New Driver...

[Neufeld]

Okay, heres the thing I have wanted to race in our local Speedway since I was 14. My father raced in the street stocks and thats when I was completely hooked. This year I am turning 18 and have the prerequisites to race in this association. Now the part I have will have problems with is cash. I do not want to join street stocks because the competition out there are running $3500++ cars, not likely to compete with there 400+ hp. Now some of the new classes are the Thunder Trucks, the Bomber class, and the not new but enjoyful minis. Also being a pure hearted Dodge Fanatic I refuse to drive anything but, but the problem is that with the minis and such horsepower, in the four-cyclinders, is not to great, which causes a problem-At least in my own opinion. Now as far as the trucks come along I ain't sure at the moment of what motors then can run 4, 6, or 8. Anyways I guess right now my question is what car or truck if need be can start me off the best direction of a competitive racer. Any input or "2-bucks" worth would be great.

P.S. http://www.medicinehatspeedway.ca/in...on=page&name=1 is the site of our racing track.

[thunderdodge27]

i would use a early 80s cordoba ,mirada or lebaron i thing they handle better than the volare or aspens ive used them all and the first 3 were the best handeling

[Neufeld]

Ya thats what my father used. I guess the problem we had with that was the fact it was so heavy and we weren't pushing huge amounts of horsepower, but I mean I guess you could also say that for everything right? Mmmm thoughts and thoughts eh?

[Neufeld]

It was a cordoba.....

[mjmartel]

My 80 Cordoba has been more than competive (Top 3) in the Street Stock Classes ( more like you Bomber class) in Sandudo and Castrol Raceway both tracks domintated by Cameros. I won the Saturday night feature of the Oilmens Invite at Castrol and would have won the whole 2 day show if it was not for a blown tire. (I ended up taking 3rd over all to a couple Cameros)

I should also let you know that I have less than $1500 into my motor and a very plain car

[dirt track]

Why don't you prepare a dirt track hobby stock and race at Speedy Creek. Just kidding, I love watching races in the Hat and would like to race there some day. Great to here of another Mopar oval tracker starting out in the area, good luck!

[dwc43]

A B or E body would be the a good place to start, but harder to find. Any F,M or J would work good too. Don't overlook the 2.2 cars. Jerry drives one for me on a 1/4 mile asphalt track. IT has plenty of power for what our rules will allow us to get away with. Just make sure to stay away from the A bodies. They may be lighter to start with, but, they have the worst front end geometry too. If your limited to what you can do to a car then pass on them. IF you want to run a truck the Dakota is the way to go. Lon on here haws a Dakota that does very well on our local dirt track.

[Neufeld]

First of all I want to thank everyone for such fast replies. Quite frankly didn't see that coming. I ain't sure if all of you know of the Medicine Hat Speedway but it is asphalt track and what not. All the specs are on the website which is posted in the first thread. Anyways, too sound "noobish" to those really hardcore mopar fans, I must completly say as far as the bodies go I don't really know what you guys are talking about. Maybe more research into this field is nessecary.

Now as far as getting me one of them little pieces of paper saying what the specs and rules I must follow is going to be another journey I am thinking. Not sure where to start but there is a racing meeting tomorrow, so i will check that out. Also when I get more questions I will post them out. Thanks to everyone that replied to this. Hopefully keep hearing from ya!

[dwc43]

Welcome,anytime.

A body = Duster,Dart,Swinger,Valiant, etc. etc.

B body = Charger,RoadRunner,Satillite, etc. etc.

E body = Challenger and 'Cuda

F,M,J = Volare', Aspen, Diplomat, Lebaron, Gran Furry,etc. etc.

That's not all of them but enough to start with. Hope that helps.

[it's all dodge]

The A bodies work good for asphalt oval track, don't get caught up in listening to somebody who probably never raced one, or maybe helped one friend with an a body one time, and that was on dirt, and it was most likely way to high sitting. I got a friend with his second 69 Dart, it has 3 championships on it, 2 with the original builder one with him driving it, and his first Dart had two championships from the original builder. The builder of the second car came back to racing after selling the Dart, with a Challenger, never near as good as the Dart was. Yeah, it was in figure eights, on asphalt, but they have to turn good to win, and it does that (high? low? whatever!) Would be doing better with a three speed (30 to 50 pounds lighter) and better exhaust (most the competition runs headers, we run 340 manifolds, from 1968 to 1970, with 2 1/4 pipes, so we definetly didn't beat them with power) He won so much he gave away the trophys from trophy dash and some mains (kept the figure eight nationals ones and championship ones) This was/is against Camaros,Mustangs, Cougars, Novas, GM metric, Chevelles. And NO cutting to shorten/lengthen control arms. The one that did best against it was a Camaro with a V-6 bought from Richard Childress Racing Busch series cars. No, they do not try to hit each other in the intersection, but it happens, therefore, the car is built heavy to handle some abuse. But if you decide to run an A body (or pre 73 b body and all E bodies) if you can't run a front hoop to connect the shock towers because of rules, then consider something else

[43 purestock]

I agree, the A bodys are fine on asphalt, I race one on a fast 1/2 mile, it is a competitive car. It still has factory a arms with nothing moved, just bigger torsion bars. We are building a 73 Charger, but will continue to race the Dart untill its done. You must have front hoops though, and its not the toughest chassis out there, but it has done well for me!

[it's all dodge]

We used 1.14 torsion bars, have you considered trying one size bigger bars then you have? Yep, the suspension needs beefing up on the a bodies, such as reinforcing the lower control arms, the mounts for upper control arms (for dirt track) and the torsion bar anchors. But, you have to do that on about all the mopars pre 73 b body. I just talked to my friends engine builder, said the reason they blew some engines was, the high dollar tell tale tach, was telling near 6000 rpm, but way more! Hope to get out there to Colorado or Utah, this year for a race with them! They had a torsion bar anchor (rear mount) break (the same kind that E and B bodies have)

[dirt track]

We are having great success with our A-body on our dirt track. It is much faster than our old B-body 73 charger. Three guys have came in the past with F-bodies and never have had any luck. ???

[dwc43]

Originally Posted by dirt track

We are having great success with our A-body on our dirt track. It is much faster than our old B-body 73 charger. Three guys have came in the past with F-bodies and never have had any luck. ???

You just have to know how to set them up, like any other car. They work very well,when set up properly.

[thunderdodge27]

i have a f body and it goes great it just needs some fine tuning

[kansasnorm]

I am building a '90 dakota. It's the easest dirt track build I have ever done. It's lite, rack and pinion steering, coil spring front, power disc brakes , 5 on 4 1/2 bolt pattern. I think it's going to be great. Norm

[it's all dodge]

Norm, you'll do good with that Dakota, I think the suspension is plenty tuff, doesn't need the welding up like the A, early B body and E body. I think they will start making more racing parts for them. Stout frame. And, they are available in salvage yards. I think the ratio on the rack is fairly quick?? AND THOSE BRAKES, ARE THEY ANTI-LOCK?, Could be good, right? Are you gonna run exhaust manifolds, or headers? What intake, same as before?