Planning: 1 month trackday road trip

[jid2]

I expect good participation in this thread as it involves spending others (my) money. Bring your Big ideas!

Looking for input on a bucket list project I'm working on. I've made it long enough at my current job that I get 4-6 weeks off and really looking to spend it on the track. I'm in the Seattle area and thinking about putting together a road trip to go do a bunch of track days. It seems simple in concept but I've got alot of things running through my head. So feel free to come along for the ride and help me get this planned.

Some of the items I'm thinking about:

- I've got my Chevy 1 ton diesel truck, which I maybe love more than my M3. Seems like I should use that to pull the car around.

- I haven't bought a trailer yet but that is on the to-do list. So many options. Used trailers can be a SERIOUS deal if you find the right one. You can also spend a fortune to spec a new one. To manage cost on the trip it seems like using the trailer/rig as a camper of some sort is a good idea. Again, so many options. Open to suggestions.

- Starting in Seattle the West Coast is the easiest option for tracks. I'm certainly interested in Sears Point, Laguna, maybe Thunderhill. Not that interested in Willow Springs, Button Willow or Autoclub. Maybe thermal, Spring Mountain as well. Open to feedback here as well.

- Of the California tracks and the groups that operate track days can someone give me the run down on which groups are easy to deal with and have respectable drivers. My preference is to not have to join a bunch "clubs " or groups, not require a bunch of paperwork for tech inspection etc. So hopefully low friction. But I'm open here as well. Stringing a bunch of dates together probably won't be easy.

- I really want to do more than just California, heading Southeast is an option. I've done Utah Motorsports already, don't really need to go there. Considered making the push to Texas and doing COTA and maybe some more Texas tracks, Road Atlanta seems real far, but awesome.

- The other option is to head Northeast and head to Road America, Mid-Ohio etc.

- At some point the pulling the car to driving the car on track math gets less favorable. Thus it might be worth while to do some of the further tracks arrive and drive style. Anyone ever do any of that?

- One option for the above that I've also considered is throwing in a racing school of some sort. After looking at a bunch it really seems like most of them are very remedial for someone who has done a lot of track days.The focus tends to be on basic performance driving for a few days and then they touch race craft on the last day and call it good. I'd be more interested in a school that focuses more on racecraft and actually does a few races during the curriculum so that you leave with more than a provisional license. Open to ideas here.

- Time of year is another consideration. I think the season is a bit earlier in Cali and the south?


Let's hear it.

[aus]

Try to include Buttonwillow. It's a fun track in both directions, same for Chuckwalla.
Fontana is worth a go if scheduling works out. It's scary fast on the main straight into Nascar 1 and 2, then into the infield, which is pretty flat.
I'm thinking Speed Venture is your best bet. Kinda scary at times and first couple sessions are packed but the second 2 are pretty empty since everyone leaves after they get some GoPro footage. Motorsport Reg is a good place to start. It'll list the events in an read by month and who's running them. It's not all events at a track but it's a good start. Sounds like a great trip!
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[roastbeef]

speeddistrict has a cult following. its a little more expensive, but less noob drivers, less cars, and less traffic. great coordinator.
definitely hit laguna. auto club is pretty cool as well. lots of people like buttonwillow, but i've only been once and was having car problems, so i didn't get to know it well.

sonoma is an awesome track and tons of fun. however, the surrounding area is trash, so be weary of lodging in that area...
bring more brake pads than you think you'll need for sonoma and laguna!

just curious- why no interest in willow springs?

[Ximian]

If you're heading east toward Road America, make a stop in Brainerd - it's a great track. There aren't many open track day events so timing can be tricky.

[Kelse92]

Not to be a downer, but plan a head and make relationships with good bmw shops nearby the tracks you are planning on visiting before you go on the journey. You never know when something is gonna happen so just make sure to at least be familiar with a few places along the way you can take your car to should you need to.

Also, there’s plenty of us on here that are all over the country. I’m sure arriving and driving could be arranged by just reaching out and asking folks. I believe there’s different groups around the country that offer rentals as well, I recall recently seeing Mark Martin is doing a new startup called W2W Racing with GT4 Clubsports in Austin that can be rented for a day. Could be a potential option for you should you want to make it out to CoTA.

[jid2]

For sure would want to get in touch with a few of the local BMW shops. I've done all the work to my car to date and would bring the consumables with me. But priming things in case of a reasonable issue would be good. If something serious happens (motor, trans) I'd just pack up and head home!

Seems like some form of fly-in fly-out might be needed, which could totally work if I establish some connections. Good thing I've got some time to plan.

[MaximusB]

A little out of the way but if you want to do a trip up north there is Area 27 in Oliver BC. It is located in Okanagan wine country, so plenty of winery resorts for a little R&R as well.

https://www.area27.ca/

[dparm]

Texas has COTA, MSR Cresson, MSR Houston, Eagle's Canyon, Hallett, and NOLA. Biggest downside is that the drive across Texas basically takes a full day...Texas is an absolutely massive state. The MSR tracks are configurable and some can be run in reverse. I would say COTA should be a bucket list track seeing as how it's the only purpose-built F1 circuit in the US.

Once you hit up Texas you can head straight north towards the Midwest tracks. Road America, Autobahn CC, GingerMan, Grattan, Mid-Ohio, Putnam Park, etc.

My suggestion: create a custom Google map with all of the tracks and you should start to see some patterns and possibilities emerge. Trackpedia used to have something like this.

[Kelse92]

Originally Posted by dparm

My suggestion: create a custom Google map with all of the tracks and you should start to see some patterns and possibilities emerge. Trackpedia used to have something like this.

Ohhhh great idea with the Google map! Their custom ones and the ability of upload spreadsheets with location data is amazing.

[jid2]

Originally Posted by MaximusB

A little out of the way but if you want to do a trip up north there is Area 27 in Oliver BC. It is located in Okanagan wine country, so plenty of winery resorts for a little R&R as well.

https://www.area27.ca/

That was so last weekend. Amazing place.

[MaximusB]

Originally Posted by jid2

That was so last weekend. Amazing place.

Soooo jealous!

[SYT_Shadow]

Road Atlanta, VIR, WGI, maybe Pitt Race. MidOhio is fine as well

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Ohhhh great idea with the Google map! Their custom ones and the ability of upload spreadsheets with location data is amazing.

Definitely add a layer to the map with dealers, shops, vendors, etc along the way. This way you will not be in a panic at some unfamiliar track trying to figure out where the nearest BMW shop is. You might even want an additional layer for local members in those cities.

[jid2]

^^^ Good ideas for sure.

I have the time slot blocked off now, which is April of next year into the middle of May. My wife didn't approve of using the whole chunk of time off for me screwing around with my car. So we are taking the family on a trip the first few weeks of April. After that I can piece together my stuff. I sent an email to most of the track day organizers for CA so I can get their 2020 calendars as soon as they are ready.

When I was in Canada at Area 27 one of the guys had a trailer with a fuel storage system built in - which was sweet. So now that seems like an important element to the trailer!