How do you build an endurance racing team?

More specifically, if you don't have any close friends that are interested?

I've posted in some Facebook groups that are (relatively) local. I've found lots of people interested in driving, but I don't have the resources to build and run a team by myself. I either need a partner, or a couple of people to 'buy-in' to the team to help purchase the required equipment and supplies to run a team. 

I have the car, most of the tools, and a truck, which is enough for me to run by myself, but I've wanted to do endurance racing ever since I first heard about low-buck endurance racing.

I'm now in my 11th season of endurance racing.  I'm sort of the "opposite" of you.  I started endurance racing by being invited to join an existing team...which I'm still with today.  They already had the car, tools, most of the people, etc...  It was fabulous.  I learned a lot, raced a lot and made great friends...really my second family.  Then I moved 800 miles away from the team.  I stayed with them, and am now an "arrive and drive".  I thought it would be good to try to start a southern branch of our team and keep a car down here.  I'm not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but had enough resources to help build/run a team.  However, I completely lacked the technical skills/tools/truck to run a team.  It was a complete flop.  The race truck made two races and that was the end of it.  Sold it and just grab seats where I can for races I want to do that my team doesn't attend.

Moral of my story is that given what you've said I would suggest seeing if you can get hooked up with an existing team that needs a driver.  If you can't find people dedicated to buying in and staying committed, it's going to be a struggle.  Additionally, I've seen so many stories of people like you who did try to start and run their own team only to have the other members bail out.  Check the message boards/FB for the series and see if you can find a team looking for someone.  You may even meet people who are clearly 100% committed to helping build a team, and you can go from there.

I'd love to throw up my hand up and jump right in, but I know my budget isn't there at this time to commit to something like that. The other problem is you're in Peterborough and I'm in KW, I'd love to get involved prepping the car and everything else (even if my budget doesn't get me on track right now that stuff is still fun to help out with) but the drive would make that difficult, for anyone on your side of Toronto though that shouldn't be a big deal. Finding people that want to do more than just arrive and drive can be tough though.

Having said that I think Lucky Dog offers some sprint racing options that coincide with their endurance race weekends and you just pay by the hours that you are on track while the normal endurance racing happens. I think showing up to something like that will give you a taste without having to put together a full team of 3 other people and all that extra wear on the car to do a full weekend. I think the biggest benefit to this will be networking with the other teams/organizers and seeing where that leads down the road. It may even be a good way to grow the team out, if you pick up another driver to split costs with you could run for a couple of hours and they could run for a few. The sense I get from it is that the organizers would be flexible as they are trying to grow the series and get more cars out.

I think in general getting out to lapping events and HPDE/ADS will help you find like minded people, you're showing up in a race car so that is going to attract that crowd anyway to chat and see what you are wanting to do. I've personally been doing the ADS program with the Trillium BMW club, doing those events you start to get to know people but they also run a sim league and racing with a lot of instructors/racers there week after week you get to know people really well. At this point I know when I am ready to make that jump I think I have the contacts to reach out to to make that happen because of that.  

In reply to adam525i :

That's some sound advice. I'm not looking for people to buy into the car itself, just enough to help with building/running a team. I suppose if I'm patient, I could build a team myself and cater to arrive and drive people.

I'm already registered with Lucky Dog for their test day and the Sprint class of their first event in mid-April. 

I'd imagine if you could get one person to come along side you and take the prep work on that would probably be enough. Just having someone that can help out getting tires mounted/rotated, filling gas jugs, doing oil changes and brake jobs will go a long way for you. You've got a nice setup in that the car should be pretty dialed in as it sits rather than building something from scratch and figuring out all the issues that goes along with that. 

I'd say you are on the right path though with Lucky Dog, maybe the enduro thing doesn't happen this year but I bet by the fall you are further along putting something together for 2023.

In reply to adam525i :

Yeah, I may have a crew member lined up for the April weekend. It should be a good learning experience.

I would suggest finding an established team and run with them.  Building and maintaining a car by yourself sucks ass.  Ask me how I know.

The car will be garage art and a shelf for 46 weeks of the year.  The other weeks it's a mad thrash and fleeting moments of glory.

There are plenty of teams that have regular drivers that don't wrench on the car.  Lots of teams need drivers like this.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

I bought an already built car (see the thread here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/mazdaspeed-protege5/186085/page1/)  so that's not the issue here. I enjoy working on my own project, especially since it's mostly maintenance and upgrades if I so desire.

Ah, didn't make the connection.  I like that car!

