Waterford Hills Area Racers - Equipment Questions

[Montero65]

For those who race the Waterford Hills track, what classes are you running in? Are you doing SCCA events?

How heavily (if at all) have you modified your MG's?
If modified, what have you done?

Is anyone running sport/race buckets? What seats are you using?

Thanks for the advice.

Jon

 

[Bugeye58]

Jon, as the Chief Tech Inspector for Waterford hills, I think I can answer your questions.
We are a road racing club, and adhere to the SCCA GCR. Our cars are race cars, and therefore have full roll cages, fuel cells, on board fire systems,full racing harnesses, etc.
This year I will be running a '62 Sprite, that is prepared to a level suited to National competition in the SCCA, "H" Production class.
But if you want to just come out and play, we have two "Open Track" days scheduled for 2005. If a convertible, it must have a roll bar. Not a cage, just something to protect you if you get on your head. It happens. Good belts, and no loose items in the cockpit or boot.(Trunk)
The open days are essentially mini drivers schools, or a chance for people with sporty street cars to come out and get the feel of driving on a race track. There are instructors, and after a few laps, you get to go on your own. These events have been well received, and have led to many of the participants going further into actual "wheel to wheel" racing.
Check out www.waterfordhills.com
Or, our next meeting is this Wednesday night at 8:00PM, at the track.
Feel free to contact me for any information you need. My email address is on my profile, or you can get in touch with me through the contact information link at the Waterford Hills website.
Hope to see you at the meeting.
Jeff Dahn

 

[Super_Coop]

Being an east coast guy I'm not familiar with that track, but can give you a brief on rundown on MG racing (and will leave out a lot). Most races MGs have been in for the most part are sanctioned by the SCCA where (IIRC) MGBs run in E Production, Midgets in FP, and MGAs in GP. Ken Prather is the hotttest MGA driver on the planet, having won multiple national championships and was on his way to what would have been a podium finish in the 2004 SCCA runoffs had he not been taken out by (of all things) a Suzuki. SCCA is for the hardcore racer and the Production racecar classes are for heavily modified cars that could never be driven on the street. Think 13+:1 compression, slicks, Nissan transmissions, and gutted interiors. But the SCCA is not the only game in town. Vintage racing is growing by leaps and bounds and attracting a guy who wants to race but not destroy his car in the process. These clubs will use the same tracks as the SCCA. There are numerous vintage clubs around and all have their own set of rules but do tend to keep things more on a friendly nature, ie, if you bend your or anybody elses car you're on probation for 13 months, do it again during that time and you suspended for 13 months - they call it the 13/13 rule. A friend of mine races an MGA in a club that requires the car to have a race history from back in the 1950s/1960s and will be raced as such. The club I'm going with (SVRA) is a little more lenient - the car has to be prepared as it would have been raced back then... with modern safety equipment. For me that means pretty much a stock MGA with a fuel cell, roll bar, a mildly hotted up motor that runs on pump gas, and a better brake lining. Obviously, all these clubs have a myriad of classes. Hope this helps. Sorry if anything is inaccurate, it's all from (failing) memory.

 

[Bugeye58]

Ah,yes, Dave. "My memory is fading, and so are my brakes."
To add insult to injury, Kent was taken out by a Tin Top!!!!
I do have to say, though, that you are the first person I have ever heard describe the SVRA as being lenient!
WHRRI is a private club, and has had an active track since 1957. It's like Lime Rock with corners. 13 turns in 1.5 miles. You'ld like it.
Vintage is a whole other ball game, and as Jon has a '79 B, it wouldn't be vintage eligible.
Jeff

 

[Super_Coop]

Dang, I'm really out of touch with what's going on with Waterford Hills Area Racers. SVRA seemed "lenient" to me in that they would let me show up in a car with no real race history as long as it was prepared as if it had some glorious history. This works out for me because I don't have to worry about a concours restoration (hey it's a race car, not a show car) and I don't have to spend the money I'd have to for a full blown race car in order to race. So I get to have it both ways, and in Virginia a car registered as a historic vehicle is not subject to inspection. Besides SVRA, the only other vintage club I've had experience with was HSR - now that group is lenient. I competed with them in the Sports Challenge group. I had a supercharged Miata. People often wondered what it was doing at a vintage event.

 

[aeronca65t]

But the SCCA is not the only game in town. Vintage racing is growing by leaps and bounds....

Super_Coop: Actually, you have another option.

EMRA runs events in the northeast USA from Summit Point to Shannonville (Ontario). Very low-key with emphasis on fun and safety. We do wheel-to-wheel racing, time trials and open track days. We get a fair amount of vintage folks running some of our events and we have members from Virgina to New Hampshire. We have a Miata Challenge and get folks with Craftsman trucks, ARCA racers and Legend racers as well as ordinary street cars. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

www.emraracing.org

SVRA is a little more lienient that the VSCCA but their fees (joining club plus event fee) are real high in my opinon. I could run two SCCA events or four EMRA events for the the cost of running the SVRA Lime Rock Vintage event. In addition, actual track time at most vintage events is much less than SCCA or EMRA events. Last year at our open track day at Lime Rock, I got 2 hours of actual track time for $145. As Jeff says, vintage is a whole other ball game compared to club racing.

WHRRI is a private club.... It's like Lime Rock with corners.

Jeff: I guess I'm not the only person who considers Lime Rock an oval. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Montero65: Sorry to high-jack your thread.....stick with Jeff. He'll steer you right. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[Bugeye58]

Nial, even in a GTP car, Lime Rock is boring.
Jeff

 

[Montero65]

Jeff,
I've actually been up to Waterford once a few years back for a track day where people could bring there cars, or let others drive them. A fellow my dad knew let me come up and drive his Formula 500 car. The deal at the track that day was each driver got 5 laps, but they could not be consistent (didn't want novices heating up the tires and getting the high speeds going).

Anyway, I appreciate all the discussion on racing series'. I'm pretty much looking at getting into SCCA production class. I looked at the improved touring (ITB) but you can't hardly touch the car to make any mods. I see in production you can make a lot more. Is there anything in between these two? Seeing the production cars on SPEED during the runoffs, I'm not sure I want my car to be THAT modified.

Back to equipment - What modifications has anyone made to B's? I figured I'd need the roll bar (plus it'd be good for adding chassis stiffness). I have no interior, so I'm looking at some different racing buckets. Any suggestions on what is a good fit for the B? I'd like to keep the price decent as I'm going to get a passenger seat as well. Any help is appreciated. Thanks