Which new eastern US track should I add to my 2018 season?

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by leo95se

my standard hitlist includes WGI, LRP (my home track,about an hour away), NJMP, Palmer, tremblant. others too ,but less exciting.
will add club motorsport this year.

if i were you, id do WGI for sure. LRP 2nd.

Already have a spot at the May 4-6 track weekend at WGI, beyond excited! I already started planning my trip cuz it's going to be a bit of a mission - 11.5 hours not including stops. I know it will be worth it though!

Lime Rock is on the short list for next year

[ec_E92]

Kudos to you for making a trip to drive a new track. Farthest I've done is Autobahn CC (6 hours from me, done that a handful of times).

Hitting up Road America this year for first time, will be a 8-9 hour trek but bucket list.

Can't wait for spring!

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by ec_E92

Kudos to you for making a trip to drive a new track. Farthest I've done is Autobahn CC (6 hours from me, done that a handful of times).

Hitting up Road America this year for first time, will be a 8-9 hour trek but bucket list.

Can't wait for spring!

I know!! I am so ready for spring...

VIR is the farthest track I've been to as of now, which is 4 hours away. By the time I go back there in the fall, 4 hours will seem like nothing lol.

That's awesome you're going to Road America, I'm stoked for you! I've heard so many great things about that track, one day I would love to check it out.

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Excellent!
Have you decided when?

I'll be there with friends June11/12 with Phoenix CMR.


The Falls Motel is where a lot of us track rats stay when at WGI.
Nothing fancy, but clean & close to the track.


Ross Bentley's track walk vid for WGI is also very good.

Hey, I wanted to thank you for the suggestion of a place to stay. Just booked my room tonight! It looks perfect, so close to the track. And, there's even a waterfall right there! I love that part of NY state, the Finger Lakes region is just stunning.

[inTgr8r]

Glad to help

[Inflame]

Grattan in Michigan is incredible! Hidden secret

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by Inflame

Grattan in Michigan is incredible! Hidden secret

Cool! Just went to their website, that looks like a fun course!

I am really enjoying learning about all these tracks I never knew existed... It makes me look at the whole eastern half of our country (well, continent really) in a whole new way. Pretty sweet!

[Inflame]

Originally Posted by DreamTime

Cool! Just went to their website, that looks like a fun course!

I am really enjoying learning about all these tracks I never knew existed... It makes me look at the whole eastern half of our country (well, continent really) in a whole new way. Pretty sweet!

It really is! The elevation changes are wild! Here is a picture of FCA's head of design, Ralph Gilles, going over the "jump" in his ACR viper.

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by Inflame

It really is! The elevation changes are wild! Here is a picture of FCA's head of design, Ralph Gilles, going over the "jump" in his ACR viper.

Oh, great pic! I couldn't help but make a silly excited sound when I saw that, lol! Lord help me...

I love elevation change in a course. The first track I went to was Roebling Road down on the coast of Georgia. Great first track. It is very flat, I mean like no elevation change at all throughout the whole course. The next ones I went to were VIR and Road Atlanta. I just fell in love with how the ups and downs played along with the turns. So much fun

[DreamTime]

Finally made it to Watkins Glen over the weekend. What a track! Thank you to every single person who told me that was the one I should do. Wow.

It’s such a long and complicated course… I enjoyed every last turn. Definitely a great track to help shake the dust off of my 6 month absence from HPDEs. I will never go that long again lol.

Unfortunately I couldn’t use my buddy’s GoPro, it is heavily frowned upon by PCA for students to record their runs. So, the only video I got was from afar on my friend’s phone.

Anyways, great weekend! My car is always so happy after getting out on the track, and… happy car = happy me

[leo95se]

Originally Posted by DreamTime

Finally made it to Watkins Glen over the weekend. What a track! Thank you to every single person who told me that was the one I should do. Wow.

It’s such a long and complicated course… I enjoyed every last turn. Definitely a great track to help shake the dust off of my 6 month absence from HPDEs. I will never go that long again lol.

Unfortunately I couldn’t use my buddy’s GoPro, it is heavily frowned upon by PCA for students to record their runs. So, the only video I got was from afar on my friend’s phone.

Anyways, great weekend! My car is always so happy after getting out on the track, and… happy car = happy me

Glad to hear it! If you were there Thursday night i am pretty sure i saw you 'cruising the strip' lol. i was eating dinner on north franklin wrapping up from the FCA event.
WGI is amazing, and legendary. The basics are fairly easy to learn, but youre right around the complexities.

unfortunate and surprising about PCA camera rules. Video and data are tremendous learning and instructing aides. being able to review, compare, and discuss differences really helps drivers (and pros..) progress. its the wave of the future, and the future is today.
the typical rule is to not post lap times on forums for bragging or chasing lap times purposes. stinks it went too far in your case. try bmwcca next time

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by leo95se

Glad to hear it! If you were there Thursday night i am pretty sure i saw you 'cruising the strip' lol. i was eating dinner on north franklin wrapping up from the FCA event.
WGI is amazing, and legendary. The basics are fairly easy to learn, but youre right around the complexities.

unfortunate and surprising about PCA camera rules. Video and data are tremendous learning and instructing aides. being able to review, compare, and discuss differences really helps drivers (and pros..) progress. its the wave of the future, and the future is today.
the typical rule is to not post lap times on forums for bragging or chasing lap times purposes. stinks it went too far in your case. try bmwcca next time

The late apex turns were the most difficult parts, plus the bus stop. But, I did good. I was happy and my instructor was happy

Yeah, the camera thing was actually about liability, not about recording lap times, I asked. I thought it was about lap times too at first. Apparently, the worry is that if a student crashes and the camera shows that the instructor was possibly "liable" by contributing something to the situation... well, then it could potentially create an issue. Although it sucked for me, I could understand that part of it.

