One of the more common questions I get is: “Hey, where can I get…”
The Trackday and Road Course racing world is a small one. Much smaller than we often give ourselves credit for. One of the issues this brings is finding the right parts, gear, and even race cars. Finding sellers often means searching as we can’t go to the local sporting goods or auto parts chain for most of the gear we need. We’re often left searching social media and online retailers.
I’ve built this entire blog around spending less on this hobby, but motorsports isn’t actually “no money” or even cheap. The goal is really to spend smart, and use your money wisely. I try to avoid buying things I don’t need to continue. However, for the myriad of things I do need to purchase to participate: 1) There are certain items where I shop for the cheapest option 100% of the time. 2) There are other times when paying for quality and/or service is important. Overall value is the most important thing to me.
An Example: With safety gear: I buy items marketed more for the budget racer, but try to buy only from speed shops and legitimate vendors, so I can get guidance on what I need, and don’t need to worry about counterfeit gear. But with something like radios, cheap versions don’t put me in danger and have proved just as effective and reliable as name-brand.
Even within our niche, beware the advice you get. I’ve seen SO many outright ridiculous replies to people asking for help on where or what to buy. Find your trusted sources for both advice and parts, remember that most people in this hobby do not even try to stick to a budget. If you like taking advice from people who always have the latest, greatest, and flashiest gear, then go for it. (An example: “Its cheap insurance” more often than not means it’s not actually cheap, nor insurance). Personally, I try to spend wisely on parts and gear so I can spend more of my budget maximizing time on the track. I hope this post may be one place to help you do the same.
Shopping for Gear:
When asking for recommendations on places to buy race gear, the common answer is “find a local shop!”. It makes sense to talk about your needs face to face and be able to try on gear before you buy as fitment varies greatly on things like Helmets and suits.
The problem is: A) Many people don’t have shops close enough to call local. and B) Not all local shops are “good”. When I was looking for my first racing suit, I went to a [Name Redacted] local shop recommended by a few local people. I called and made an appointment to try on the suit I wanted. I told the owner the exact model I wanted. After making the 1.5 hour drive to the shop, he instantly started trying to sell me on suits that cost 2-3x my budget claiming the suit I asked to see on the phone “was a potato sack”. It indeed was, but I was simply not in a position to spend more than double my stated budget at that time. Other times I’ve tried calling different shops and got a similar hard upsell. “Sure, we can sell you that, but trust me, you don’t want it”… Except I did.
It felt like going to one of those Mega car-dealer lots and the sales tactics/upsells they use. I’m not saying all speed shops are like this, far from it. I am suggesting you just keep a bit of a guard up when trying a new place. While they are all very knowledgeable and do really want to help, understand that some may have built their business models around the ultra high-budget clientele that makes up such a significant part of our hobby. They stand to make so much money convincing a retired finance executive to overpay for an ultra premium carbon helmet, that a 25 year old kid looking for a $300 racing suit may be more of an annoyance.
Gear: OGracing
Thankfully, I found a source for gear that aligns with my personal beliefs and goals. My experience with OGracing was always the polar opposite to the story above. I was first introduced to them 10 years ago when I became an instructor. From my first interaction to current dealings and everything in between, I have had positive, straightforward experiences.
While I haven’t even been to OG’s storefront in person, I still have access to honest advice via phone and email with them. Advice that doesn’t simply try to push me to get uncomfortable with my spending. When I was buying shoes and couldn’t try them on, the salesman recommended I get two pairs and just send back whichever pair I didn’t want (I will note, the size they suggested first was right). In all of my interactions to date they seemed like Track Day people and club racers like us, a stark contrast to a few shops I had checked out local to me. They’ve earned my trust.
Whoever you choose to shop with, make sure they respect you and your budget/plan.
Shopping for Essential Consumables:
Tires: Phil’s Tire Service
Track tires are a pretty unique market. You often can’t order them at the tire shop down the street. Tire Rack came in at the right time and essentially took over the entire online experience with easy buying and loads of great research. Some other large-scale track tires sites have popped up in the last couple years as well.
