Business idea, "I got all I need to do this" edition: Trackside support

I realized a few days ago that I have all the equipment needed to do this, and I already know just what's involved (because I'm always DIYing it) and I know people who would be interested in working for such a business, and demand is only going to go up with two tracks reopening recently.

The only catch is that I would like to be driving my own car at every single one of these events, so I can't be doing hands-on work in the long term.

So basically I'm at the stage where I can ask if any of you have experience doing this and if you think it's a good idea or not.

The only people interested in that have serious $$$$$.

And if I did have serious money, I wouldn't be hiring the guy driving a 30 year old import to work on my car between sessions (no offense).

Most who go to the track are capable of changing wheels, brakes, setting psi, checking the oil, etc.

I'm quite aware of that and was thinking of targeting the less fat-walleted crowd with less fancy services for a lower price - I wouldn't be the mechanic, but I know a couple of rally mechanics who would be interested in doing that part.

BTW my car is just 23yo (or not quite out of the womb, if you want to count from the last major overhaul).

So, what exactly is it that you are proposing?

I read:

"Between racing my car, I will head over and help you get your car ready before and between your races."

Or is it:

"Between racing my car, I wil/migh head over to supervise/manage a person who I hired to help you get your car ready before and between your races."

Make a choice. You want to run a business that provides services, or drive a car?

I doubt you can do both, at least not at the inception of the business.

The second one is what I'd like to do later, at first I'd not be racing my car at all and I'd be doing most of the work involved apart from serious wrenching.

You either work your business or you enjoy the event, but you can't do both.

I have done some (really informal) photo assignments, and the event it different if you are "working it" versus attending it.

If you want to make a go of it and really sell a benefit to the driver you'll need a tow rig and trailer that allows you to do the majority of the prep wok the night before (fresh pads, rotors, brake fluid, mount on their track rubber etc as a minimum). Ideally you want the driver hiring you to be able to show up at the track with their car ready to go if you want to have a benefit worth a moderate fee.

Market wise I'd look into people doing crapcan racing that seem to not enjoy the about of work and upkeep that the cars require. Low budget HPDE cars and AER, WRL cars would all be potential options for them to get their track fix without enduring as many potential headaches.

liability insurance is the deal breaker though.

captdownshift wrote: Market wise I'd look into people doing crapcan racing that seem to not enjoy the about of work and upkeep that the cars require. Low budget HPDE cars and AER, WRL cars would all be potential options for them to get their track fix without enduring as many potential headaches.

See I don't think guys who are on a tight budget are then going to pay someone without any credentials to work on their cars. The guys around here I know that do LeMons/Chump/WRL, if they don't want to wrench, they just rent a seat and don't own the car.

I just don't see this as any kind of realistic option unless you had a brick and mortar shop where you were doing real prep/building.

I don't have any part of a tow rig and probably couldn't afford the insurance. I don't think many people would pay for a tow rig anyway, nobody has to tow long-distance, and many drivers drive non-street-legal cars roped behind a support vehicle with a trailer plate on the car to get to the track legally for cheap.

What I could offer right now that I think could appeal to the racer who isn't made of money, is having a tent set up (one track here has no pits, the other has very nice pits and rents spots for "you have to ask"), catered food, a crew to do the routine/basic stuff when your car comes in including taking measurements and dealing with data loggers and/or cameras as necessary (equipment I could also rent out), and a mechanic on standby if anything breaks. I figure that kind of service could be worth a couple hundred bucks to the right person, they get to sit and relax when not driving instead of DIYing it and being in a mad rush all the time.

Go to your next track day and ask around to see if you are right.

If you like the idea of doing this, consider becoming a "fly-in" technician. Many race teams contract fly in team members for event service. It's hard work, but once you get in and make the connections, you can make a pretty good go of it. It means living out of suit case, likely seeing very little of the race, and a lot of hard work. Expect around $250 a day, but maybe less as newcomer. Typically travel expense, lodging and meals are covered as well.

z31maniac wrote: Go to your next track day and ask around to see if you are right.

Thinking about doing something like that, there's one coming up near the end of the month that I probably can't make it to anyway. I know people who could find me customers too.

I'd rather have my car towed to and from the track after having been serviced the night before then worrying about food at the track. not towing means I can swing into the grocery store/sub shop etc. on the way in. Swapping in SD cards for my datalogger and cameras in grid isn't a big deal to me either.

Doing the pre trackday work on Thursday and Friday before I spend the weekend at the track is annoying and SWMBO isn't a fan. I get the you're not going to see me all weekend, why aren't you paying attention to me treatment (she's not that bad about it, but that's the angle played).

Honestly if someone did the pre track weekend prep then flew a quadrotor filming during my on track sessions I'd be more likely to pay for that combo then lunch, shade, beverages and basic support. In most cases if something is borked enough to need repair I don't go back out as I don't want to be the one costing others tracktime due to a fluid spill, having a tow rig to haul it back to the shop though would be worthwhile.

