44 replies to this topic

[Mtaylor]

No negtive reference taken gentlemen racer, it does seem that the sport has gone to round d round crew more than the road racer, but the nascar guy have done some road racing lately. Which I am sure is for exposeure to more locations. I think open wheel seriers are the true breading ground for then new stars but it is not afforadble by most parents tring to get the young michael hot shoe up to speed. it is cool that sm does produce some good talent in any case.

[Elliott Skeer]

I recall his first race was quite interesting.

Story please?

[Ernie Jr.]

I cant wait till March and my first event.

[T Murray]

Congrats, My son was 12 when he ran his first NASA race.Have fun and ask all the questions you can think of

[Ernie Jr.]

My first event is March 12-13 in hpde they say if i show true potencial by the end of the year i might be in the race group.

[Ernie Jr.]

I just finished my first event. Did very good. By the next event I will be in HPDE 2.

[davecarama]

HPDE is not racing. At 13 I'd either stay in karts or Legends (and kick ass) until 15-16 so you can race. If you are serious about racing going from racing karts to DE for a year or two is a step backwards. NASCAR will issue a provisional Charger license that will let you run Division 4 classes at 14 with little experience that will let you race and ASA will issue a provisional license at 14. I've seen a lot of kids come up over the years, Speed and Almendinger among them and I've never seen anyone go to cars to do DE. But have fun, it's cool to see your parents have the means to support you. You're fortunate to have that.

dstevens,

My wife and I are thinking about breeding race champions. Once we finally pop one out and it turns 3, I will be pinging you for an instruction manual or at least the path way

In all seriousness, as someone who has instructed HPDE for the past 12 years, I 100% agree that it is not racing. But that said, it is a fantastic way to get used to cars, speed, personalities, the rules, and track edict. Karting is a completely different beast.

If you can, I would do both. If you have to choose one or the other, continue racing karts and winning until you can get your license, be sure to talk pops into letting you drive in a handful of HPDE events per year so you can get the "rules and track edict" into your system though.

FYI, My HPDE students who came from karting always took a little more instructing to get them to drive the car appropriately on the track. They tend to overdrive the cars and are downright NASTY on the controls. It takes a lot to get them to be smooth and fast as opposed to jerky and only feel fast.

That said, one of my best students was 14 and drove a Diasio. Of course he couldn't hear a word I said, but took my hand signal instruction perfectly and anything I said in the paddock, he executed immediately. He was GOOD!

[Ernie Jr.]

My coach and instructer is Bob Van Epps. In my first run I was very jerky and spun. In the 2nd, 3rd and 4th I got better and smoother. On the second day of the event I was passing Dodge Challengers and BMWs. I am advancing to HPDE 2 next event. And trying for 3 the same weekend. My coach was only going to help me for the next couple events, but he was so impressed with my listening and doing everything he said that he is now going to help me for the next couple years.

[Ernie Jr.]

My first event on March 12-13.

[Mike Lliteras]

Great job Ernie. I watched him go from getting passed by everyone in the first session, to passing just about everyone by his third session. That included alot of cars that are much faster than a miata. Ernie is a great kid, and a very good driver. I would rather my son drive with Ernie than a couple adults i've seen in some videos

[Mike Lliteras]

Story please?

My son is Michael, the 14 yr old with NASA Fl. He's been racing for over a year and 19 races so far with 2 wins. The story on his first race was they made him start from the back after qualifing 3rd. There were 14 or 15 cars in the race, he was in 8th by turn 2. I think he surprised a few of the guys with his turn one passes. He finished 4th.
Fyi the Miata is cheaper to run than a front running Kart, and after watching enough rollovers and turn one wrecks I liked the idea of rollbars and hans devices more comforting.

Mike

[Elliott Skeer]

My son is Michael, the 14 yr old with NASA Fl. He's been racing for over a year and 19 races so far with 2 wins. The story on his first race was they made him start from the back after qualifing 3rd. There were 14 or 15 cars in the race, he was in 8th by turn 2. I think he surprised a few of the guys with his turn one passes. He finished 4th.
Fyi the Miata is cheaper to run than a front running Kart, and after watching enough rollovers and turn one wrecks I liked the idea of rollbars and hans devices more comforting.

Mike

Hello Mike, Ya I talk to him a lot on Facebook, I just haven't heard that story yet. Ya are first race in our car is this weekend and we can already tell it is going to be cheaper -Elliott Skeer

[TVANCE13]

I think that this class is fast catching the attention of many karting dads out there. As was mentioned earlier, it is cheaper than karting and actually offers a path in the form of the MazdaSpeed development ladder and the MX-5 Cup shootout for drivers to advance. Not to mention this series www.teenmazdachallenge.com

[Mike Lliteras]

Tom brings up a good point about the ladder system. Unless you have a lot of money, not 10's of thousands, more like 50 to 100 or more you will not go many places with karting. It is great for the kids to young for cars, but without top money or friends in high places, I recomend getting out of it as soon as your able. My son was racing against kids whose parents are spending, without exaggerating, 500k + a year in karting. There is no way i could compete with that. One thing i did wrong was to not send him out in a good,well prepped car. If you want this for a career that is. I had Michael's car professionally set up twice and he won those races and got wrecked while leading another. Nathanial Sparks and Tyler Vance are doing it right and getting the attention they deserve. The kids also bring attention to Spec Miata, wich is good for the car counts. This year we are bringing a gun to the gunfight, should be a lot of fun.

[Protech Racing]

We plan on running the Teen Challenge this year also. (We were done last year without a 99, IMHO) How are we going to get 5 drivers at each race?? There are only about 6 East coast drivers running.
Maybe we should make a plan now?

[Mike Lliteras]

That's a good idea Mike, maybe start a roll call thread here. I don't know how to. We had 5 teens at Vir, only 3 at the 2 Road Atlanta racea. It would be nice to have more. We plan to be at all 10 races this year.

[Protech Racing]

The web site states that there must be 5 drivers to gain any points. Big problem for me. I have only seen 4 drivers one time. Bitch to drive from FL to Mid O to not get any points. MM

[Ernie Jr.]

Just was at Sebring watching my Dad drive his Miata and Corvette.

[Ernie Jr.]

Also I was just at Sebring watching my Dad drive his Spec Miata and ST1 Zo6 Corvette and can't wait till NASA runs at this track. It was very painful sitting on top of the trailer watching the Miata's go by. (Chin won't allow me to drive till I'm 15.)

[BreathlessPerformance]

Also I was just at Sebring watching my Dad drive his Spec Miata and ST1 Zo6 Corvette and can't wait till NASA runs at this track. It was very painful sitting on top of the trailer watching the Miata's go by. (Chin won't allow me to drive till I'm 15.)

You did great back in March and am very proud of you. Looks like you are getting closer to challenging me one day on the track.
By the way I do stand behind starting kids at 13 as long as they have the experience ( years in Karting ) and maturity. Ernie Jr has over 8 years racing in karting with over 100 race starts. I would have never let my son hop behind the wheel of a track car if I was not sure he was ready. He has great car control and listens very well to his race coach Bob Van Epps. I have run side by side with him on many kart tracks only for him to push me to the max to stay in front of him. I also do feel that driving a track car that you are strapped in with a roll cage, Hans device and all safety equipment is much safer then a kart. Yes this gives him a head start so by the time he is 15 he should be able to take over and drive our race ST1- SPO vettes in SCCA or whatever car he wants to race.

Sorry about having to watch us at Sebring having some fun but you will be on the track soon again in May at Homestead Speedway.

Ernie Sn/ Pres
www.BreathlessPerformance.com