How much is this race car worth?

How much does it cost to drive your own car on a race track?

• I would like to know how much it generally costs to drive your own car on a race track, what kind of insurrance you need for your car, and if you have to rent out the track all day ...show more

• Answer:

  HPDE or similar days will generally run from around $120 a day, up to about $500 a day. The variables will be the specific track (a well known, popular track like Laguna Seca or Mid-Ohio will be more costly than your typically track in the middle of the dessert... such as Reno-Fernely), and when you attend (that is, a Saturday in June will be much more costly and than a Monday in January). Costs will also vary depending on other specifics of the event (ie, did the organizer arrange for a full paramedic crew on standby, are all the flag stations manned, is there a catered lunch, are there extra porta-potties on site or other facilities available to the drivers, etc?), but the track and time will be the major cost issues. Most events such as this will come out around 1-2 hours of actual driving time. Many tracks also have test/tune days or similar open track days. However these are generally aimed towards people with competition licenses (and many tracks may require one for you to enter). Costs here will generally be around $100. These are usually available once a month, although they may not be offered through prime racing months depending on much the time at the track is in demand. Potential driving time here will usually be 2-3 hours on a day. Insurance is not an issue - that is you are not required to have any to just drive on the track. It may be an issue though since there is a good chance your insurance will not cover you for anything that happens on the track (check with your agent... an HPDE is not a competitive event, but many companies currently exclude anything that happens on a racing surface; and even if covered, you may wind up being cancelled if you ever have to submit a claim). Insurance will only be an issue if you are the one renting the track (from experience, most rental contracts will require you to provide at least one million in coverage, with whatever insurance the track has as secondary; this is not for your car or any cars, but for the facility). Renting the track itself will run from $1500-$10000 as a base (with the same variables already mentioned, the specific track and the time, being the key issues). Additional charges will come along if you want towing services on standby, restrooms available, an ambulance on site, more for a full paramedic crew, flag workers at all stations, etc. If you rent the track, then you will typically have 9-10 hours of potential driving time.