The BritishV8 Pub

Now that Bill is active in chump car racing maybe it is time to crank up a little buzz about it. Steve DeGroat and I stopped to watch a chump car race on the way out to Terry's a year or two back and started scheming but we had to finish the Roadmaster. And now of course I have to finish my RD, or at least make it driveable. BUT I did happen to buy a perfectly usable late MGB a year or so ago. I told Matthew he could have it but his plans have changed so once again the game is afoot and by late spring maybe we could start on it. If that happens there will be room for a few guys on the racing team but it will mean helping to build the car. Maybe we can eventually give Bill a little competition!

Jim

A great idea Jim, certainly a lot of fun for not much money. Maybe Clancy can bring up the Fright to Omaha next year and show you guys how that little four cylinder can run on the track.

Is that what you call your car Bill? What an ingenious name. I like it.
Steve and I were thinking a 60°V6 drivetrain would be a good choice for the MGB car. Cheap, easy, and, well, cheap. Local pick an pull should have scads of them.

Jim

Clancy Schmidt owns the car and named it and the team. He built it from a hulk that was given to him by a local farmer along with a couple of other cars. Field fresh including the bullet holes!
Clancy has a thing for Sprites, calls this car a Sprite even though it's a 72 round rear arch Midget body.
Chump car rules are pretty tight wnere it comes to cost of the car though, and this car doesn't meet those so runs as an invited guest and isn't eligible for the podium, as if we ever had a prayer's chance of that anyway! LOL You have to control the cost of your build and be able to back it up with the Chump Car officials when the time comes. Our aftermarket fuel injection computer cost more than the rest of the car and certainly put us over the price limit, but if you can get one to run on the stock computer you would have a good chance of being legal.
A V6 MGB would make a great car for sure. The stock 3,90 gear would still be a bit tall but if you can find the banjo type rear from an early B then you can run some lower gears from an MGA. I think we were running 4.55s in the Fright.
The "hot" cars in Chump racing are BMWs. Both 3 and 5 series. Fast and reliable.
A roadster of course would weigh less, but even the old green GT we started the Roadmaster project would make a great platform. Steve knows how good a V6 GT can run, Was right on my tail all around the track at Indy, only spun it after I got out of his way and let him push it a bit harder. LOL
Clancy ran two cars wth engine swaps this year, the Fright and an old 72 Opel with a Miata engine and trans. Another local guy ran a TR7 with a Miata engine in Chump Car early this year but blew it up in the last race so wasn't there this month. Pretty ingenious that instead of trying to use the stock Miata EFI they mounted a pair of Strombergs and modified a Lucas distributor to fit the Mazda motor so that they could run a standard ignition system. Lots of good amature engineering going on in Chump Car.
It's all in good fun though. Many of the cars have outragious things painted on them, check out some of the photos on the Chump Car web site for examples. Our car had the number 47 already chosen and on the doors before Romney made his now famous statement so out came the magic marker and a percent sign and the word needy was quicly written in.
Clancy runs his Opel as "The Richard Nixon Race Team" and it is covered with quotations from Nixon such as "I am not a crook" written across the rear panel. One car had the words "If you can read this, it's happened again!" written upside down on the doors, Seems that they rolled the car at some time in the past I guess.
I did find that there is a huge difference between running my car at a track day and driving a race car. I didn't have to worry about wearing out my tires, breaking anything and not being able to drive home, or even getting it upside down since it had a full roll cage and all the required safety equipment. That freed me up mentally and I was able to drive a bit harder and have alot more fun without worrying so much. I'm so glad than now I have a van and a trailer so that in the future I can haul the Midget or other car to the track and really push it if I want.
I guess that's a big part of the appeal of Chump Car racing, Just having fun without worrying too much about damage to the car. After all most of them are just rusty hulks with a roll cage welded in, the main dents hammered out roughly and a brush paint job if any.

I don't think you saw the '74 when you were here. Basically solid but a good bit of surface rust. I think I paid $200 for it but I'd have to do some looking to find documentation. I think the p&p gets about $250 for an engine and tranny or maybe I can score a cheap donor car. Still plenty of time to work out those details. I'd be very surprised if an MGB can't be made competitive with a bimmer though. Townsend will be a good chance to talk about it with some of the guys.

Jim