worth the time and is a hobby that may lead to bigger and new hobbies (SLIPLO). Racing is a

way of life for some people, while for others it’s a weekend to go and have fun with friends and

family.

Races have specific formats to follow on a nightly basis. The format is Motor heat, hot

laps, sometimes qualifying, heat races, features. First, a motor heat is mainly for sprint cars.

Sprint car motors run and produce a certain amount of heat so that the motor does not wreck.

The point is to build the heat before the throttle is held down for a couple of laps. All cars have

some sort of motor heat before a race to avoid running on a cold motor. The purpose of hot laps

is a group practice session with three or more laps to run at full speed for the drivers to feel out

their car and make sure everything is working properly. Some tracks hold a “Qualifying session”

which is like time trials. The purpose of this is that each driver runs two timed laps to determine

where they will start in the heat races. (“DIRT 101”). Any competitor who missed qualifying
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order by more than two places is allowed one lap at the end of time trials, but they will face

restrictions placed on how well they can be scored officially. (“DIRT 101”)

Another element in the format is “Heat Races'' which is a series of 8-12 laps that

determine which cars will move on to the A or B features. The top four to five cars (depending

on car count) will transfer directly to the A future starting towards the front. Finally the night

will end with the A future, which determines the podium finishers who enter victory lane. The

three top finishers constitute the Podium. (“DIRT 101”). Depending on the track size the feature

usually ranges from 25-40 laps which is determined at the pit meeting before the races start.

A person may ask themselves “where do I start to build a team?” The very first thing he

or she should do when that voice in the back of the head says “I wanna race car”, is to make sure

to have enough capital (ex.money) to afford the process as a whole (Baruth). If the job a person

has right now does not pay much, a part-time job might provide little money on the side to save

that money. (Even if they have to work some nights, then they can always take time off work to

catch up with sleep.) If a person really wants to race he or she will bust their tail to get as much

money as possible. They can set aside a certain amount of their paycheck each time they get one,

and they will build enough money to afford a race car.

Another way to get money is to start a savings account before someone gets the erg to

spend all their money. Like I said before, they can set a certain amount of their paycheck aside,

there is more to that, they can create a plan where they can do monthly checks on their account to

see how they're doing or if they need to save more money. They can create a budget where they

can only spend this much money a week. (Baruth) All that they have to do is make a plan and

stick to the plan so that they can achieve their goals, and make money that they can spend

without any worries. Race car drivers can even have someone there to help them and keep them
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on track and keep them motivated so that they can achieve all these goals needed for a team.

Building a sprint car team is not as easy as it sounds, and getting money is just the beginning of

the new adventure they're about to go on!

Once a person starts saving some money, they will decide what class they are going

into(360 sprint car, 410 sprint car, 305 sprint car, etc). In today's world you can easily find a 360

non winged race ready sprint car for sale for the amount of $50,000-$100,000, but they don't

need to spend that much money. (SLIPLO) With a sprint car chassis with a body, the main key is

to function properly and have the right safety equipment. One of the main keys and one of the

most important parts to going fast and winning is the motor, a person could pay at least $10,000

dollars for a motor that includes labor costs of building the motor. (SLIPLO)

There are a lot of classes that sprint cars run, some of them are; Racesaver, ASCS,

MSTS, and World of Outlaws. I am going to talk a little about each of them just so a person

knows the difference. A “Racesaver'' sprint car is a car that offers the most exciting automobile

racing and exhibition shows in the country and gives fans entertainment value like none other.

(“About RaceSaver''). The RaceSaver class puts forward a schedule of events to the thousands of

followers that attend the races and events yearly. The competition and talent presented by

RaceSaver will give everyone involved an “on the edge of your seat” thrill! (“About RaceSaver”)

Next, the “American Sprint car Series” ASCS. The American Sprint car series is the largest

sprint car sanctioning body in the world. (Hahn). The top winged sprint car drivers across the

country compete in ASCS competition, with the best gunning for that precious and prestigious

Lucas Oil ASCS NAtional Championship. (Hahn). The first National tour took place in 1993 at

Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway, that event was won by Mike Ward from Memphis Tennessee.
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Another thing we will talk about: The MSTS Sprint car series, or The Property Solutions

of American Midwest Sprint Touring Series has quickly evolved into an exciting series that's a

favorite to fans and teams in the upper Midwest. (“Midwest Sprint Touring Series”) The MSTS

