Topic: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

Hey!

My son and his friends from auto shop have found this race and want to enter. They are all 16-17 and taking a mechanics class together in high school. I am totally on board to support them in doing this but cars are not my thing. I have an old 2000 camry with 230k miles that they are going to use. Its been sitting in my driveway for a year and I am shocked that it still starts as its been through a few floods in Houston the past few years.

Anyhow, if yall have any insights as to what I can do to help and support them that would be greatly appreciated. They are teenage boys so I highly doubt they will thoroughly read the rules and half of what I read just went over my head. D&D rules I know like the back of my hand but these, google only goes so far.

We a family friend who has offered labor for free granted we provide the parts and the boys help. From my understanding so long as its related to safety gear, this is okay. Correct?

Any suggestions or links to parts that we can look at? Anyone willing to call and have a chat so I know what I am letting them get into? Anything is truly appreciated. I really want them to have fun. They don't need to win but they should at least be prepared so they can have a good time.

Thanks!

Re: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

First off, I think this is admirable what you are trying to do.  Note that there will be some expenses involved with this that are mostly unavoidable, mostly related to safety items.  They should plan on having a $3500-5000 budget set aside for this.  You'll probably get a bunch of responses on here instructing you on this that an the other.  What I REALLY think these kids need is a mentor.  There are a number of teams in the Houston area.  I think your best bet is to email eric@24hoursoflemons.com and explain to Eric what you are trying to do and see if he can hook you up with someone local and experienced who is willing to provide some direction and hand holding.  Note that as they are minors, they will need releases and other fun stuff.  For details related to that, contact nick@24hoursoflemons.com

I hope this works out for them.

1990 RX7 "Mazdarita"  1964 Sunbeam Imp (IOE 2013 Sears Pointless) 2002 Jaguar x-type (Winner C-Class 2021 Sears Pointless)
Gone bye-bye
1994 Jaguar XJ12 (Winner C-Class 2013 Sears Pointless)  1980 Rover SD1 (I Got Screwed 2014 Return of Lemonites)

Re: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

cheseroo wrote:

First off, I think this is admirable what you are trying to do.  Note that there will be some expenses involved with this that are mostly unavoidable, mostly related to safety items.  They should plan on having a $3500-5000 budget set aside for this.  You'll probably get a bunch of responses on here instructing you on this that an the other.  What I REALLY think these kids need is a mentor.  There are a number of teams in the Houston area.  I think your best bet is to email eric@24hoursoflemons.com and explain to Eric what you are trying to do and see if he can hook you up with someone local and experienced who is willing to provide some direction and hand holding.  Note that as they are minors, they will need releases and other fun stuff.  For details related to that, contact nick@24hoursoflemons.com

I hope this works out for them.

+1, I think this is awesome... I wish an opportunity like this was available to me when I was a kid.

The biggest issue I've had with member retention is their expectations of how much money and work this is. Most seemed to be under the impression that it'll cost a few hundred bucks and a weekend of time. You'll hear a lot of different numbers, but with the experience level of your help expect to spend ~5-12 full days prepping the car for your first race (depending on if you're outsourcing the cage/safety equipment/etc and how reliable you want to make it). Most teams spend around 4-8k to get it ready for their first race (I know $8k sounds insane... but I've been on a startup team that didn't understand how to budget and it made my eyes water when we split up the final costs). Pinch your pennies (on NON-SAFETY items) and you'll be able to keep it at $4k. Once your car is built, you still need to deal with the logistics of whose racing, getting the car/trailer/tools to the track, whose willing to help wrench on the car and potentially not sleep overnight, and making sure someone doesn't put the car into the wall. Understanding the rules is huge, and I couldn't get my adult team members to read them either... but at least your team captain should understand all the rules. You can save money on used parts and gear... I've recently purged a bunch of extra safety gear but I'm sure you can find some used stanky race gear for very cheap or free from people in the community who support your cause.

