At Small Tracks, High Fuel Prices Put Racers in a Pinch

[Ron61]

David,

I think it was early this year that I was watching one of the practice sessions and most of the cars were having problems with running well. They got to checking and found they had left some fuel in a tank and it had set so long that when they filled it with new fuel it was all contaminated. I believe they said they had to pump that whole tank out and dispose of it. That had to have been an expensive waste.

Ron

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Ron;

Yep, they had problems before, also at one Cup event some cars ran badly, they found water in the tank......race gas for NASCAR is probably MORE prone to comtaminants and water than at your local station down the road, simply becuase of how long is may be stored and transported to the varouis tracks........

David

[Ron61]

David,

I used to buy my race gas in 55 gallon barrels and it never went up like the gas at the stations did, but was always higher. Then the last barrel I got it had really gone out of sight and I asked them what happened and they said the company had just raised the price. I still have about 15 gallons in my last barrel and am afraid to find out what it costs now. But because there wasn't such a demand for it, the price used to stay pretty stable.

Ron

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Ron;

I do the same thing and know what you mean...
Got a buddy that is an old Mustang guy and an EXXON distributor,he lets me have my race gas at his cost as long as I buy it by the drum....
Last time I got gas from him was a little over a year ago, bought 2 55 gal. drums of 100 octane low lead gas, my cost $3.25 per gal.......hate to see what it is now, good thing I still have one un-opened drum left, should last me almost one race season......

I'm guessing the same gas today would be around $5.50 per gal. or more.........
I hear 110 octane leaded is over 8 bucks a gal.,depending on where you get it......

David

[richardferguson]

Originally Posted by DAVID GAGNARD

Ron;

I do the same thing and know what you mean...
Got a buddy that is an old Mustang guy and an EXXON distributor,he lets me have my race gas at his cost as long as I buy it by the drum....
Last time I got gas from him was a little over a year ago, bought 2 55 gal. drums of 100 octane low lead gas, my cost $3.25 per gal.......hate to see what it is now, good thing I still have one un-opened drum left, should last me almost one race season......

I'm guessing the same gas today would be around $5.50 per gal. or more.........
I hear 110 octane leaded is over 8 bucks a gal.,depending on where you get it......

David

That's still only $123.75 more per 55 gal drum. There are plenty more expensive things to think of when you go racing, especially if a drum lasts one season. Nevertheless, it all adds up.
I guess my point is that you'd be on a worn shoestring if the price of gas was going to put you off the track.
Richard

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Richard;

I agree, the price of race gas is small compared to the price of race tires or an engine rebuild!!!!!!!!!! the tires I use are about 900 bucks a set and I run them 5 to 6 races,more if I can, better funded racers use the same tires for no more than 3 races, I wish I could also......

The price of diesel now is more of an expense to me than anything else....Around here, $4.60 gal is the going rate this week....last road trip (VIR) was about 3,000 miles, getting about 14.5 mpg towing in my Super Duty. I spent a tad over 600 bucks just for fuel in the truck on that trip, at todays prices, fuel would be about a thousand bucks for the same trip, maybe more depending on fuel prices elswhere....

I used to do 3 or 4 "road trips" a year, mainly to SAAC and MCA events, I've cut that back to 1 or 2 a year now....Not just fuel prices, but everything else that goes with it, hotel room,food,entry fees.....The VIR/SAAC trip took a total of seven days, 2 day drive each way plus the convention and when you add in food and hotel rooms for 6 nights/seven days and other related expenses, well, you don't want to know what that trip cost me and neither does my wife!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still race a 6 race series here in my home state, track is 2 hours away and they are "day" races....things start up at 8 am and I'm loading the car by 4 pm.........

David

[Don]

Sunoco Maximal Leaded 116 - 55 Gallon Drum = $520

http://www.buyracegas.com/catalog.as...&DeptID=238426

http://www.buyracegas.com/catalog.as...00790&detail=1