Driver Q&A!
Q: Tony could you give your GDS friends these
questions?? Maybe they could give me some advice. I am trying to get a promising racing
career started. I am 17 years old and I've been racing karts on the WKA National Dirt
Circuit in Virginia and North Carolina for 5 years now. I have a championship, numerous
wins, and countless top 5 finishes. Due to a lack of money my Dad and I cannot move up
into the ranks of stockcar racing. Could you give me any advice on what I should do?? Do
you know of a team looking for a young driver?? Do you need a driver?? Thanks, Aaron
Markham
A: Aaron, There are several courses and books that
explain the best way to go sponsorship hunting. Since you have raced in North Carolina you
might be close to Catawba Vally Community College in Hickory, which through the Bobby
Issac Motorsports Program, offers classes on the subject. Most teams in the lower touring
divisions like the Dash series or All-Pro series, are only looking for drivers that can
bring along a sponsor. Hope this helped. Robbie Combs (CC Motorsports - #9 Goody's Dash
Series)
Q:
im currently racing late models out here on the west coast. its my third year and im racing selected southwest tour races after two awsome years in local latemodels. im 17 and im not sure what i should do at this point in my carrer. i work on race cars and have great sponsers, but should i pack up and move back east, or stay out here and try to get in the winston west. were do you see the opprotunitys growing, are teams looking out here on the west coast, or is it all back east. thanks for your help. Bobby SchafferI have to say, I am biased since we are based in the heart of stock car country, North Carolina. But I know that since most of the Winston Cup, Busch, and Truck teams are based out of the east, mainly in the Charlotte area, it seems that it is better to be in the touring series that run in the East.
I believe it would be better to start off in either the Dash or All-Pro series, where owners can see you and more often. The great thing about the Dash Series is that we run at tracks like Daytona, Charlotte, and Bristol when some of the bigger series are there.
Davey Allison, Phil Parsons, Michael Waltrip, Hut Stricklin, Larry Pearson and more recently Dennis Setzer, Andy Houston, and Lyndon Amick have been competitors in the Dash Series.
You mentioned that you have ran some southwest races, I believe Pat Patterson who also ran some southwest races this past year, ran in the Dash Series in the 1997 season.
So, no matter if you are a driver or crew member, I think you have more opportunity in the southeast.
If you would like to discuss this further, just email me.
Robbie Combs
CC Motorsports - #9 Dash Series
[email protected]
www.hickory.net/combs
Q:
I just starting following the GDS as a result of Tony. Would you explain the difference between The GDS and the other classes of racing?Robbie Combs
CC Motorsports
| Q:What went through your head when you went through that wreck on Friday?? |
| A:I guess you are referring to the first wreck that I didn't get in. That was just a split second call to turn left. It could have gone either way, we were lucky. The car right behind us wasn't so lucky (GDS Site Note - That other car was Rusty Wise.) That second wreck was just rookie mistakes. It started with those guys beating on each other and making it three wide. What got me involved is when a rookie got scared and slammed on his brakes in front of me, then another rookie slammed into the back of me. So I had nowhere to go, it shouldn't have happened and I shouldn't have been involved that far back from the wreck. You can't drive Daytona like a short track, but that doesn't stop drivers from trying. We came back out looking like a modified and still finished 18th. |
| -- Ned. |
| Q:I would like to know how much it would be to own a Goody's Dash series team because I am planning later to start a team. Thanks, Cliff. |
| A:Cliff, |
| Most teams spent between $125,000 and $200,000 for a full season. Some spend less and of course some spend more. The cars run between $20,000 and $30,000 and the motors run around $20,000. If you start a team from scratch it'll cost more the first year for the equipment. We ran late models until we bought out a Dash team which included two cars, four motors, and all the equipment we needed. So we got a better deal then trying to start from nothing. Hope this answers your question. |
| Robbie Combs |
| CC Motorsports |
| Q:Hi guys. Is there any similarity to racing in the NASCAR 2 sim and racing the real deal? |
| A:Absolutely, especially where the setup is concerned. The sim cars respond to changes like air pressure, wedge, etc, just like real cars. But there will never be a sim that is totally real, there are too many variables. And how can you simulate 2 g's going around a corner at the superspeedways? |
| Robbie Combs |
| CC Motorsports |
| Q: What is the current status of the 6-cylinders vs the 4-cylinders? Is their any mass movement for teams to abandon the 4-cylinders in favor of the 6's? Mike Szlosek. |
| A: Mike, Most of the top teams have switched to the V-6's. They have more horsepower and torque. But best of all instead of having to tear them down every 3 to 4 races, you can go half the season on the V-6. And with the 4 cyls, we were having to change valve springs every race or two. Our team went ahead and switched to Fords during this transition. We feel the Fords have an advantage over the Pontiacs, enough that we felt it was worth the change over. We are in the process of building a Mercury as well. Robbie |
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