In reply to sachilles:

I was a fly-in over the wall crew member for a Nationwide team for a few events. I don't know how the full time over the wall guys do it week in and week out.

Doesn't sound like a big market. Most people who go to track days know what they are doing, and also won't leave their lives in the hands of someone they don't know from a cut rate "race pit mechanic" crew.

I know I sure as hell wouldn't, but then again, I wouldn't let anyone that doesn't know my car(or like it) to even work on it in the first place.

captdownshift wrote: In reply to sachilles: I was a fly-in over the wall crew member for a Nationwide team for a few events. I don't know how the full time over the wall guys do it week in and week out.

Lot more work there as their schedule is so tight. I see the rally/rallyx end of things. Schedule is less compressed. You still have a some times were it is too tight. However, overall it works out ok.

GameboyRMH wrote: I don't have any part of a tow rig and probably couldn't afford the insurance. I don't think many people would pay for a tow rig anyway, nobody has to tow long-distance, and many drivers drive non-street-legal cars roped behind a support vehicle with a trailer plate on the car to get to the track legally for cheap. What I could offer right now that I think could appeal to the racer who isn't made of money, is having a tent set up (one track here has no pits, the other has very nice pits and rents spots for "you have to ask"), catered food, a crew to do the routine/basic stuff when your car comes in including taking measurements and dealing with data loggers and/or cameras as necessary (equipment I could also rent out), and a mechanic on standby if anything breaks. I figure that kind of service could be worth a couple hundred bucks to the right person, they get to sit and relax when not driving instead of DIYing it and being in a mad rush all the time.

Yeah...this I can better relate to. I see it as more of a "Full service pit area" rather than "Race Servicing". They would have had to pay for food anyways. Tents are a pain and expensive, so yeah I would pay a fee for a tented pit. Have a welder and someone who knows how to use it and alignment gear on hand along with some strong backs and mechanical knowledge. Pray you don't have three clients needing lots of help all at once.

Thing is, the track is going to want a piece of your action since you are using their venue and taking $$$ out of their food concessions. You will also need some liability coverage for both your clients and your staff. You are going to end up needing a large transport vehicle sooner rather than later in this endeavor.

Staff the tents with Hooter's Quality staff and you might make a go of it. I know it is sexist, but hey, its what works.

What to charge?

500 for the week-end and five crews, so you have $2500 of income. Staff of 8 people including yourself at $10/hour 12 hour days? $960 expense Expense of getting your stuff and people on the track call it $200 Amortized cost of stuff (tent tools and whatever) $200/event over 5 years plan Cost to cater figure $50/person/day (couple of meals and snacks & hydration) (I allow 2 people per race car, so each client is $100/day to feed and hydrate) Thats 10 people for two days, so $1000 to the caterer just to feed your clients, staff still needs to eat.

So, if I do the math, your $2500 of income needs to cover $2360 worth of expenses. That leaves $140 profit for two days work plus the logistics done during the week.

Wait, I forgot a bite for the track and the insurance companies. Lets say they are going to want $1000 (thieving bastards) Not looking good in the hole by ($860).

So assuming that I would want to take home $300/day at the end of the week-end, I need to raise other 600 bucks for myself and fill in the $860 deficit. That's 1720 that I need to distribute between the five teams. Will they pay and extra $344 each for a total of $844/team?

My gut feeling is that the real numbers are going to be much higher for expenses that I have not included or thought of. Shooting from the hip, I would say that your real number is going to have to be around $2000/team to make this work. There are people paying this kind of money to race, so the question is how do you get the message out to them. Oh wait, advertizing is expensive!

The track would have a hard time taking a piece of the action...more than half of the drivers in local club racing and stage rally are already doing the same thing in one way or another. Although now that you mention that, it could explain why the crews from race shops don't run any branding on the track.

Again, I'm not going for the crowd that will eat $100/day in food served artfully on square dishes...think more like $20/day.

For staff I'm thinking 2-4 people. General setup/equipment guy/gofer, mechanic, maybe a photographer, dedicated caterer if you want to get really fancy. No need to start with more than 1 crew.

Let's say it costs $50 in food and fuel to haul the stuff out there/gofer things (that's a decent average value), and each crew member wants to make $50 for the day (sadly, that is above-average pay for a skilled job around here - the mechanic can have maybe 1 hour of wrenching included, more than that is extra - usually there isn't time for more wrenching than that anyway). Charge $200 for a basic 2-worker job and the rest can be saved by the company for future equipment purchases...or maybe some kind of insurance

Not anything on the scale being discussed, but in the early 60's I was involved in something like it. A fellow college(Industrial Education/Shop Teacher) student had a truck set up as a portable welding/fabrication shop. I would go to the tracks to help him some times.

He would hit the local dirt tracks, dragstrips, and any SCCA race in the area. By going to different tracks he could be busy from Friday evening till Sunday evening most weekends. We could weld up broken stuff, make new brackets, etc., and when I was along even tackle some mechanic type stuff.

He could pull in $300-$500 a weekend which was pretty good money for the 1960's