Complete Mechanical Oo OO Racing

Repairs & Service
{| Au Manes ee een, . : team
wring she Nort Shore 183 Pemberton Ave. TALKING Ble oe ee = - ae | hs a é
Se 5-15 i | = aoe hefty

INDY racing isn’t
cheap recreation.

S j . aD . . Here are some of the costs

SERVICE & USED PARTS : eae tf Fane ee a : involved to start a CART
‘ q ; ' ; team, go fast and run up front

(all figures are in U.S. dollars):

RACE CAR: A “rolling

chassis” (a race car with a sus-

pension and steering system

ut without an engine) in

1997 starts at $450,000. To

be competitive. plan ro own

two or three cars in case prob-

steep. : lems arise. Allow for nwo cars
“EN ene ae eS ee NR SON: Bg | to be on the track for each
rr ra fe event and a third in the shop.
ENGINE: Engines are not

F cor | iNe >
‘aN. fea FS OF : Gi d t h .
BH) Sy o yer. , Ns ; available for sale, but rather
fill Pyakes & models. Se s by A PPG CART dt C ue A 0 t e action ‘i are available through a lease
s p JE. : : iver can experience up to three Ga while cornering because of | program. New, an engine car
DEROSA AUTOMOTIVE. j “ground effects.” Air channeled under the car creates a partial vacuuns between car be Tease for about $140,000
to lease. A front-running team
ey ee oy boss CART engines must be

* aa ; oh j Ko TA ee ; ‘ . Mee eye SN AS rebuilt every 500 to 600 miles
" . . ‘ . Seem {| at an average cost of $35,000
per rebuild.

WHEELS: Tic “rolling
chassis” comes with four
wheels. For the season, plan
to buy at least a dozen more
sets of wheels (40) at about
$1,500 for each rear wheel
and abour $1000 for cach
front wheel.

TIRES: Competition at
short oval and road course
races carries a Gre limit of 28
tires per event, according to
CART rules, while 60 are
allowed for 500-mile events.
Ata cost of $1,2C0 per set, one
car can use $150,000 worth of
rubber in a single season.

FUEL: A PPG Cup car
must average 1.8 miles per gal-
ton of methanol or better. In
total, 380,000 to 400,000 gal-
Jons of methanol are used by
CART series teams in a given
season, In the age of high-tech
PPG Cup cars, electronic fuel
management systems are
becoming a must. Add
$20,000 to $80,000 depend-
ing on function and features.

SPARE PARTS: During
the season, allow — for
$150,000 worth of disposable
pares in addition to $350,000
tor gearbox parts.
eee EAM COSTS: Allow for

salaries for drivers, eng

MONDAY TO FRIDAY 8:00AM TO 5:00PM bem | Sts: fo driers, enginces,
SATURDAY 8:30AM TO 5:00PM Of travel lodging, toned cars

« 998-223 ae S48 and track and the wings create s “downforce” up to three times the weight of the car. | each. A used but updated
T would typically lease five new
engines and five used ones at

- engine costs abour $80,000
SPECIAL S &
r P ee . . — =n . the beginning of the season.

A . 7. ; and food allowance — not

2 : = | only for racing events but also

for a year-round testing and
developnient program.

TRANSPORTER: Race

car transporters are rolling

hine shops complete with

ide inventory of spare parts

as outlined above. Teams bud-

get 3400,000 for a correctly
equipped transporter.

TOTAL: Including testing

and development, it takes

abour $2.5 million to get into

the PPG: CART World Series.

many top flight

8 spend trom $5 million

to more than $10 nillion

annually.