Series was established in 2015 and has over 120 total events!! The tour is based out of Sioux

Falls, South Dakota, and takes place in parts of South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

“The World of Outlaws” is one of the biggest Dirt racing series in the world! Founded in 1978 by

the late Ted Johnson, The World of Outlaws has been the home for premier dirt track racing for

over 40 years! (“About The World of Outlaws”) The World of Outlaws features the most

powerful cars on dirt, visiting 23 states and racing upworth to 140 combined race tracks. This

series will be racing for nearly $6 million in purses and other prize money between season

opener at Volusia Speedway Park and the World of Outlaws World finals at the Dirt Track at

Charlotte Motor Speedway. (“About The World of Outlaws'')

Sprint Cars are not the only class that gets people intense! Another class is Dirt modified,

which is the most popular and even common type of race car racing on dirt tracks all throughout

the U.S (LORENZO). Dirt modifieds are the oldest type of race car currently racing today with a

history dating all the way back to the 1940’s! A person may wonder what the term “Modified” is

and I am about to tell them. The term comes from the fact that their car is not stock but modified

passenger cars are differentiating them from production based cars. (LORENZO). Back in the

old days, modifieds began with drivers modifying their car to give them a competitive car. Since

then cars in this class have changed into something that no longer is a current production car, but

they are a model between a stock car and an open wheel race car!

Another type of class for racing is the “Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series”. This series is a

national touring series that runs nearly 50 events in 19 states around the United States. They are
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one of the top level dirt late model series in the United States. (LORENZO). These late models

are capable of producing over 800 horsepower. The engines are built by Chevrolet, Ford, and

Mopar, are all engines used in this class! People are guaranteed a field of 44 cars that are

attempting to qualify for each event.

After a race car driver gets some money rounded up, they can go ask some sponsors for

some help. Race Car Drivers will have to build a proposal that introduces who they are, what

they are planning on doing, their purposes, and tell them some key things they want to achieve

during their racing career. (Baylis) Sponsors are a big part of getting money and nice equipment

for the team. Another thing is when a race car driver talks to them, negotiates and asks them

where they would like to place their logo on the car, but keep in mind that some spots cost more

than others. There are plenty of ways to go about getting sponsors, the next paragraph will

explain a couple of ways.

One way is to go around the town they live in and even the town next door, and ask

companies to give money, and they will advertise their business. People would have to make an

agreement and talk to them and let them know what they are doing, some goals they want to

achieve, and how they plan on the year going and maybe potential years ahead. Bring the

proposal sheet to the table and show them it, let them look it over and maybe ask them what

could be better to get more attention. Explain to the company that their logos won't just be on the

race car, they will be advertised on their T-shirts, on the Air (TV), and it will be in a lot of

pictures. (Baylis) Let them know how many T-shirts that they plan on selling and maybe they

will help pitch in money for the shirts so that both you and your company will get advertised.

Another small and easy way is to walk around the town they live in and hang fliers

around some poles, some restaurants that are popular, the local newspaper station, just any key
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spots that will have a lot of people looking for new things. They can also create a business on

social media to grow their team's brand name. Like say they create a facebook account that is

dedicated only for their racing team, that will have a bio of themselves, a description of what

they are trying to do, and pictures of their car during the race or even in the shop. They can

communicate to their fans that way, telling them how their last race went, what they have to do

for maintenance, and where they are racing in the future. (Baylis). They can also show their

t-shirts at the track, and people will comment if they want one or they can reserve one for when

they are at the track! They can also tell their friends what they want to do and try to persuade

them into giving some money, and telling them it's going to a good cause. Friends are the ones

who help out the most, if a person needs an extra hand in the shop trying to do some maintenance

on their car, they would call their friend up. They can also tell their friends to tell their friends

about their racing career and maybe they would be interested in giving a race car driver some

money to watch them race and watch them succeed at their career. All of these ways are just

some simple ways that people have done in the past, they can go and try new things and see what

gets them the best sponsorship, and the best money to get them the top of the line equipment.

