The rear of the car minus the rearend. Notice a small fuel cell and a small battery. This is real racecar hardware, not modified passenger car parts.
By visiting one of the shops that constructs these cars, Peter D Motorsports in Phoenix, Arizona, I was able to see several cars in various states of construction. These are well-made cars and have many features that make them serviceable by the racer. The one thing that was very apparent was that this shop has some real manufacturing experience. Every part on the car has a part number, including the individual frame tubes and the sheet metal that forms the body. The chassis is in Solid Works, a CAD software program that allows the car to be built on the computer prior to ever cutting or welding a tube. This allows the racer to completely support the chassis. If, for example, a part is bent in a crash, he or she can get the individual tube and make the repair themselves. The same goes for all of the bodywork and suspension parts. This gives the racer a very supportable car and it lowers the price of maintenance, as parts are not required to be custom one-off pieces.
The Mod-Lite has its roots in the Dwarf Car. This is a fast, responsive and highly competitive car that is reasonable to purchase and even more reasonable to campaign. Racing for a season championship will not require getting a second mortgage on your home.
Tracks in the western part of the country are starting to see growing numbers of these cars' owners looking for a place to race. They have a very strong presence in Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas and Wyoming. The day I visited Peter D Motorsports, there was one car almost completed and ready for delivery, one getting some work done between races, and three in various fabrication stages. Judging by the numbers at the track, the class seems to be growing.
Conclusions
When you stand back and look at the cars from a racer's perspective you get a car that is fast and good looking with plenty of space for signage to help with attracting sponsors. The competition is close and the cost to compete is not unreasonable. The tires seem to last a long time with some drivers claiming almost a full season. But the faster guys use more than one set per season. The fuel bill is fairly low, about three to four gallons per night of racing and that is pump premium not seven-dollar-a-gallon race fuel. None of the racers I spoke with had any real engine costs. There are shops out there that specialize in "blueprinting" the stock engines but the real difference seems to be in getting the right setup and gearing under the car and being able to adjust the car for the conditions that day.
The car has a very functional design. The brake disc is a laser-cut part as are the body panels. The brakes are Wilwood with Wilwood pedals and master cylinders.
Most tracks do have a fairly comprehensive post-race technical inspection. The engine is checked for displacement, with a bore and stroke measurement accomplished through the spark plug hole without disassembling the engine, and it is fairly straightforward. There is also an engine claim rule allowing a racer to claim a competitor's engine for $2,000.
Having started in 2005, the series is still in its infancy. So the big question: How much do these cars cost? It depends. There are some options that are left to the individual racer. Do you buy a complete car ready to race? Or do you purchase all of the components and assemble the car yourself? If you are an industrious racer, you could buy the chassis, locate your own engine, and do all of the assembly and paint work yourself. A chassis can be purchased in the $5,000 range, or you can buy the complete car ready to race and spend between $14,000 and $19,000, depending on the bells and whistles you desire. Remember, just as with any racecar, you will have to spend some money on tools and spares.
The ability to campaign the car is the real cost. The Mod-Lites look like a real value for the racer, though. The overall cost is fairly reasonable when compared with other forms of manufactured racecars. The costs of competing are very low when you factor in that these little racers will fit in the back of a normal pickup truck.