How to Get Started in Racing

There is no avoiding them. If you go racing, then a trailer and tow vehicle are coming to the party with you. Once there, they must provide shade and shelter while serving as the headquarters for everything off-track: set up and maintenance, problem solving, strategizing, bench racing, hospitality, etc. Here are some considerations for sizing and selecting a trailer and tow vehicle.

Less is more. The big rigs pulled by pro teams are seriously cool. However, at most club circuits they are awkward to spot at best and nearly impossible to back into place once the paddock begins to fill up. Big price tags (initial investment and fuel costs) come with that size and weight. I made a conscious decision to race out of the smallest enclosed trailer possible. My narrow track Lola T-540 fills the floor of a 12-1/2 foot x 6 foot single axle trailer (see image below). There are racks above the car for totes, noses, tires, etc. Fuel jugs, tool boxes, and shelter poles have homes on the trailer floor around the car. I have made such a small trailer work for many years and it is delightfully easy to tow even with an SUV. But it is at its weight limit. For most Formula Ford racers, a 16 x 7 enclosed double axle trailer would seem to be the best compromise.

Portable workshop. After selecting your trailer, the next step is to set it up as a portable workshop. At a minimum, that means fast access to its contents. If something is needed at the race track, it is generally needed in a hurry. If not constrained by space and weight, a small workbench with a vise is a great thing to have at the race track. And a workbench needs a light…

RV vs SUV vs pickup. I successfully towed with an SUV for many, many years until I recently found a 25 foot RV that is a perfect match for my minimalist trailer. I like the RV because it is great for hospitality and there is no shuttling back and forth to a hotel. The larger the trailer and the heavier the race car, the more likely a longer, more powerful pickup or RV will be required.

Shade and shelter. These are must haves at the race track. If your trailer and tow vehicle are not equipped with awnings, standalone shelters work just fine.

There is no one correct answer for the trailer and tow vehicle question but getting it right will make a huge difference in the effort required to travel to the track and the experience once there.

This is the fifth in a series of blogs on how to get started in racing. If you missed the first four, here are the links: How to Get Started in Racing, Tools and Equipment, Spare Parts, and Shop Space.

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Update December 2021

After 22 years of faithful service, my minimalist race trailer is retiring.  I have ordered a new 16×7 aluminum V-nose cargo trailer from R&R Trailers in Three Rivers, Michigan.  It will have room for more stuff including a small workbench and a vise…and a 48-inch LED light over the workbench!  Click HERE for a blog post on setting up a new race trailer.

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Now that we have the tools and equipment and spare parts needed to maintain our race car, we need shop space to do the work. Nobody ever has enough shop space. How much shop space is needed?

The first consideration is obvious: enough room to move around the car. The task with the largest footprint is alignment. Regardless of alignment method, count on the car “growing” in all directions. Engine changes require extra space, too, but only at the back of a rear engine Formula Ford.

The second consideration is where to put all the stuff. Stuff in this context includes more than just tools, equipment, and spare parts. When a race car comes into a shop, it just kind of explodes. Tires and body parts come off at a minimum. Depending on what maintenance is being performed, there must be places for suspension links, uprights, axles, brake rotors and calipers, the seat, etc. And if the engine is coming out there are oil lines, an oil cooler, an oil tank, water hoses, a header tank, engine mounts, and so on to keep track of.

The third consideration are workbenches. A sturdy 6-foot workbench with a vise is a minimum requirement. If homes are needed for a drill press and bench grinder, one workbench will not be enough.

All things considered, a Formula Ford requires about 240 square feet of shop space, about three times it’s footprint. Here are some tricks to squeeze into a minimalist shop space:

Hang as much stuff up on the walls as possible. Peg board is great for that. Wall mounted shelves and cabinets are good, too.

Store spare parts in stackable totes. Put them on stock racks and/or slide them under workbenches.

Utilize a big plastic tub to store parts (cleaned and labeled) during major maintenance projects like engine changes.

When all else fails, put it in the race trailer.   🙂

One last thought on shop space: there is never enough lighting. Hang more lights than you think you will need…tired eyes late at night will thank you.

This is the fourth  in a series of blogs on how to get started in racing. If you missed the first three, here are the links: How to Get Started in Racing, Tools and Equipment, and Spare Parts.

Race cars wear things out (if you are paying attention) and break them (if you are not) so spare parts are always needed. How many spare parts to carry? How to organize spare parts?

Money is obviously the primary consideration (and limiting factor) but there are others. Sourcing is at the top of the list of other considerations. In the digital age, there is so much that can arrive the next day at the click of a mouse. The next other consideration is storage. If there is no room for it on the trailer and it can be delivered tomorrow, why have it at the shop?

What is left are hundreds of small, relatively low cost parts to have at the shop and then take to the race track. It would make no sense, for example, to ruin a race weekend over a spark plug so a set of spark plugs goes to the track.

Here’s an outline of the spare parts that I take to the race track and how I organize them into the three totes shown above:

Electrical and Fluid Handling. No spark and fuel starvation are the two primary causes of engine problems. This tote contains critical electrical parts (master switch, on/off switch, starter button, coil, starter, etc), a complete set of ignition parts (cap, rotor, condenser, plug wires), and wire in every color and connectors in every size. Also in this tote are critical fuel system components: pump, filter, hose, clamps, and check valve. A complete set of coolant hoses and clamps, oil filter cartridges and o-rings, and assorted light bulbs complete the spare parts in this tote.

