During Vietnam I got the fun of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers. About the most intense thing a guy can do. Flying combat was typically boring except for those rare moments when they’d launch a Sam at me or try to knock me down with ground fire.
Sam’s were rare. Cost too much and the only way they could get them in country was submarines. Plus if they missed ( and they usually did) I assume someone caught hell, After my second tour the only real fun I got was when I had to land during a storm. ( Too rare to satisfy me).
No I didn’t have some death wish. Just the opposite. You never feel more alive than those moments. Your skill against danger. The Navy trained us well and as long as you didn’t panic nothing bad happened.
Once out of the Navy, and I couldn’t afford to rent an Aircraft carrier, sports car racing filled that need. I began with slow old MGTD just like the early trainers we flew. I tried Corvettes, too truck like, too costly and unreliable. Jaguar’s were the answer.
Because of their bad reputation they depreciated like a stone and as soon as were no long new and shiny often wound up in junk yards. But the mechanical bits were still in excellent shape.
Strip out the luxury stuff. Do the cheap, “let’s go racing” stuff. And I could go racing on a tiny budget. Cost? Whatever I could afford. When I could afford it. (Modest income with above normal expenses, if money was needed, I’d work on the time only stuff until the money tree sprouted a new crop of money). Things like paint prep, detail work, polishing etc. Because others saw how nice and reliable my cars were I got some additional income prepping others cars. Me, leading at Elkhart Lake. The car behind was the DeMar MK2 that I rebuilt from scratch. Fun fast car I drove in 12 races that year and won11
There were 2 other cars I’d prepped.
I


This is North Island San Diego approximately 21 million dollars worth of cars in that field. 2 FERRARI TESTA ROSA’s . The factory Corvette SS, the 1956 LeMans winner, Porsche RSK. Etc.
Yes that is me on the pole.
I Avoid the people who don’t have the skill needed to avoid contact, ( by going Vintage racing) I could go as fast as I was able to safely. Come roaring into a corner an inch or so away from friends who were trustworthy. Right on the absolute limit of traction. Knowing that if either of us misjudged anything we’d give the other the needed space/ time to deal with it.

 

I agree, watching a motor race is a bit Boring unless you have something riding on it.

I grew up in Montana, there was a "speed limit" largely Ignored by almost everyone (especially MHP) unless you were doing something Really Stupid that got their attention. and then they threw the book at you, mostly because you were dumb enough or careless enough to get caught.

Moving to California put a screeching halt to that! Too many "drivers," locally at least, are merely steerers, having NO idea where they are in space and time, where their corners are, where their tires are, where the road is, sometimes where they're going. If they're startled they do Really Stupid things, I don't want that to be my fault so I drive like they're all Idiots, Expecting they'll do something dumb right in front of me at any given moment. I'm seldom disappointed.

There is a "looong" straight out here (3 mile passing zone, nothing to compare with US-2 in Montana but I must make do) where I have had my Jag up to 138mph, (according to that flashy thingy by the road) but that was Pre-Covid when traffic was lighter with 10% of the big rigs and TANKERS(!) on the road.
Now I must be satisfied with making Every Trip is a Rally Stage.

 

The speed limit in MT was "reasonable and proper", until the first oil embargo when the national double nickle was adopted, but the fine was only $5 for exceeding that, the fine was for "energy wasting', not speeding.

Reasonable and proper took into account road conditions, traffic (genrally none back in 1974) and vehicle and condition of vehicle.

I took my 308 to my 10 year HS reunion in Helena in August 1985, they still had the 55 limit, but as soon as I crossed into MT on I-15, I opened it up to 100. I had the targa top off ,and I could watch for MHP airplanes. The traffic was very light, I don't recall passing more than half a dozen cars all the way up to Butte, which was about 100 miles.

So either everybody was driving as fast as I was, or there was no traffic (not many cars were going south, either).

Doug

 

With all the sports car race tracks in California, take it to track night. That’s for street cars like yours. No racing equipment required. ( they will rent you a helmet)
It’s not racing!! You go at whatever speed you feel comfortable at. Faster cars will come up behind you and wait for you to signal which side you’d like them to pass you. Typically they will wave a thank you.
There will be professional instructors to help you learn the lines, braking points etc. they ride right along with you speaking calmly and want you to find out how much fun it is.

 

Thank you for the suggestion.
I've actually thought about that, never got around to it, always something got in the way.
There is a track, Thunderhill Raceway about 50 miles from here.
When the weather clears I might have to look into that.
Although it might become very, um, Addictive.

 

No "might" about it LnR!

 

It is more addictive than drugs. That intense high you get when dicing with a friend or someone you are comfortable in close proximity Is greater than any drug. But once off the track you won’t want to get more. You are calm, rational and willing to wait until your budget meets the cost of an event.
The great thing is that you can take some old rat of a car and with very little money go really fast. ( assuming you are willing to DIY the work yourself).
If you just want track time without the need to build a race car, there are endurance events you can go to with nothing more than your racing gear. ( called arrive and drive).
You are typically on the track for 2-3 hours at a time. They do all the prep work and it’s not sprint racing where a 10th of a second is the difference between success and failure. Consistency is most important. Drive at 80% of the cars full potential.
Lemons and CHAMP CAR are the 2 biggest groups. Both have web sites. But there are other groups that have the same sort of thing . No experience needed
Winning groups are the most expensive to Join and typically they only want “winners” ( experienced fast steady drivers)
But there are always teams looking for drivers.
Willing to cover some of the costs involved. Ability to fix a broken car at 2:00am tends to be of more value than a fast driver.

 

Guy I was working for years back bought a newer Ferrari of some sort he wanted to take to VIR, had been using a 993 Porsche.
He says to me a few weeks before hey, order me some brake pads and tires, much like we did for the Porsche.
Until he saw the cost for the Ferrari. Believe that one had carbon brakes, it was excessively expensive.
He never did track that car. Don't take long to learn your all season tires suck though if you're trying to track a street car, and
that weight sucks, and that if you do like it, it's addictive. We used to bracket race a little when I was a kid, you could race anything and win if you were
consistent even if you were slow. It was a good way to validate tuning changes and such.
Haven't felt compelled to in years other than maybe off road rally racing, that still looks fun.
If I was going to do any of it involving much cornering I'd probably buy a Miata.

 

I've heard of people who track their Ferraris taking off the carbon brakes and putting steel ones because they're so much cheaper.

The only things I've tracked are go-karts and my Street Triple before it got stolen. I managed consistent 12.2 in the quarter the first time out. I was pretty fun.

 

That's the wise and economical-ish thing to do. Porsche guys do the same. Kind of a silly option, almost nobody needs those brakes. But nobody really *needs* a ferrari either I guess so hey...