Like most car enthusiasts without an unlimited budget to blow on cars and track days, I like to daydream about what I’d have if I ever had a bunch of money in the bank. Every day it’s different, but the concept is the same. Sometimes I think about what I’d get if I could only ever have three cars, or what I’d do with a budget of one million dollars.
Other times, I like to daydream about doing a full season of racing. If you’ve never looked into how expensive any form of racing actually is, I’d recommend staying away from that Google search, because it’ll leave your soul crushed. Even the most amateur, low-cost, no-budget, run-what-you-got series will bankrupt the average American after just a couple of seasons.
For people like me, who can barely afford to keep a shed of shitboxes running, participating in any real racing is a pipe dream. Yet, I still have trouble deciding what kind of racing I’d do if I had the money.
There are so many different types of race cars in the world. Beyond the truly popular stuff, like NASCAR, Formula 1, IMSA, IndyCar, and drag racing, you have stuff like stage rally, club racing, circle tracks, time attack, karting, desert racing, autocross, and hill climbs. No matter your taste or skill level, there’s a series or championship for you out there.
Personally, I’d love to race a Legends Car, as the racing itself seems pretty pure and very competitive. That sort of racing is a good way to hone your skills if you want to climb up the ladder to the truly fast stuff. The same goes for something like Spec Miata or MX-5 Cup, where the cars aren’t all that fast, but they’re all identical, and the drivers are all top-notch. If I had the time, I’d probably also buy a high-level stage rally car, like an old WRC car, and take it rallying across America.
While I don’t think I’d ever be fast enough to earn a paid seat in a series like IMSA, if I had the money, I’d probably consider being a gentleman driver for one of the GTD squads. Racing in the Daytona 24 sounds like a dream come true, even if I’m the slowest person on the grid.
Your turn:
You’ve Got All The Money You Need To Race Anything You Like. What’s It Gonna Be?
Top graphic image: US Legends Cars International
Something old.
I’ve watched a few Bugatti drivers club races, and they look like terrific fun.
Maybe one of the Balchowsky Ol’ Yallers?
Oh I know, I’ll take the beast of Turin! That’s the ticket.
Formula 1 historic at Monaco. Frankly, the historics are now a better show than the current cars by a long shot. But the chance to drive, say villeneuve’s ferrari around the streets of the principality in anger (well, 90% anger) would be magic.
As a fan of According to Jim I choose Baby Racing, it’s really the only racing you can do while drinking a beer.
Unlimited money and talent – let’s dream big and go to the pinnacle of motorsports racing – MotoGP.
Realistically I’ve done some mini-moto racing and it is a LOT of fun for not much money. (Small dirt bikes with slicks on cart tracks) The problem is finding a race series that lasts more than a season and cart tracks that will take on the liability of motorcycle events.
Dirt bike racing is very inexpensive. You can get into hare scrambles, enduro, or motocross for a couple thousand all in, and a few bucks per race. I raced motocross as a teen and hare scrambles in my 20’s. Pro level is a different ball game, but you can buy a 15 year old bike and a couple hundred in gear and go out and have a blast.
This is what I have learned for myself in my 30s. I was hoping to be racing anything, and well dirtbikes are the biggest bang for the buck.
An n/a AE86 probably still wouldn’t be competitive in D1 Lights, but I could at least be a crowd favorite
That’s what I was going for using an MX5 in the BDC.
The Peking to Paris Rally. I’ll use a Jeep CJ8 scambler
Same, but I’ll take a Bentley 6.5-liter Speed Six and a Tatra support truck.
Nice choice of ride and support.
Well I have standards, and I expect the catering staff to keep to a schedule.
As you should.
+ 1 mx5 cup. Would love to trade paint with those folks. The cars are quick enough to have fun and cheap enough you don’t mind a little argy-bargy. 45 minute sprints sound just about perfect. The most fun you can have sitting down!
Either a full IMSA Corvette team or a WRC team, probably Toyota though I’d pick VW if it were available.
Team Corvette is always competitive and impressive and WRC just looks like the most fun.
Saved me some typing, friend. +1
GT3 racing with a Corvette. It’s a great car. It can run in several series. It just looks cool on track.
Same. GT3 because it still has road car analogous cars but you get to be in top tier racing if you’re good enough
I shoulda added, it sounds cool too!