Once a race car driver gets the sponsors, they will have to find a place to put their logo

on their car! There is limited space depending on what kind of car they run. If they had a sprint

car, the biggest places are the sides of the hood, and the sides of the wing, other than that there

are some small places here and there. Usually sprint car drivers put their biggest sponsors, so the

ones that give the most, on the side of the wings or on the hood where it's big and people in the

stands can see it without squinting their eyes. (Baylis). They also should create a plan where each

sponsor that pays will be assigned to different money aspects on their car. Say one of their

sponsors who donates money, that money will go to a specific part of the car like the motor, or
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the tires, or the fuel. A person wants to be organized and know who their sponsors are, what they

are paying for, how much they are paying, so that when they get interviewed they can thank all

of their sponsors from the top of their head without hesitation.

Now that a person has a car, sponsors, and some money, they are going to need to find a

pit crew to help them on and off the track. This is where they ask themselves “Do I want to be

the driver or should I find someone to drive?” Many race car teams around the world today are

owned by a company and hired drivers to race the car. If they do that the team has to split the

money between the driver, and the crew because the crew worked on the car, the driver drove the

car, and the owner owns the car. Let's talk about when a team hires a driver. Some key things to

keep in mind would be. Most of the time they should look for a driver that has a history of racing

so that they know and have knowledge of what they are doing. (Davis) Another key thing to keep

in mind is that the driver is professional on and off the track. The driver should be comfortable

with fans and is comfortable with the car. (Davis). There are alot of places to find a driver for

their car, but the best place to find one is at the racetrack where they can see them in action.

Another thing a person can do is hold a “Tryout” and recruit the best 3-4 people that

contributed in the tryout. They will need a mechanic that will work on the car on and off the

track if the motor isn't running right. (Davis). The mechanic will need to travel with the car, and

should know what is going on with the motor at all times. There should be more than just the

mechanic on the pit crew. The pit crew will need someone to change tires, someone to do the

fuel, and someone to make minor repairs and help with large tasks on the car. (Davis). One way

to get some crew guys is to advertise their program and explain what they are doing, or recruiting

at local racing schools. One main thing they are going to need is some good sponsors by their

side so they can get new things and top of the line equipment.
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Someone could have a crew that consists of their friends. So they will all learn and build

the knowledge together. Learning together and building knowledge creates a stronger crew,

because they are all trying something new and are doing it together. They could always recruit

any friends, family, or even people they’d love to have on their crew. they’ll always need the

extra hand so don't be afraid to ask someone, what's better than asking one of their closest

friends? They want that support behind them to where it's just “one phone call away.” Friends,

and family are going to make the racing career a lot better, less stress, and a daily routine for

some racers and their crews!

Sponsors are the people or businesses that provide money, equipment, and other things

that they need throughout their racing career. (Davis). Sponsors should always be one call away

and ready to pay more money if someone crashes their car. Race Car drivers should be ready to

market their team so they will need a team logo, team colors, to put on merchandise that will be

sold at the track. They can make a profit by selling merchandise and getting new sponsors. Since

the race car team is some people's daily job, they will need a team name because they are paying

the driver, and all the crew.

Once the merchandise is ready to go, they will need to get a merchandise trailer or any

trailer that they can sell their merchandise out of. Every World of Outlaws team has their own

merchandise trailer that they take to every race, so that all the fans can gather around and spend

their money on a lot of different merchandise from a lot of different drivers and crews. People

who sell merchandise need to be aware of the expenses and the earnings it takes to have a lot of

merchandise. In a merchandise trailer, they can advertise their racing schedule, as well as sharing

sponsors advertisements. If the sponsor is very happy with the racing team and how well they are

succeeding, they might even pay the driver more and more money each year!
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Many people are making racing a career in their life, but then there are those people who

have racing as their hobby! (LA. TIMES ARCHIVES). For many people racing started off as a

hobby, then it occupies a great deal of time for people's time outside of their work life. When

racing becomes a career, drivers start to get to driving more for professional and

semi-professional teams. (LA. TIMES ARCHIVES). Even Though both career and hobby are

both used in racing. Career racing will take a lot more time, a lot more dedication, and a lot of

teamwork because they will always be on the road. (LA. TIMES ARCHIVES). It is true that

people really do lose their lives when it comes to racing, that's because it's always on their mind,

they are always doing something for their racing career, and they will do everything they can to

be with their car! When racing is a career, race car drivers need to spend their time wisely.