You can always post up on the forums and Facebook for drivers wanted.  Usually, you find 1 or 2 that will become permanent members after 1 or 2 race weekends.

Post up on the Champ Car/LeMons/Lucky Dog forums. They have sections where people are always looking for team members to do various tasks and always looking for short or long term members.

My original team was 5 people and everyone left except for one person. So we were a team of 2 and couldnt find anyone else to enter a race with(check our build thread out). 

I got lucky and me and the other gentlemen on the team found a few people through a local trackcross event at Summit Point. Just shooting the E36 M3 about the Elantra and how we want to enter a race. They each had a friend that were interested and now we have a full team of 7(5 drivers and 2 crew members currently). We all worked on the car weeks before the first event to get the car ready. Day of everyone showed up, had a great time and we finished the 8+7 races without an issue(as far as team members annoying each other....car had alignment issues).

Each person contributes leading up to the event and then we split it up after the event and pay our dues into a pot to make all whole. Couldnt have asked for a better bunch of teammates and we just won our first Champ Car race in Class B. 

Fairly easy to find people to rent seats, however having people that can crew (not just stand around) and help you prepare for the races longterm can be challenging. Planning on how to recruit, train, and keep them, would be a good idea. 

I would also add that there can be a role for just about anybody as long as you have the right people. I can't turn a wrench to save my life. Well, that's an exaggeration, but I'm a truly terrible mechanic. My job is to help clean and prep the car for the next day, keep the paddock area clean and stuff like that. I also do pit stops. It works out very well.

P5Racer (formerly BMWGeoff) said:

More specifically, if you don't have any close friends that are interested?

I've posted in some Facebook groups that are (relatively) local. I've found lots of people interested in driving, but I don't have the resources to build and run a team by myself. I either need a partner, or a couple of people to 'buy-in' to the team to help purchase the required equipment and supplies to run a team. 

I have the car, most of the tools, and a truck, which is enough for me to run by myself, but I've wanted to do endurance racing ever since I first heard about low-buck endurance racing.

I just went through this, and am in the same boat as you regarding car ownership. I prefered owning the car myself and taking on all of the responsibility over sharing/splitting everything with friends and potentially straining relationships.  

When I built the car, there were 3 friends who I thought for sure would be my team. They all bailed by the first event. I had two friends who I didn't expect that stepped up, and then I rented to a highly recommended regular in the series.  I really think that "if you build it they will come" applies here (and hey, you didn't even have to build it!). With some legwork, you will get drivers. After only 3 race weekends, I have more drivers than stints available.  

Charging accordingly is going to be key.  Know that on average people are paying $1000 +/- a couple hundred dollars to be on a team for a race weekend.  And they know this is a steal, if they've ever tried to run a team. Use some of the drivers fees to make sure you have plenty of fuel, brakes, tires, and spares that you know you'll need. As far as equipment goes, you don't have to go too crazy when you're starting out: Small tool box, 10-ish fuel jugs, an EZ up, truck and trailer (rental works too), chairs, cooler, fire extinguisher, a spouse on board is huge. Don't be afraid to rent to guys who are on other teams, and ask to borrow some of the stuff you lack.  I borrowed an extinguisher, fuel jugs, and a hans for my first couple of races.  Other teams are usually very willing to help.

I sincerely hope you pull this off. Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate the insight from this community... and if anyone wants some seat time at Mosport, Calabogie or Shannonville, keep me in mind.

I posted on the Lemons forums and got a response.
That was almost 10 years ago and I'm still racing with them.

Are you talking about the Ridge race in April?
If the border is open we'll be there. 
If you need anything come find us, The Flying Lumberjacks in a little blue station wagon.

In reply to Honsch :

I'm doing the Lucky Dog Canada event at Mosport on Easter weekend.

It's a lot easier to find people to wheel than to wrench.  If you're willing to put the work into the car and it can get around the track without breaking, I don't think you'll have any shortage of people willing to race it with you.

If you want to check out the vibe of another series and have a chance to talk to lots of teams about what they do and how, you are only a few hours from Pitt Race, we will be at the Lemons event April 9-10 and happy to be a point of contact for you.  We've been doing this for a long time with some solid success.  You can also probably find a seat on a team for the race still, but only for another 2 weeks or so.  

In reply to Sonic :

I'll keep that in mind, though I'll be sticking to Ontario for now. I've got at least 4 tracks within a 3 hour drive, 3 of which host Lucky Dog, ChampCar and our equivalent to SCCA club racing.