SCCA race car preparation | It's late February, but it's starting to get warm out there.
That means drivers are thinking about their race cars and getting antsy. We offer race car preparation and set up, are you ready?
With SCCA National events being held next month in southern areas, some of our Colorado racers are making the trip and they need to make sure their cars are ready to go.
When we perform a pre-race inspection on a race car, our number one goal is safety, then performance.
- 5250 Performance checks everything. We check that wheel bearings are solid and lug nuts are tight.
We check to make sure the braking system is ready for hot laps and that all the engine fluids are proper & topped off. Once up on the rack, a visual inspection is in order. Our crew puts a wrench on every nut and bolt to make sure nothing is loose.
We use a pry bar to apply load to suspension components to make sure ball joints and bushings are in working order. Having over 25 years experience of race cars and days at the track, we have a solid understanding of what a car goes through on the track. This is much more than what you experience with your daily driver.
- Safety is a major concern so we verify that all safety equipment is within certification dates specified by the sanctioning body (in this case, SCCA pro racing).
We'll inspect seat belts for wear and make sure fire systems are charged. It's no fun if your car get's flagged at tech inspection, so we check for common oversights, like safety pins properly installed into seat belt mounting latches.
Sometimes we find serious issues during these inspections. Recently a racer brought their car in and the driver seat wasn’t properly secured. Upon further inspection, we found that the mounting studs in the floor of the car were damaged. One had pulled out of the metal floor and another had serious cracks around it. This was a major safety issue.
We were able to repair the damaged seat mounts and assure our racer that he would make his event next week. If he had simply gone to the race without doing the inspection, he would have not be able to race after traveling over 1300 miles.
From car buying inspections, to yearly track days in your daily driver, to full race preparation throughout the year, our experience matters. Be safe and prepared, it may save your life.
