A Guide To Cheap-Car Racing For 2014

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

It’s kind of frightening to think about what shape amateur road racing would in be in nowadays if the 24 Hours of Lemons hadn’t happened. Luckily, cheap racing arrived right in time for an America facing a decidedly lowered set of expectations and opportunities. I, for one, welcome our five thousand hundred dollar racing overlords.


To help you choose your crapcan racing series for 2014, the folks at Hooniverse have put together this helpful guide. Knowing the RaceDAZE guys as I do, I have to say that their new series deserves your attention.

I’ll be racing Chump and LeMons in a pair of brand-new used Subarus that we’re building for the season. I’ll probably have to watch the first few races from the paddock, but come June or so I expect to be making iffy passes with the best of ’em. See you out there!

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Travis Travis on Jan 24, 2014

    I'll be in Atlanta on the 7th and 8th for the Chump race that weekend. I'll be in a Nissan Pulsar. Hope it holds together! Also, that red Rambler is stupid fast.

  • Schultz Schultz on Jan 24, 2014

    The racer in the pic thinks a Neon is a good choice. Huh. I remember visiting a Dodge dealer service department when the Neon was mid-life...there were a pile of the Neon engines piled high on the floor. If I were going Chump racing for fun (aka finishing) I would go Japanese. Japanese cars at their worst are better than most at their best.

    • See 8 previous
    • Danio3834 Danio3834 on Jan 27, 2014

      As the history of 24 Hours of Lemons and ChumpCar has proven, Japanese cars don't always fare so well. Zeros for Zees! By contrast, the Neons that show up are almost always competitive.

  • Highrpm Highrpm on Jan 24, 2014

    I am personally very happy to see these types of race series. I raced the SCCA Improved Touring series for a decade in the 90s and early 00s. The ranks are definitely thinner now in SCCA. Higher entry fees and overall costs don't help.

  • Danio3834 Danio3834 on Jan 27, 2014

    So far we're planning to make a ChumpCar race in September. As time and resoucres permit, we might hit some other events. Trying to build and field cars for the drag strip kinda limits how much roundy round will happen, but we'll be out there.

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