I'm thinking about running dirt also, but I need someone who runs sprint pavement to help me out finding a series to run with, and any other info that I need.

jarod

Don't do it!!!! Cost quite a bit more then dirt to go race & pavement cars are ridiculously exspensive to build/put together

First, I want you to know how much I respect your service to this country. Men like you make it possible for people like me to feel safe.

Second of all, as a long time car owner/ driver, take my advice and take Uncle Sam's money and buy a nice house with a garage. Then take the next couple of years and build a car (whether dirt or pavement). You'll be happier in the long run.

And third, if you have a significant other, make sure she's on board with you racing. There's almost nothing that can wreck a relationship faster then a race car. Been there, done that.

But to answer your question, don't let the people on theis board scare you away from pavement racing. I am a huge fan of non-winged dirt racing. I've been to a lot of different race tracks all over the country and in my opinion, Gas City puts on one of the best weekly shows in the country. But the reason I have hardly ever raced there is because I can't afford to. But I do run a winged pavement car with the HOSS series and have for several years. You see, Gas City (and many other of the dirt tracks in Indiana) pull in thirty cars a night. And almost every car is a good car. There's no junk out there any more. I believe (and I may be wrong), but Gas city only pays $150 to start. If you don't make the feature, I think you get $50.
With HOSS, it pays at least $290 to make the show. Some of the traveling shows pay up to $600. And it is at least $125 tow if you don't make the show. Although this year it was a little harder to make the show, it's still a lot easier then a place like Gas City. There's plenty of used tires out there to get you started and as you get better, you can still run well buying only a right rear.
The price to buy a used car is about the same as long as you stay away from a Beast. And even though you are usually going faster on pavement, a pavement car will usually last longer. The car that won the HOSS series championship this year is eight years old I believe.
But there's no reason you can't do both dirt and pavement. I have a 1999 Stealth Dirt car that Sam Davis drives and he does very well. He was forth in HOSS points in 2008 and came with in 5 laps of winning the feature at New Paris speedway until he cut a tire down.
All you really need to buy is a right front brake and a 10 inch right front wheel. We run the car on coil springs, but you can run bars. But coils are cheaper then bars anyway. This way you can try both and see what you like.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at tpater11@hotmail.com

Tom Paterson

Let me agree with the post before, use the money to buy a house or maybe go to college. If you're just starting out look into a UMRA TQ midget, they run dirt AND pavement and use the same car for both. Low costs, fun racing and you can learn and build.

I would follow Tom's advise if you are having trouble deciding what you want to do. I have done both. Running local dirt is pretty tough competition and you will spend just as much money trying to run up front as you would running with HOSS or AVSS. A pavement car is not that much more expensive than a dirt car, I know I have had both, and in fact costs about the same to run HOSS or AVSS as it does to run local dirt you just have to manage your tires well on the pavement deal. The only reason we went back to running local dirt was that HOSS runs most of their shows in northern Indiana and AVSS runs mostly in Michigan and the travel costs made more sense to run local dirt. If you have never heard of HOSS or AVSS here are the links to their web sites. Check them out.

http://www.hossracing.com/

http://www.supersprints.com/

Hope this helps.

Jarod,
You have already read about the couple series there are to race with. What else do you need to know? Do you have a car already?

No I havent gotten a car yet, My buddy Kent Schmidt's got a midget that I'm probably going to get, but nor for sure yet.

Jarod

OK, there are many people on here that would be willing to help with questions. But your going to have to be more specific if you want serious answers. Winged or no. Dirt or asphalt. Sprint or midget. How much of a budget are you planning to have?

Another thing comes to mind real quick. Living in Mt Vernon, I'm assuming you're info is correct, put's you in the "will travel" mode, real quick. Let that be part of your decision. Ask Ronnie Ambrose what it's like to travel from Owensboro every weekend, or the Green brothers. I'd look around, at what's close at hand, this economy isn't good for long distance race travel, and I don't know what's close to you. Just another item to ck into. Good Luck, and Thanks, I got my free lunch at Applebie's on Vet's day too. Bob