Lower-tier AMA flat track motorcycle racing, like the various regional series. I’d get a Transit for hauling, a used race bike, and spend my weekends riding the circuit mostly for the thrill of the competition.
Eh, I “drive like a PTA mother,” as the old song says. Any sort of racing would be lost on me. I figured that out a long time ago. Being a team boss might be fun, though…
British sporting trials. Essentially just a nice drive in the British countryside with any sort of frankencar you can mash together.
This
I want an old Austin 7 in Trials spec. It’s not particularly fast, but it looks like stupid-good fun
And with your best mate/partner whose specific job is to bounce!
A dream of mine would be racing a NASCAR Arca car, most all of the vibes of higher level stock car racing but less intensity due to shorter distances and non competitive pit stops.
Classic Mini racing at Goodwood circuit.
My wife and I were at Brands Hatch a couple years ago for the Mini Festival. Watching the classic Minis run was spectacular. It looked like great fun.
I would love to run Dirt Modifieds. It’s so iconic for most of America. I’ve driven one from a driving experience that had no power, but the simulator is so fun.
I’ve driven a legends car and they’re such a silly amount of fun. Enough power to spin the tires in 4th, set up for an oval they only want to turn left, and can be pants-shittingly fast since you’ve got 120 HP in a full suspension go kart. Definitely would be my pick for affordable fun in autocross and local racing
Not too far from me is what they call the “Fastest 1/8 Mile On Ice!”
They claim: “We hold the WORLD RECORDS – 141.6 MPH & 5.431 ET in 660 ft.!”
https://www.merrillicedrags.com/about/
Amazing how studded tires can hook up on ice. Here’s a video:
https://youtu.be/bhZdjj8iQlg
I’ve always wanted to build a DeLorean that actually drives like it looks. Take it to the local ‘run what ya brung’ with something enormous stuffed in the engine bay…
More than one have been LS swapped.
Ferrari 250 GTO…pinnacle, right?
I live close to a short track, and I’d love to give modifieds a try. Unfortunately I’m in the middle of late model country so we only see them once or twice a year. Since I can also use this blank check for driver coaching, I’d hit up someone like Justin Marks or Max Papis and see if I could be coached to a point where I could run decently in an ARCA race, since it’s the highest level of stock car racing that reasonably be reached by a true hobbyist racer IMO.
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run would be my best fit.
…given my age and the shape I’m in, it’s either gonna be a monster truck or a drag car. And if drag racing I’m staying the hell away from Nitro.
Or I guess Simracing counts. Does Simracing count?
We just went to Monster Jam a weekend or so ago!
I think maybe we didn’t get the best showing though. The arena was tiny. We were excited, are excited, but kind of felt bad for the drivers. Didn’t feel like they got to strut their stuff.
I went to one years ago in an urban indoor arena. Quickly realized that most of the really outrageous stuff they show in the ads only happens in the big outdoor venues.
Yeah, I’ve been watching the weekly streams of events they do on YouTube. The arena tours don’t really have the big stuff that the stadium tours do. That said, you’ll occasionally see a backflip or something of the like in an arena, but they’re rare.
Perhaps a lot of the most spectacular stuff never happens in public, at least in this country?
In pyrotechnics, you have to go to a professional event to do some of the wilder stuff.
Ferrari Challenge or something like that would be an epic way to travel and spend my time. That’s obviously money-is-no-object type stuff.
I have to assume I’m not good enough to buy myself on to a team to race GT3 or something like that, but who knows, maybe with some training.
I did always want to do spec-B racing which is obviously much more affordable. A spec Yaris (specifically an actual Nerd Herd Yaris) was a dream for a while. I could probably afford the car and have time for the work, but probably couldn’t afford all the other expenses that came with it.
Stage rally. Does that include the $ to keep repairing/replacing my car? Because it’s going to get expensive.
Oh, it gets expensive. The unlimited money absolutely must cover car repairs/replacements. Just finished paying off the body shop from straightening the frame after I hit a mountain in AZ.
I feel sure the mountain was at fault.
I’ve done rallycross for multiple years, my dad did stage rally in the late 70s/80s. I’ve always thought I wanted to do it but realize I don’t have the skill/money/ballz/etc