B-Spec Racing: It's Like Trans-Am For The Pre-Post-Scarcity Era

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

Our compatriots at AutoGuide have been covering the new B-Spec class quite a bit over the past few weeks. A variety of Grand-Am teams, including Kinetic (building a $34,000 turnkey Kia Rio racer) and Capaldi (which has been testing a B-Spec Fiesta for some time) are planning to either sell B-Spec customer cars or provide seats for “funded drivers” in B-Spec racers.

What is B-Spec? What do they cost? Where can you race them? And, most importantly, how fast are they? We’ve assembled some answers and made a few guesses after the jump.

First, the short answers: B-Spec is a new SCCA class for new-model, showroom-stock subcompact cars. Depending on which car you choose, who installs the cage and safety equipment, and how many spares you want to start with, the cost of building a car for the class will run from $25,000 to $40,000. (Certain factory-affiliate teams will make money by obtaining “dollar cars” from their manufacturers and handling all the fab themselves. A “dollar car” is a car which has been deemed unsuitable for sale due to defect or other reasons. For those factory affiliates, total cost will be in the $10,000 range.) Renting a arrive-and-drive seat in a B-Spec racer for the weekend is likely to cost between $3500 and $5000 plus damages.

Now for the rest of the story. These are the initial SCCA-approved B-Spec cars:

  • 2010 and up Fiesta
  • 2009 and up Fit
  • 2010-2011 Versa, both bodystyles
  • 2011 Mazda2
  • 2010-2011 Toyota Yaris

These cars are listed as likely future participants:

  • Sonic
  • Fiat 500
  • Accent
  • Rio — and Kinetic just debuted their proof-of-concept car, seen in the headline photo
  • Scion IQ and XD
  • VW Polo

SCCA is juggling the weights around to try to ensure competitiveness: the Versa must tip the scales at 2675lbs while the Mazda2 is permitted to weigh 2130.

How fast will they be? Early indications from NASA events and SCCA testing are that they will be about as fast as NASA Performance Touring “E” racers. I happen to own a NASA PTE car myself, so I will watch the class with interest. The PTE race pace is approximately what skilled trackday drivers obtain from stock Corvettes and Porsches: around 1:42-1:45 at the Mid-Ohio Pro Course. My Neon is permitted to make about 150 horsepower at the front wheels and race at a loaded weight of 2450lbs; a Kia Rio in B-Spec trim should have no trouble beating those numbers.

The difficulty is that it’s possible to build an acceptable PTE car from a Sentra or Neon and spend a total of ten grand or thereabouts. B-Spec prices are much higher than that. B-Spec may also encounter the same issue that kept NASA’s Spec Focus class from succeeding: the factory-backed teams are likely to be almost unbeatable. Spec Focus was plagued by a de facto two-class system: the Capaldi-built cars could run 1:45s at Mid-Ohio and the privateers were lucky to break 1:48. Nobody wants to spend a year of their lives building a car so they can get lapped by arrive-and-drivers.

Grand-Am has also expressed interest in B-Spec, since current ST-class cars can run from $60,000 to nearly twice that and plenty of drivers might welcome a chance to enjoy the many perks of racing Grand-Am weekends at a lower rate. Speaking personally, I would probably take an occasional seat in such a class and so would other drivers whom I know.

Will B-Spec succeed? I wouldn’t bet ten bucks on it to do so. The idea of paying $30K or more to run at used-Sentra pace is a tough sell, and in this current economy it’s possible to buy a nice D Sports Racer for that kind of money. How fast are D Sports Racers? Here’s a hint: in an hour-long race, a D Sport would lap a B Spec five times. And here’s a picture of one. Look at this, then look at the picture above, and ask yourself: Which one would you rather have your girlfriend see you racing?

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Granracing Granracing on Nov 07, 2011

    "Anyone who has the least interest in racing knows about autocross or Lemons or Spec Miata" Unfortunately this isn't the case. The majority of people who watch racing do not realize that there are affordable options out there. (I run a site dedicated to helping get people into racing on a modest budget www.GoAheadTakeTheWheel.com ) What I like about the B spec concept is manufacturer involvement and the added exposure it'll provide. As pointed out in the article, B Spec is going to be anything but inexpensive and is not the affordable way to go racing. Hopefully people who hear about it will look at SCCA or whatever club further to discover the other less expensive options.

  • Gary Gary on Jan 10, 2012

    Sorry late to the party. Just mentioned this on http://www.downtomotor.com Landed here after days of researching the Kia Rio as a potential customer. To the author of the blog post: My girlfriend would rather see me in an actual car and not a glorified kart. Also I would rather be crashing in the Kia than said kart. To "granracing": thanks for the link. Looking to jump into AutoX this year. Your site is appreciated!

  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
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