However, with Phil’s Tire Service, I can get all that same service and more. When I call (or message) I know I’m talking directly to either Kim or Phil. They are one of a few places that accept “Toyo Bucks” contingency prizes, and are very helpful with redeeming them. When I had issues with Toyo arbitrarily denying my earned contingency prizes? They knew exactly what to do. If I had specific questions on tire wear or pressure, I know I’m talking to someone who has actually raced on this tire. Their generous racer programs are a large part of how I have been able to run a competitive Spec Miata racing program on a shoestring budget.
Whoever you choose to shop with, make sure they are helping you take advantage of any Contingency discounts/awards/benefits.
Brakes: Hawk Performance Directly
If you are a big fan of arguing with strangers about politics and looking to diversify your portfolio, consider arguing over brake pads. If you ask 5 different people their favorite brake pads, you’re guaranteed to get 10 different opinions. Hawk has a very generous contingency program for NASA Time Trialers and Racers. With their support, I got started with and have always been happy with their pads. I buy them directly with the HawkBucks I get as contingency prizes. I have probably spent less of my own money on brake pads over the past 10 years than a typical corvette driver spends on a weekend.
The one time I was in a bind and didn’t have contingency cash built up? A friend with a Turn14 account was able to get me pads on short notice, at a great price. We can argue what pad has the best pedal feel until we’re blue in the face, but I can’t argue with a good price and generous contingency prizes.
Whatever brand you choose, and whoever you choose to shop with; Make sure you are taking advantage of any contingency prizes or discounts.
Shopping for Parts:
Miata Parts: Mazda directly
Spec Miata is as popular as it is for a myriad of reasons. One major reason- support from Mazda. Anyone who races a Mazda is able to sign up for the Mazda Motorsports Parts Store. Despite My car being 30 years old, I can still buy an incredible amount of parts direct from Mazda. Tell that to any 90’s BMW or Honda racer and they get real jealous. I can’t imagine this makes Mazda much money, it seems to come off as an investment into their reputation as a company that supports grassroots motorsports, and it works!
Beyond Mazda, there are also multiple Spec-Miata specific shops: I trust parts from Advance Autosports, MiataCage, East Street Racing, Planet Miata and Panic Motorsports to name a few.
Some Less “Spec” but still Miata specific, but Miata related pages I’ve bought from are Supermiata, Mikes Miata Parts, and Treasure Coast Miata.
The old Flyin Miata shop has some good stuff, but I’ve found that much of their information and parts focus on the street and/or turbo crowd.
If I’m missing a Miata-Specific shop it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad or a scam, I just haven’t dealt with them myself. If I’m missing anyone that’s been a fantastic asset to you, let me know!
Local Facebook Groups: I have bought an incredible amount of well-priced parts (and even entire cars) off my local statewide Miata Page. It’s a broad-focused page, with regular “car people” of all ages and backgrounds. With a relatively small percentage of racers, the relationship often works well, as parts not valuable to the masses may be essential to racers and vice-versa. The neat thing: Many of these local purchases have tuned into full on friendships, and we have encouraged many group participants to come out to the track.
FACEBOOK DISCLAIMER: – See my earlier post about SCAM accounts popping up all over Facebook marketplace. In Short: While I have a handful of shops that I trust, I’m always careful purchasing on Facebook. Scam accounts create clones of actual shops (often taking everything including posts and operating under a slightly different name. They even purchase thousands of fake follower accounts to appear more legitimate). Beware any “too good to be true” deal, especially if they ask you to pay in an unsecure method or if they balk when you suggest you can come with cash and pick the parts up yourself.
Rock Auto:
RockAuto is where I’ll often get random parts that aren’t super high stress or important, and I don’t want to pay OEM prices. Brake Rotors, spare balljoints, etc. Prices are great, but shipping is often a killer.
Local Parts Stores:
I don’t really shop for the Spec Miata here often. If I want nice, I’ll buy OEM (new from Mazda or used from various sources). If I want generic, I’ll order from Rock Auto. But if I need something now and don’t mid mixed availability and higher prices, I’ll grab it from one of the parts stores in town… if they have it.