Chassis and Power Train. Brakes are worked hard in Formula Ford racing. This tote contains spare parts required to refurbish the brake system: master cylinders, caliper seals, caliper pistons, and pads. Also in this tote are rod ends in all sizes, clutch parts (disc, slave cylinder, throw out bearing), spark plugs, lobro joints and boots, front wheel bearings and seals, a throttle cable, an assortment of small springs, an engine gasket kit, and alternate gear sets.

Vital Fluids and Chemicals. This tote contains the fluids and lubricants (oil, brake fluid, water wetter, bearing grease) and chemicals (cleaners, sealers, thread lockers) required to maintain the car. Also contained in this tote are shop rags, paper towels, micro fiber cloths, emery cloth, scotch brite, etc.

Not all spare parts fit into these three totes. Carried separately are a nose, a nose frame, splitter rub strips, a radiator, assorted suspension links, engine mounts, a rear upright, two hardware kits, and eight mounted tires.  I would take more to the track if I had the money and the room on the trailer. 🙂

This is the third in a series of blogs on how to get started in racing.  If you missed the first two, here are the links:  How to Get Started in Racing and Tools and Equipment.

It takes less in the way of tools and equipment to maintain a Formula Ford that you might think. Pictured below are all the hand tools and fixtures that I use to shop prep (checklist, gear change, engine oil change, and alignment) my Lola T-540 for a race weekend. As you can see, they all fit on a folding table!

Here is a quick list of the tools and equipment required to perform routine pre-race maintenance on my Formula Ford. Everything I routinely use (except for the alignment fixtures) can be carried in one small toolbox.

Open and box end wrenches (1/4 inch through 1 inch with some duplicates)
3/8 inch drive ratchet and assorted extensions and adaptors
3/8 inch drive socket set (3/8 inch through 3/4 inch)
3/8 inch drive hex drive socket set (5/32 inch through 3/8 inch)
Breaker bar
Torque wrench (up to 120 ft-lbs)
Assorted hex keys
Assorted pliers (needle nose, side cuts, etc)
Safety wire pliers
Pop rivet gun
Air pressure gauge (bleed down, 0 to 30 psi)
Dial calipers
Spark plug gapping tool
Feeler gauge
Oil tank dipstick
Transaxle dipstick
17 mm hex wrench (for transaxle plugs)
1-1/4 inch socket (for transaxle shaft nuts)
13 mm socket (for transaxle bearing carrier nuts)
18 mm socket (for engine oil pan drain plug)
13/16 inch spark plug socket
Alignment bars and plates (for toe and camber measurements)
Ride height blocks
Tape measure
Digital level (with laser)

A short list of shop equipment (not in the photo) is also required:

Floor jack and/or quick jack
Chassis stands
Air compressor
Portable air tank
Timing light & dwell meter
Battery charger
Drain pans & funnels
Workbench with a vise

Some nice-to-haves-but-not-essentials:

Drill press
Bench grinder
Tap & die set
Assorted EZ outs (1/4 inch through 3/8 inch)
Engine hoist

My Formula Ford was purpose built in 1979 by Lola Cars in the United Kingdom so most of its bolts are English. The exceptions are a few metric nuts on the Hewland Mk9 transaxle (which utilizes a highly modified VW Beetle case). The automotive industry was an early convert to metric. Therefore, production based race cars are likely to have most if not all metric fasteners. If it is a recently designed race car, there are also likely to be a large number of socket head cap screws because of tight clearances.

Tools and equipment is the second in a series of blogs on how to get started in racing.  Next up:  spare parts.

My FF50th and Motorsports pages are getting a lot of interest. Would you like to be out there instead of watching from the grandstand? This is the first is a series of blog posts on how to get started in racing.

I am going to write from the perspective of Formula Ford and club racing because (1) that is what I have been doing recently and (2) you likely found my website through an interest in Formula Ford and the FF50th. In any event, racing is racing so the requirements to support a small formula car will extrapolate to whatever race car you are interested in sitting in.

The organization and effort required to put a race car (safely) on the track is considerable. It is a big hill, but not Mount Everest. Anything can be completed on time if you start soon enough. Preparing a race car and transporting it to the race track is a challenge that provides (as least to me) almost as much satisfaction as the seat time.

How to get started in racing is a big topic across multiple dimensions. A race car, of course, is an obvious requirement. Safety equipment (helmet, HANS, fire suit, underwear, gloves, shoes, etc) and a competition license are also needed. If you choose to race your own car (as opposed to renting one from a prep shop), then you must maintain and transport it. I will focus on this dimension of how to get started in racing by retracing my steps to resume driving after a long break (17 years!) to do the dad thing for three little girls.

I quickly realized that the infrastructure that I once had in place was mostly gone. In the next four blog posts, I will outline the support systems required to campaign a Formula Ford:
– Tools and Equipment
– Shop Space
– Spare Parts
– Trailer and Tow Vehicle

There is a lot to more to racing that driving the car….