Never ever procrastinate because it will come back to haunt a team. They should create a

schedule and stick to the schedule because racing is a career. A schedule should be made for the

nights that are needed to be in the shop, and what they need to do. Most racing teams have a

white board, or a notebook, or anything where they keep their notes in the shop for what they

need to do for the week. It's pretty much like a checklist that runs from week to week and can

have new things or things already done that would have to be checked off again.

Make sure to give yourself enough time to go over your car for maintenance and

everything that would be required to race! That is where a checklist and maybe even a timeline

would come in handy. They can set themselves a schedule for each night of the week, and stick

to the schedule. If they do this their racing career will show upward improvement from week to

week. Try to have well, relaxed concentration both mentally and physically so that people are not

overworking themselves, and also that they are doing things nice and slow, not rushed. Racing

should always be a word where SAFETY is a big part. Safety makes a driver have fun but also
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keeps them safe, safety is when they have updated belts, updated helmet, fireproof gear. Racing

can be very dangerous, so race car drivers need to do it safely. (Jewett). Matter of fact, no

racetrack can run a race without the presence of the safety crews. (Jewett). Fires are always big

and one of the main concerns at a racetrack, and having adequate equipment on hand is

something racers are watching. (Jewett). Many safety crews do it for a reason, some get paid,

many in perks like race tickets for their families. That's not the main reason they do it. They do it

because they love it, when someone tells them “thank you”, it's a good feeling to them. Safety

crews aren't doing it for money, they do it because they love it and have a way to make it safer.

(Jewett)

In conclusion, people are not expected to jump in a race car and go out and win, it's going

to take a lot of practice and time. Building a race car team requires skill, sponsors, a crew, time,

and a mind to safety. Racing is a way of life for some people, while for others it’s a weekend to

go and have fun with friends and family. Do you have what it takes to build a professional Race

Car Team??
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Works Cited

“About RaceSaver.” RACEsaver Sprint Series, https://www.racesaver.com/series-info/about/.

Accessed 26 September 2022.

“About The World of Outlaws.” World of Outlaws,

https://worldofoutlaws.com/about-the-world-of-outlaws/. Accessed 28 September 2022.

Baruth, Jack. “The Two Best Ways To Break Into Motorsports on a Budget.” Road & Track, 12

May 2016, https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a29144/motorsports-on-a-budget/.

Accessed 19 September 2022.

Baylis, Chris. “Motorsport Marketing: 8 Ways to Promote Your Race Team.” The Sponsorship

Collective,

https://sponsorshipcollective.com/motorsport-marketing-8-ways-to-promote-your-race-te

am/. Accessed 20 September 2022.

Davis, Jen. “How to Start a Race Car Team.” SportsRec, 29 September 2010,

https://www.sportsrec.com/start-race-car-team-7258470.html. Accessed 19 September

2022.

“DIRT 101.” World of Outlaws, https://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars/dirt-101/. Accessed 23

September 2022.

Drake, Al, and Craig Smith. “Photo Page.” J J Motorsports News,

http://jjmotorsportsnews.com/how%20sprintcars%20work.htm. Accessed 19 September

2022.
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Hahn, Emmett. “360 Winged Sprint Cars.” American Sprint Car Series | 360 Winged Sprint

Cars, https://www.ascsracing.com/history/. Accessed 26 September 2022.

Jewett, Larry. “Racing Safety Crews - Track Safety.” MotorTrend, 1 May 2004,

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/ctrp-0405-track-safety-safer-racing/. Accessed 6

October 2022.

LA. TIMES ARCHIVES. “Racing cars started off as a hobby, but . . . It's more than a hobby

now.” Los Angeles Times, 29 November 1987,

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-11-29-me-25333-story.html. Accessed 6

October 2022.

LORENZO. “The Total Novice's Guide to Dirt Track Racing.” AxleAddict, 3 June 2022,

https://axleaddict.com/cars/The-Total-Novices-Guide-to-Dirt-Track-Racing. Accessed 20

September 2022.

“Midwest Sprint Touring Series.” Midwest Sprint Touring Series - MSTS 360,

http://www.msts360.com/about/. Accessed 28 September 2022.

SLIPLO. “How Much Does it Cost to Get into Sprint Car Racing?” SLIPLO, 17 August 2021,

https://sliplo.shop/blogs/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-get-into-sprint-car-racing.

Accessed 19 September 2022.