[DrDubbleB]

I'm still looking for my first track day, and don't know if I'll ever see one before trading in the 240 on a different car (track days=$$$). But I'm just curious what circuits you guys have had a go at, and how was the experience?

There DSC, that should keep this forum active for a bit.

 

[tnord]

in order of least favorite to most

1) St. Cloud Safety facility - short (1.25miles), skinny (not even room for 3 wide anywhere), and run by morons (AARRF)

2) Dakota County Tech Test Course - never driven here, but have gotten rides. it's basically like a big ax cone course. don't know how long it is, probably bout a mile. even skinnier than st cloud, but most importantly, the people that show up here are far superior to st cloud and the org that used to host events aren't a bunch of rejects.

3) Heartland Park - never driven on it, but it seems of decent size, layout is seems alright with elevation changes, safety is an issue though as i saw a couple concrete walls here, don't know if they are in play though. i guess i'll find out in april when i slap the ol 240 on it for probably it's last track experience.

4) Brainerd International Raceway - huge (3 miles), fast (1 mile straight to flat footed banked turn one), scary (100+mph corner entry speeds), dangerous if you go off in one of the high speed turns 1 or 2. some consider this to be the fastest track in the country. haven't actually competed here, just driven around for fun.

5) Blackhawk Farms Raceway - big enough (1.95 miles), technical in parts with a flat footed 3rd gear redline turn 5, great scenery, lots of participants, great org running it (MCSCC), always have fun when i'm there.

new tracks i will most likely visit this season:
1) Road America - need i say more?
2) Grattan.....probably not Gingerman
3) MAYBE, big MAYBE Mid-Ohio

 

[DSC]

Been to
Lowes motorspeedway and
Summitpoint raceway

Tracks for next year are VIR, Mid Ohio and BeaveRun for sure (and summitpoint again of course), I may visit others money permitting.

 

[Justin-ATL]

I've been on Road Atlanta and Roblen Road (near Savannha,ga). I have also been on Little Talladaga in AL. I can't wait to take those courses on in a 240sx and compare it to the Z.

 

[DrDubbleB]

Been to
Lowes motorspeedway and
Summitpoint raceway

Tracks for next year are VIR, Mid Ohio and BeaveRun for sure (and summitpoint again of course), I may visit others money permitting.

Dave, how's Summitpoint? I'm thinking of tracking the bike up there sometime....

 

[Sykikchimp]

LMS, and VIR North..

Next year first things first.. VIR Full.. and hopefully Road Atlanta, and Summit point, and definately CMP.

 

[fodive]

BeaveRun looks nice(name sucks)

im hopefully going to make it to Inferion(Sears Point) or Thunderhill in february

 

[Guest]

Thunderhill Motorsports Park

Buttonwillow Raceway Park

Streets of Willow @ Willow Springs International Raceway

...in order of my favorite to least favorite hehe.

Thunderhill was an awesome track, 3 mile road course with 2 long straightaways back to back. the track conditions were great, smooth pavement, plenty of room to pass, and great visibility. front straight gets you to redline in 3rd gear with room to spare, but really not worth shifting to 4th. maybe with my new 3.92 rear end i can hit redline in 3rd at the end of the straight. turn 5 was crazy, since it goes almost straight uphill and you cant see shit on the other side, just have faith, turn left, then quick right haha. the turn 10-13 section heading onto the back straight is the best part. when i was on the track, it was raining for the first part of the day, then around 12PM the sun came out and dried everything up, and it was like running on an entirely different track. it was a great experience for me. track is owned and operated by the San Fransisco regional SCCA chapter.

Buttonwillow by far had the nicest facilities of any track ive gone to. the pits were nice, bathrooms very close by, the tower in the middle of the pits provided a great spot to watch the cars on the track plus it had a snack bar and gift shop downstairs with all kinds of good stuff, nice skidpad, fully fuctioning race shop on the track grounds with a dyno and they sold anything you could ever need to build your own spec miata (tnord might like this place), they even sold this crap you could put in your gas to make it smell like bubble gum! the track itself was quite nice, very fast, but with good technical sections. not very wide though. i didnt actually get to drive balls-out on this track yet, i just went on a few parade laps (i have in-car footage that i might upload later if anyone cares) but it was still fun. a very very close 2nd on my list behind T-Hill.

Streets of Willow....well, what can i say about Streets of Willow. its a decent track i guess. the front straight is too short to do much passing, and the track gets SO FRIGGIN HOT that it turns your tires into mush after 3 or 4 laps. the skidpad is actually part of the track, so if they want skidpad useage, they have to close off one of the last turns and use an alternate route, but the alternate track is sorta fun too. it actually has a pretty fun section around the "bowl" with a long banked sweeping turn leading into a couple soft S's, but other than that, the track is really nothing special. the pits are, um, there. and the gas station is all the way on the other side of the facilities from the Streets track. theres only one spot of shade in the whole place, which sucks since its in the middle of the desert, and its even hot in the shade. ont he bright side, its one of the cheaper tracks to run on, and there are open track events held there pretty often.


well, that's all for now. after i'm done with Sears Point (Infineon) and Laguna Seca, i'll make another post hehe.

