Production-based cars
Teams start with eligible street-car platforms and prepare them for safe, reliable endurance competition.
Build Series · Step 2 of 8
What Is ChampCar?
ChampCar Endurance Series is real wheel-to-wheel endurance road racing for grassroots teams using production-based cars, required safety equipment, and a points system that allows many different platforms to compete.
ChampCar in plain language
A place for regular people to do real racing.
ChampCar is built for amateur racers, friends, families, students, mechanics, engineers, and car people who want more than a track day. The racing is competitive, the tracks are real, and the cars must meet serious safety requirements.
Long-format races
Events typically run for hours, requiring multiple drivers, fuel stops, communication, maintenance, and strategy.
Wheel-to-wheel competition
Cars race together for position and completed laps. This is not lead-follow driving or timed solo lapping.
Grassroots teams
The series is designed around amateur participation rather than professional teams and factory race programs.
The basic process
How a team gets from garage to grid.
Every team takes the same broad path, whether it starts with a home-built car, an existing race car, or an Arrive and Drive seat.
1
Choose the car
Confirm that the exact year, make, and model appears in the VPI and makes sense for the team's goals.
2
Prepare it safely
Install the required cage, seat, harness, fire protection, electrical cutoff, net, and other safety equipment.
3
Complete tech
Submit the required information and have the car and driver safety equipment inspected before racing.
4
Race as a team
Drivers rotate through the car while the crew manages fuel, repairs, communication, timing, and strategy.
Vehicle Performance Index
VPI is ChampCar's starting point for balancing cars.
ChampCar is not a one-make or single-spec series. VPI allows many production platforms to race under one system.
Start with base VPI
Every listed year, make, and model has an assigned starting value based on its performance potential.
Add modification points
Fixed-point parts, non-fixed-point parts, and swaps may add to the car's total under the current BCCR.
Manage the total
Cars at 500 points or less avoid starting penalty laps. Cars above that level may still race under the applicable rules.
Do not buy first and research later.
Look up the exact car, read the current rules, understand modification points, and ask the Tech Desk about anything unclear before committing to the platform.
Keeping the door open
What makes ChampCar more accessible?
Accessible does not mean free or easy. It means the series offers a practical path to real racing without requiring a purpose-built professional race car.
Common platforms
Cars with available parts, known problems, and strong community knowledge can be built, maintained, and repaired more reasonably.
Freedom to build
ChampCar gives teams choices within the rulebook rather than forcing every team into one identical chassis and setup.
Team-shared cost
Several drivers share one car and one race effort. Teams decide how to divide construction, entry, travel, fuel, tires, and operating costs.
New racers are welcome
You do not need to begin as a car owner.
There are several ways to learn the series before taking responsibility for a complete build.
Arrive and Drive
Rent a seat with an established team and learn the race-weekend process in an existing car.
Explore available paths →Volunteer
Work with ChampCar staff, see how events operate, meet teams, and learn the paddock before entering a race.
Volunteer with ChampCar →Join a team
Crew, help with a build, or connect with teams through the ChampCar community and forum.
Visit the forum →
Quick answers
What new teams usually ask
Is ChampCar a track-day organization?
No. ChampCar is wheel-to-wheel endurance racing. Cars compete together for position and completed laps under race-control rules.
Do I need a professional race car?
No. ChampCar uses eligible production-based platforms prepared to meet the current safety, technical, and VPI requirements.
Is ChampCar inexpensive?
It is designed as a more accessible route into real road racing, but racing still involves a car, safety equipment, fabrication, entry fees, consumables, transportation, travel, and ongoing maintenance.
Can a beginner participate?
Yes, but this is still real racing. New drivers and teams should prepare carefully, learn the rules, seek instruction and experience, and make finishing safely their first goal.
What should I do first?
Understand endurance racing, review the Build Series, read the BCCR, check VPI, and decide whether building, buying, volunteering, crewing, or Arrive and Drive is the right first step.
Next: see the complete Build Series roadmap.
The overview puts every guide in order and helps you choose the right starting point.