I race in the SCCA [Sports Car Club of America] National Championship series. We race to get an invitation to the amateur club championships, the "Runoffs".

MOST of the racers, maybe 90%, do it for the fun. Some do it as a stepping stone to the pros, although that has changed much over the 37+ yrs I've been in it. Some race for a living, making their money preparing a bunch of cars. MOST of the racers are very good people who will respect your racing space on the track. SOME will even loan you their best race engine and then race you to the last lap trying to beat you. Good guys.

[When I first went to driver's school, racers like Mario Andretti's son Michael were racing Formula Fords.]

Our races are about 45 minute sprint races. Race weekends are either Friday-Saturday-Sunday or just Saturday-Sunday.

Costs: It usually costs me $400 to enter a race, but can be as low as $225 and as high as $600 for a "double" race weekend. We can find a visiting driver some good used slick tires, so that can be from $0 to $800 if you want to race on a new set. Fuel might cost $50 for a weekend. Other than that, your living expenses will decide if you spend a lot of money or not. I've slept in many a race trailer at the race track, and with nice showers at most race tracks, camping is an option.

Peter