Endurance racing cost is a set of line items, and each series and team prices them differently. This guide lists the categories, shows the fees series publish on their own pages, and ends with a checklist for reading a team quote. It does not give price ranges. A range needs several dated quotes behind it, and this page has none.
The cost categories
- Seat. The right to drive in a shared car, and how many hours of driving it includes.
- Car. Ownership, or rental of a car prepared for the series.
- Entry. The fee the series charges to register the car for an event.
- Tires. The sets for practice, qualifying and the race.
- Test day. Practice before the event, if the series offers it.
- Fuel and consumables. Fuel, brake pads, fluids and other parts the car uses up.
- Crew and support. Mechanics, engineers, spotter and pit crew.
- Travel. Transport, lodging and meals.
- Coaching. Driver coaching and data review.
- Damage. Repair of the car and costs charged by the track or series.
- Insurance. What the series covers, and what you must hold yourself.
- Membership and license. Series membership and the license application.
Fees series publish, as published on 2026-10-31
These figures come from each series’ own page on the date shown. A series can change them. Check the page before you pay.
24 Hours of Lemons. The Lemons prices page says on-time entry is $1,975 per team, “effective 1/1/2027”. That fee includes one car and up to four drivers. Additional drivers cost $245 each and additional crew cost $75 each. The entry fee covers registration, track time, a paddock pass and an on-site ambulance crew. Each driver must hold a Lemons Competition Membership, which the page lists at $100. The page says refunds and transfers are not available. The $500 car limit does not count safety equipment, registration, insurance or license costs, and wheels and tires are exempt from it. Tires must be DOT-approved street tires with a treadwear rating of at least 190.
ChampCar. The 2026 rulebook (version 1.4, updated 2025-12-17) says every entry includes all drivers and crew. It sends readers to champcar.org for event entry fees, and some tracks charge fees outside ChampCar’s. Paid fees inside 60 days of an event move to another event, less a $250 deposit. Paying the full entry 60 days ahead through the auto-pay website takes $200 off. A protest carries a $150 filing fee. A team that damages the track owes the cost plus a 4% service fee through the team captain. ChampCar carries event liability insurance and does not carry health insurance for competitors. A MyLaps-type transponder and a Flagtronics FT200 are required, and each can be owned or rented from ChampCar. Tires must be DOT-rated with a treadwear rating of 250 or higher, unless the tire is on the ChampCar Approved Tire List.
American Endurance Racing. AER’s event page for its October 2026 Mid-Ohio weekend lists a registration cost of $3,100. The page does not say what the figure covers. Every AER driver must hold an AER membership, good for 12 months. The page shows no membership amount. The FAQ says a cancellation more than thirty days out gets a cash refund less a $100 processing fee. A cancellation inside thirty days gets a 75% credit toward another AER event within twelve months. The rulebook requires a US DOT tire with a treadwear rating of 180 or greater. The hard-card license is optional and at the driver’s expense.
International GT. The 2026 rules require every fee to be paid at registration. A test day carries a separate registration fee, and a driver must enter the event to join it. All cars must run Pirelli tires, pre-ordered and bought through one named supplier. The rules ask for pre-orders three weeks before the event. The rules list no amounts.
Lucky Dog. The series’ schedule page describes a Hankook Competition tire program. It says “each race weekend, teams will receive $3,000 in free tires”. The page does not state the conditions. It also shows no entry fee in its readable text.
WRL, PCA Club Racing and the Porsche Sprint Trophy. WRL’s licensing and event pages show no entry or license fee. PCA’s rulebook mentions a license application fee and gives no amount. Porsche’s Sprint Trophy pages give no fee. None of these pages publish a figure, so this guide states none.
How to read a team quote
A quote is a stack of line items. Ask the team to write each one down and say what it includes. Hold the quote against this list.
- Seat. What is the total price? How many hours behind the wheel does it include, in practice, qualifying and the race?
- Tires. How many sets does the quote include? What does an extra set cost? Who pays to change them?
- Entry. Is the series entry fee in the quote, or on top of it?
- Test day. Is a test day included? If not, what does it cost?
- Travel. Does the quote include lodging, transport and meals for the driver?
- Coaching. Who coaches, and is the coaching included?
- Damage. What do you owe after an incident? Is there a cap? Who pays track or series charges?
- Consumables. Which are included? Fuel, brakes, fluids and parts all count.
- Insurance. What does the series cover? What must you hold yourself? A series may cover event liability only, as ChampCar’s rulebook says.
- Changes. What happens if the car cannot run your stint, or the event is changed?
Add up the lines yourself. Compare two quotes only after both cover the same list.
What to do next
Ask each team you are considering for a written quote that answers the ten lines above. Use the team-choosing questions for what the quote does not cover.
Sources checked October 31, 2026. Each rule shows the season it applies to.