You should do it, the best weekends I've ever had have been at Lemons races, just make sure your team members have realistic expectations. Feel free to shoot me a message with your number and I can give you a call, but in-person is WAY more helpful... hopefully someone local to you can mentor your team. I'd be happy to, but I'm not local.

Full Ass Racing
#455 Piñata Miata - 1990 Miata
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Re: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

I agree that the biggest thing you can do is make sure they understand the costs involved. I have no doubts that a motivated group of teens can get the actual work done to prep a car, but money can be a shock.

Like mentioned, $5k+ is not an unreasonable number to have in mind to get a team up and running. It's really easy to underestimate what it takes to get going. The rules are not long, have them read front to back and make a list of all the pieces they will need and start looking up costs. It's a really good lesson in project management and organization just to lay out all the items they will need to get through. It's not uncommon to hear about new teams of adults fall apart because some members didn't understand the costs involved and people back out when that bill comes due.

Have every team member read the section on safety gear and understand what they each will be responsible for buying. Safety gear, while you can find deals, often turns out to be a good chunk of change to get all the items needed, and it's easy to overlook that cost when thinking about what the car will cost. Safety gear really shouldn't be skimped on, it's there to protect you when things go wrong.


The other best thing they can do is attend a race. Be there on Friday if you can and just hang out watching tech so you can learn all the pieces that are involved. It's super helpful. It also opens the doors to finding a mentor team that can guide them through everything.



I'll also echo that I think it's awesome you're willing to support them. Lemons is a fantastic playground for learning, and I think it's great you're willing to let them dive in.

20+ Time Loser FutilityMotorsport
Abandoned E36 Build
2008 Saab 9-5Aero Wagon
Retired - 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby 2011-2015 "Lifetime Award for Lack of Achievement" IOE, 3X I got screwed, Organizer's Choice

Re: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

Look for an already prepped Lemons car.  I know people say they want the experience of stripping and prepping a car themselves, but trust me there is NO shortage of wrenching when buying a car that has recently passed tech inspection.  Especially if you do more than one race. 

And you'll save a bundle.

6 (edited by chaase 2022-06-16 11:57 AM)

Re: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

ukemike wrote:

Look for an already prepped Lemons car.  I know people say they want the experience of stripping and prepping a car themselves, but trust me there is NO shortage of wrenching when buying a car that has recently passed tech inspection.  Especially if you do more than one race. 

And you'll save a bundle.

I highly recommend this approach. It will save you money in the long run. If, after they have run a few races, they want to build their own car then they should go for it.

1992 Saturn SL2 (retired) - Elmo's Revenge -  Class B winner, Heroic Fix winner x2
1969 Rover P6B 3500S(sold) - Super G-Rover - I.O.E Winner, Class C Winner
1996 Saturn SW2 - Elmo's Revenge (reborn!), Saturn SL1  Dazzleshipm Class C x2 and IOE winner
1974 AMC Javelin - Oscar's Trash heap - IOE,”Organizer's Choice" and "I got Screwed" award winner

Re: Lost Mom - High School son & auto shop friends entering

Kudos to you for raising kids who are interested in doing something that involves actual human contact and not a touch screen.

I'll echo the budget comments from the others.  A lot of people are lured in by the "Race a $500 car" bit, but there is no such animal.  I'd agree that you'll have to really scrape to make it on a $4K budget, even if starting with a free car.  That's assuming your kids are capable of doing ALL the labor themselves.  If you have to pay to get the cage done, you can expect a $2000 bill for just that one item.

FYI, you can rent safety gear, some of which can be shared among teammates, which will save you a substantial amount.

The very first thing I'd recommend that you do is sit down with an Excel spreadsheet and list all your budget items.  If haven't had a heart attack after that, post the budget here and we'll collectively tell you what you've might have overlooked or mispriced.

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
'93 Acura Integra - No VTEC Yo!