Just got back from a great two-day event at NJMP with SCDA--Lightning on Monday and Thunderbolt on Tuesday. Rare that you get to do both tracks in one event.
Weather was beautiful and there was a good mix of fast cars (BMWs, Corvettes, GT3 cup cars, a V8-powered Radical!...).
I had an interesting moment on Lightning coming out of turn 5, the over-the-hill right-hander. I probably apexed a bit too early, as the HPDE/school line dictates that you drive far out to the left side of the track under braking to set up for 5, then cut the wheel hard to the right and accelerate up over the crest of the hill in a straight line. This helps prevent you from having steering input as you crest the hill, which could lead to the car shooting to the right as the suspension recompresses on the other side. I was trying different lines, though, that a BMW CCA club racer had showed me earlier in the season. The problem wasn't the crest of the hill, but running out of room on track out. I thought I would stay on the pavement, just running up onto the rumble strips on track out, but my left front wheel clipped the start of the rumble strip where it steps up as it transitions from grass to the strip. This unsettled the car and shot me in a slide to the right. The tire wall was coming up quickly but somehow I managed to get it straight enough to just miss. I then spun in the grass back onto the track. Luckily the red Corvette that had just pointed me by slowed and avoided me.
