Potentially. There are just more local dirt tracks where we live. Asphalt sure would be cleaner though! Our car is a dusty/dirty mess after this race.
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Quarter Midget experience
- Thread starter bssmith1220
- Start date
Potentially. There are just more local dirt tracks where we live. Asphalt sure would be cleaner though! Our car is a dusty/dirty mess after this race.
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That was a nice pass on the three midgets at 1:35. He did really well finding his sweet spot line on the track.
That is almost double the current horsepower. If you can, get a video of his next race with the larger restrictor plate.
Here’s his first blue rookie race last weekend. We are the green car. Pac-Man is his nickname, you can hear it a few times from the announcer.
Here’s the race from today. We are still learning how to pass a car that’s running a low line.
We ran our last rookie race today. Time to move up to the real deal.
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What racing class will Paxton start in, now that he's finished his rookie training program?
He will run this same car in junior Honda. No changes to the car at all for that one, just more experienced drivers. Ages 5-9 (he’s 7), Honda 120 motor with a blue restrictor plate. That car makes about 4hp and we run 8 second laps with 32ish mph top speed.
We also just put together a second car and tested that today. That one will be junior Animal. Ages 5-9, Briggs animal motor with a restrictor plate. This motor makes about 5.5hp. It should be about half a second or so quicker laps.
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I like that exhaust setup.
Any change in tire size? Maybe it's just the camera angle but the front tires on the Animal look a tad wider than the green car.
Pretty cool. I had to Google that digital display.
Stupid question- how do you get them on the black and orange stand?
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Stupid question- how do you get them on the black and orange stand?
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Yea that’s the Briggs animal exhaust setup. It sounds pretty cool for what it is.
No change in tire size, but we run various rim sizes on the left side to get the stagger where we want it.
Right front is the same. Maybe just the different color wheels making it look that way.
We pick them up! Heavy suckers. Mine weigh about 215lbs. We have to weigh 265 with driver and my kid is roughly 50lbs.
Thanks for the info. A few other questions.
* How much learning/training on your end (personally) on the tech side, since you're the team owner/boss/techy?
* Was is the average annual budget for a team in Pac-Man's age bracket?
* How many on your team crew? Just you right now?
-big learning curve since I have never raced anything personally other than a street car at a drag strip. Things like rear stagger, gear ratios, and suspension setup has to change in between heat (qualifiers) and feature races almost every time. I keep good notes on track condition and what our setup is each time out. So I can get us close at our home track pretty consistently now after a full season. It took me three weeks and several phone calls to assemble/setup the green car last winter, the yellow one I got together in about a day last week. So we’ve learned a lot.
-depends on how many cars you run. I’d say between travel, wearables like tires (go through a set every few races), and entry fees it cost about 2-4k per year per car if you plan to be competitive as long as you don’t crash one bad. We spent about 20k this year but I started from scratch and to buy the cars themselves, tools, trailer, etc.
I will say that our cars are very well maintained and not everyone does that. I change oil, valve springs in the motor, and clean and lubricate all the bearings after each race weekend. Not everyone does that. But our cars are fast and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. The process of cleaning our cars each race is what helps me to go over it and make sure nothing is binding or worn out. Some peoples cars look like they are never cleaned and I know people running motors that haven’t been refreshed in years.
-just me. I do the setups, maintenance, and driver coaching mostly by myself. My wife helps with getting him in the car and strapped in each time out and my 16 year old daughter will occasionally help with maintenance stuff. Paxton likes to hang out in the garage and I let him do some things but when his safety is on the line I double check anything he touches.
All that being said you can get into the sport for probably 2k buying an older car and run it locally and have a good time for probably another $500 all season. That’s just not how we operate. We make sure we have fun, but we are out there to win.
You've learned quite a bit in a relatively short time period.
As far as your budget, racing isn't cheap, BUT....it's certainly an investment in your family and in PacMan's future, even if it isn't racing as an adult. I have a cousin in Hawthorne, CA who started racing quarter midgets as a child. Probably about PM's age. He progressed quickly and his dad learned like you did as the team leader. He progressed to full size midgets and sprint cars. He raced until maybe his late 20s, touring the west and mid-west, with the occasion east coast venues. Mostly dirt track. He and his dad were always close. They both had such a passion for racing. Their time spent racing was a worthwhile investment in multiple ways. I have no doubt this racing venture will be as much a family (ad)venture as it will be a personal (ad)venture for your son. Enjoy!
As far as your budget, racing isn't cheap, BUT....it's certainly an investment in your family and in PacMan's future, even if it isn't racing as an adult. I have a cousin in Hawthorne, CA who started racing quarter midgets as a child. Probably about PM's age. He progressed quickly and his dad learned like you did as the team leader. He progressed to full size midgets and sprint cars. He raced until maybe his late 20s, touring the west and mid-west, with the occasion east coast venues. Mostly dirt track. He and his dad were always close. They both had such a passion for racing. Their time spent racing was a worthwhile investment in multiple ways. I have no doubt this racing venture will be as much a family (ad)venture as it will be a personal (ad)venture for your son. Enjoy!
We ran both cars this past weekend and threw Paxton to the wolves with two full days of 8 separate 25 lap features (in rookie he ran 8 or 15). He did great, finishing 7 of the 8 races (got dq’d once in the new yellow car for spinning out 3 times). He finished 3rd out of 7 in the junior Honda (green) car and 7th out of 11 in the yellow animal car.
The new car is a whole new level and throttle control is key. It will spin the tires if he abruptly gets on the gas in the corner and if he lets up too quickly it will lock the rear tires from the motor compression. He did a helluva job making that jump. I geared the yellow car to not be quite as fast as it could be, but he’s consistent for sure. Look at those lap times!
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The new car is a whole new level and throttle control is key. It will spin the tires if he abruptly gets on the gas in the corner and if he lets up too quickly it will lock the rear tires from the motor compression. He did a helluva job making that jump. I geared the yellow car to not be quite as fast as it could be, but he’s consistent for sure. Look at those lap times!
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I haven’t updated this thread in a while and after a solid two years in the sport we are about to move on. After a very successful rookie year in 2022, we made a move this year from Maryland to North Carolina and raced a variety of tracks along the way. Paxton has progressed very well despite the move taking lots of racing weekends off the schedule this year. We wanted to stay in this class another year or so but with the only track in NC being near Charlotte and us living in Raleigh it isn’t super practical.
Enter the next adventure. Bandoleros. These are full body, weigh about 750 pounds, and run a Briggs vanguard motor with roughly 30hp. Our first race is tomorrow and we are just hoping to bring it home in one piece!
Here’s a few pics from this year. I’ll make a new thread for the new car once we have sone track time.
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Enter the next adventure. Bandoleros. These are full body, weigh about 750 pounds, and run a Briggs vanguard motor with roughly 30hp. Our first race is tomorrow and we are just hoping to bring it home in one piece!
Here’s a few pics from this year. I’ll make a new thread for the new car once we have sone track time.
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