Amazon & eBay
Amazon is a shopping tool I use frequently enough for various parts. I will suggest avoid all off-brand suspension parts on Amazon as I’ve had nothing but bad experiences. Parts with brand names you recognize is likely parts-counter quality.
eBay can be a decent source for used parts when you want something a bit cheaper than one of the big suppliers. I’ve found cheaper prices on local facebook groups, when it happens to come up, but there’s often a bunch of what you need listed on eBay right now.
I’ve used both Amazon and eBay as sources for generic and electronic gear. My radio post include a mix of Amazon pieces and the fantastic, budget-priced Nerdie Racing kit. eBay I’ll use for random stuff like brackets, vinyl, and mirrors. If i’m testing a harebrained concept like building my own rain light, it’s likely parts of eBay.
Shopping for full Race cars (or even Track cars):
In Short: Craigslist is all but dead (RIP)… but it wasn’t ever that great a place for niche items like racecars anyway.
Forums are dead too, even if some don’t know it yet. However, they’re still worth a look if you’re shopping for a racecar.
When I bought my car I was looking everywhere. In my various searches I found a small SCCA racing forum with a pretty terrible for sale ad for an old Spec Miata. In large part, it hadn’t sold because it was on a pretty obscure page and the ad was a bit sketchy, missing big information. For me that meant I got a great deal on a car that a seller was continuing to drop the price on. I wouldn’t rule out searching on as many road race, club, and car specific forums as you can find.
Your local events: Selling cars is annoying, many people don’t want to go through the trouble of listing and dealing with random people from the internet. If you ask around your local community you may just get someone who is selling or about to sell and would much rather it go directly to a local racer than listing online. You’ll know the history, backstory, and may even trust the seller already.
Trackready.us: Trackready.us is a newer page, based primarily around being a for-sale page for track-ready cars. The site is constantly growing, with a more focused race-only section (Spec Miatas included!) as well as a super helpful schedule finder tool.
RacingJunk: I didn’t find anything good here when I was looking, but I’ve had a few friends buy good cars from RacingJunk. The single photo that most listings has drives me nuts, but there is still some decent stuff.
Facebook Marketplace: Is a mess. The search functions are so horrible its morbidly impressive. You won’t see any results for items you’re searching for, then a week later a two week old listing appears as if it just was born. People are hesitant to list items and deal with hundreds of messages from AI spambots and bored jerks. Go ahead and look, but don’t expect much.
Facebook Local Groups: Right now, it seems the best possible way to connect is via club or class specific Facebook Groups. It is usually a much nicer experience to sell things on a local group vs the general public on Marketplace. These groups are typically more genuine, local, and actually connected groups with less robots asking nonsensical questions. Some of the larger groups see fantastic deals come up, but good deals do sell quickly. It may be tough to commit to a $15,000 purchase overnight, but a good deal on a Spec Miata usually doesn’t last.
There are groups for everything… Regional groups for your class and club (Like Nasa Northeast Spec Miata), regional non-specific groups (Like Track Eastcoast), regional club groups like NASA Northeast Classifieds). There are National groups (like Spec Miata Buy Sell Trade or Caged Race cars for sale). You name some way to divide up our hobby and create a group, there’s probably a page on Facebook for it. Look and ask around.
Bonus: Promo Gear:
Whether you’re running an entire blog, or just trying to put on what looks like a cohesive race effort: Custom branded items are nice to have- I have an upcoming blog post on this but here’s some of my sources in short:
I’ve found a few online sticker companies that do good work. I’ve had some that had issues with customer service.
I’ve ordered vinyl Windshield Banners and NMM embroidered hats, patches from eBay.
For Shirts and printed hats I used to work with Printful. Unfortunately, the quality and service at Prinful has been in a downward spiral as their prices are on an upward spiral. I’ve stopped selling shirts through their service.
I do have access to a DTG printer at my local library, which is a pretty neat way to make my own shirts when I have the time.
That’s about what I have. If you have any more questions on sources for specific items or gear, drop a comment. I’d love to help (and add to the post).