Real road courses
Race at well-known tracks across the country with long-format events built around strategy and teamwork.
Why we exist
We made endurance road racing easier to start.
In 2009, a lot of people had grown tired of road racing series that were hard to get into and difficult to get started in. Driver schools. Special licenses. Old-boy networks. The “this is how it has always been done, so deal with it” mentality.
ChampCar helped change that.
Build a safe car. Get some buddies. Go racing. No special racing license. No expensive traditional racing school bureaucracy. Just real wheel-to-wheel endurance racing on real tracks.
And it worked.
What is ChampCar?
ChampCar Endurance Series is team-based road racing. Teams build or prepare a car, share the driving, manage pit stops, make repairs, and race for hours at a time.
Budget-minded racing
The rules are designed to keep competition close and discourage unlimited spending.
Team endurance racing
Most teams split the driving, work, costs, and stories across a group of friends.
Is this for me?
ChampCar is for regular people who want to race. Builders, track day drivers, experienced racers, crew members, and friends who want to go racing together all have a place here.
I want to build a car
Start with the rule book, VPI list, safety rules, and tech guidance before spending money.
I want to rent a seat
Arrive and Drive teams may have seats available for drivers who want to race without owning a car.
I want to learn first
Perfect. Come to a race, volunteer, help a team, or wrench for someone before building your own car.
No expensive racing school bureaucracy.
In traditional road racing, getting started often meant expensive driver schools, competition licenses, gatekeepers, and a lot of “this is how it has always been done.”
ChampCar helped break that model.
Build a safe car. Get some buddies. Go racing.
But let’s be clear. This is still real wheel-to-wheel endurance racing. Endurance auto racing is hard. Cars break. Drivers make mistakes. Pit stops get chaotic. Traffic management, mirrors, flags, awareness, and pit lane discipline matter.
We do require our New to Champ orientation for new drivers. It explains how ChampCar runs events, our flagging system, race procedures, pit lane expectations, safety protocols, and how to survive in a pit lane full of experienced racers.
How to get started
The best first step is simple: come to a race. Volunteer, crew for a team, help someone wrench, or just walk the paddock and talk with racers. You will learn more in one weekend at the track than you will from weeks of guessing online.
1
Come to a race first
Walk the paddock, ask questions, watch pit stops, and see what endurance racing really takes.
2
Volunteer or help a team
Working a race, crewing, or wrenching for a team teaches you the real rhythm of a ChampCar weekend.
3
Read the rules before spending money
Endurance auto racing is hard. A safe, legal, reliable car matters more than a fast idea.
4
Pick your path
Build a car, join a team, rent a seat, or start as crew while you learn.
5
Then go racing
Once you understand the work, cost, safety requirements, and teamwork involved, you will be much better prepared.
What car should you race?
The honest answer? Probably not the car you think.
Start with what you already know. What experience do you or your crew already have with cars? What is sitting out on your south 40? What is parked behind the garage? What has been collecting junk in the corner for years?
The more you and your buddies can do yourselves, the cheaper endurance racing becomes.
Know the platform
If your team already understands Hondas, BMWs, Mustangs, Miatas, or old pickups, that knowledge matters more than chasing the "perfect" race car.
Your skills save money
Alignments. Tire changes. Tune-ups. Brake jobs. Welding. Fabrication. Crash repairs. Every skill your team already has lowers the cost.
Reliable beats exotic
Endurance racing punishes fragile ideas. A boring, reliable car that keeps circulating often beats the cool car broken in the paddock.
Endurance auto racing is hard.
Cars break. Drivers make mistakes. Parts wear out. Bodywork gets bent. Pit stops get chaotic. Pick something your team can actually keep alive for hours at a time.
This is the real thing
Real tracks. Real cars. Real racing.
This is what ChampCar actually looks like. Long races, packed fields, real road courses, and teams built in garages, backyards, race shops, and paddocks across the country.
7+ Hour Enduros
Multiple drivers, fuel strategy, traffic management, repairs, pit stops, and the kind of racing that rewards teamwork.
Real Tracks
Daytona, VIR, Road America, Watkins Glen, Circuit of the Americas, and tracks across the country.
Grassroots Teams
Built by friends, families, mechanics, racers, shops, and weekend wrench-turners who just want to go racing.
ChampCar is not a fantasy or a driving game. Teams build and race actual cars, on actual road courses, for hours at a time, with strategy, traffic, pit stops, repairs, mistakes, and real consequences.
Thinking about building a car?
Before you drag something home and start cutting metal, read our Build Basics guide. It covers safety requirements, common mistakes, race car fundamentals, and what actually goes into building a ChampCar car that can survive endurance racing.
Why racers choose ChampCar
Lots of seat time
Endurance racing gives drivers more laps, more traffic, and more experience than many short-format weekends.
Friendly paddock
Teams race hard, but the paddock is built around helping each other make the race.
Strategy matters
Speed helps, but fuel, pit stops, reliability, traffic, and teamwork win endurance races.
Your friends and family can follow along from home.
ChampCar race weekends are not just about the people at the track. Friends, family, sponsors, and teammates back home can follow the action through ChampCar.live, our live race coverage team, timing feeds, race updates, and event broadcasts.
Whether your spouse wants to see how your stint is going, your buddies want to laugh at your pit stop mistakes, or your sponsor wants exposure, ChampCar helps bring the race weekend home.
Ready to learn more?
Pick the path that fits you.
There is no single "right" way to start. Come to a race, volunteer for a weekend, help a team wrench, talk with racers in the paddock, jump into an Arrive & Drive seat, or build your own team.
Volunteer at a race
Flagging, pit lane, tech, registration, timing support, grid control, and more. Volunteers are a huge part of what makes ChampCar happen and get a front-row seat to the action.
Ask About VolunteeringArrive & Drive
Want to race without building a car, buying tools, towing a trailer, or making expensive rookie mistakes? Arrive & Drive teams offer race seats with experienced teams that already know how ChampCar works.
Great for:
Find an Arrive & Drive Team
- First-time racers
- Drivers without a race car
- People testing the waters
- Drivers wanting coaching from experienced teams
Build your own team
Ready to build a car, gather your crew, and create your own endurance racing adventure? Browse the schedule, read the rules, and start planning.