:sweetass

 

[Guest]

heres a cool pic of T-Hill that i found, you can see where it goes uphill on turn 5 and 9. good stuff.

 

[DrDubbleB]

You Cali guys make me jealous!

 

[iQuABoB]

i've never been to a track
hmm... seems fun, are there any in ontario?

 

[SR20Fastback]

Cant wait for thunderhill. It looks scary, and jesus friggin christ its long!

 

[whitey]

I have never actually taken a car out on a track (other than drag strip)

How exactly does it work? I have read about what you will need to bring. But what actually happens once you get there?

Do they just make you pay, inspect your car, and let you run your car around the track for a while or is there a certain number of laps or what? Do any of you go to organized races, and if so how did you enjoy that, and what did you find the other drivers to be like?

 

[Guest]

the events that i have been to were just open track/drift days, and they go as follows:

well you show up during the wee hours of the morning, and if you havent pre-teched, you go through a tech inspection at the track. than after thats all taken care of, you go to a mandatory morning drivers meeting and discuss the rules for the day. then the drivers get divided into their respective groups, A, B, C, and D (and sometimes E); A being most advanced. then they announce which group will be heading on to the track, and you line up at the pre-grid. and then they let you loose. after about 20 minutes or so the checkered flag comes out and you exit the track while the next run group is called to pre-grid. then repeat the process until lunch time, then everyone takes a break, then come back and repeat the process again. then at the end you pack up your stuff and get ready to hit the road, say goodbye to all the cool people, and then go eat and head home.

the other drivers tend to be really cool people, especially the nissan drivers. but i have noticed a trend among the toyota crowd (mainly AE86 owners) that they tend to shut you out and ignore you unless you are already buddy-buddy with them, and i know im not the only one who noticed that. but yeah the nissan people are really cool and outgoing, and the others are great too, and the track veterans are always willing to give a few pointers to help anyone who wants to know how to run the track better.

:thumbsup

 

[Sykikchimp]

Nasa works a lot like that... except they are HPDE's (Driving Schools)

Register many weeks before the event, and pay your $$..

Showup on the predetermined day really early, usually 6-7am to prep the car, and make sure everything is good. Go to mandatory drivers meeting. You preregistered into a specific class. Classes are novice, intermediate, advanced, and Instructor. You meet your instructor at the grid when your first session comes up. The instructor tech's your car, and checks out your pre-tech form that YOU filled out. Makes sure everything looks good. Once everyone is ready and teched, they start the session. Instructor is mandatory in Novice and intermediate group. No instructor mandatory in advanced. Finish session, go to Class. Mr. Dan Unkefer always does his safety routine,, and tells a few stories, and asks where your having troubles, and tells you how to get through them, bla bla... He is an AMAZING teacher btw. then lunch, then you 2nd, and 3rd sessions for the day after lunch.. and usually at least one more class. Then rinse repeat for the next day.

This IS by FAR the MOST FUN you can possibly have in a vehicle. PERIOD. as uuninja on zilvia said.. "This shit is WAY better than even Road Head!!!!!" LOL

 

[rexbo]

got me a 1:40:31 best lap at the Streets of Willow Springs in an s13 with coilovers, 350z wheels/tires and z32 brakes, and bone stock KA. BTW the fastest stock 350z was 1:42:15!

 

[sr20goofus]

ive been to Mid-Ohio, Summit Point Main, Summit Point Shanendoah, Beaverun, VIR Full, and VIR Grand. some more than once.

Summit Point is local to me, and the Main course is rough in spots, but oh so much fun. VIR Full or Grand are by far the most fun track being 3.6 miles and 4.3 miles long with technical variations and high high speeds in my car up to 150mph.

i knwo my best time at Summit Point Main was a 1:32, about the same times as teh under powered arace cars (SE-R, H5 and such) a good suspension will go a long way on track, which is why i plan to get one some day.

 

[RedSVTFlareside]

I'll cover some other tracks not listed.

I've been to:

Hallett Motor Racing Circuit (1.8 mile) - its a small track 1.8mi with small facilities and run by the Stephens Brothers. I enjoy it because it is a fairly technical track with constant elevation changes and its only 30 mins away from my house. The track is a little bumpy and could use a good resurfacing but its still perfectly driveable. The local group, COMMA, has high speed touring sessions starting at $95 per car per day. I've been to several COMMA high speed touring days. I've had the M3 here twice and my old F150 sports car truck here 3 times.
www.hallettracing.com

Motorsport Ranch (3.1 mile long course) - Located in Cresson, TX, just south of Fort Worth. This is an excellent Facility and excellent track. Covered hot pits!!! On site fully functioning garage. Fairly difficult track to learn. Lots of elevation changes. I've had the M3 here once.
www.motorsportranch.com

I'm hoping that I get to drive Texas motor speedway, heartland park, and Barber Motorsports park in 2007.

 

[shockster0429]

Ive ran Nelson Ledges, Its in NE ohio area... was a pretty fast track 2 miles long, my first one, back straight I'd get up to around 120ish, never got to go all out, blew a coolant hose on my first run. bummer.

 

[rexbo]

I made Laguna Seca this week. BEST. TRACK. EVER.