Lol, I usually do BMWCCA events. I'm actually an officer of my local club, I publish our newsletter. The rest of the HPDEs I'm doing this year are all BMWCCA events. They're my favorite

[Richbot]

Oh hay maybe they should GET THE INSTRUCTORS OUT OF THE CARS

/religious rant

Jealous though

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by DreamTime

Finally made it to Watkins Glen over the weekend. What a track! Thank you to every single person who told me that was the one I should do. Wow.

It’s such a long and complicated course… I enjoyed every last turn. Definitely a great track to help shake the dust off of my 6 month absence from HPDEs. I will never go that long again lol.

Unfortunately I couldn’t use my buddy’s GoPro, it is heavily frowned upon by PCA for students to record their runs. So, the only video I got was from afar on my friend’s phone.

Anyways, great weekend! My car is always so happy after getting out on the track, and… happy car = happy me

Fantastic!!!
Glad you enjoyed it, I can't wait until we're back there in June for 2 days.

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Oh hay maybe they should GET THE INSTRUCTORS OUT OF THE CARS

/religious rant

Jealous though

I can always count on this forum for a good laugh! Not that I should be laughing as much as I do while I'm at work... actually, maybe it's not such a bad thing

Also worth noting - the difference in my car's handling with the alignment pins pulled + maxed out stock camber was noticeable and I loved it. Really makes me excited for my camber plates. Thanks again for your awesome contribution!

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Fantastic!!!
Glad you enjoyed it, I can't wait until we're back there in June for 2 days.

That track blew my mind! I bet it will be beautiful up there in June. I'll be on the coast of GA at Roebling Road in June, where it will likely already be hot AF lol.

Also, really liked the hotel you recommended. Super convenient and that is such a cute little town. I promised my friend who took me up this time that we would def come back so he could drive the Glen, we will be staying there again when we return.

[Inflame]

If you plan on going to Michigan events, 3 Balls Racing is the group to go with for Grattan, and basically anyone for Gingerman (the midwest benchmark track)... Auto Interests is a good group, 3 Balls Racing only goes there once or twice... Gingerman themselves host a few events that are ran well.

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by Inflame

If you plan on going to Michigan events, 3 Balls Racing is the group to go with for Grattan, and basically anyone for Gingerman (the midwest benchmark track)... Auto Interests is a good group, 3 Balls Racing only goes there once or twice... Gingerman themselves host a few events that are ran well.

I love Michigan and it would be great to get out there to visit old friends. It might be a few years before that is a possibility though. I have tentatively planned on adding Sebring to my regular schedule next year, mostly to visit some of my favorite forum friends. I also switched Barber to next year since I got shut out this spring, but it works out better because a friend of ours organizes an event there in Fall. All of this on top of my regular VIR, RA, Roebling, and/or CMP. Plus, it's been decided that any more of these really long trips need to be planned a little better so my friend going with me can bring their car too. Which means I will need to learn to drive one of the 30+ foot trailer/truck combos. I am going to start practicing that this season though

I will keep your suggestions in mind for the future, thank you!

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Inflame

If you plan on going to Michigan events, 3 Balls Racing is the group to go with for Grattan, and basically anyone for Gingerman (the midwest benchmark track)... Auto Interests is a good group, 3 Balls Racing only goes there once or twice... Gingerman themselves host a few events that are ran well.

Grattan is a surprisingly technical track and is actually used by Chevrolet and Ford for testing! I have run there with 3 Balls.

GingerMan is a classic Midwestern track and can be run clockwise or counterclockwise. Very safe track with a good variety. Look at CGI or AutoInterests.

My "home" track is Autobahn Country Club which is an absolute joy. There are two different tracks which can be joined together and the facility itself is beautiful. Look at running with Laps Inc., they have it down to a science at that track.

Road America should be a bucket-list track for you, too.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Inflame

It really is! The elevation changes are wild! Here is a picture of FCA's head of design, Ralph Gilles, going over the "jump" in his ACR viper.

The Corvette chief engineer has actually said they test at Grattan for that very reason.

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by dparm

Grattan is a surprisingly technical track and is actually used by Chevrolet and Ford for testing! I have run there with 3 Balls.

GingerMan is a classic Midwestern track and can be run clockwise or counterclockwise. Very safe track with a good variety. Look at CGI or AutoInterests.

My "home" track is Autobahn Country Club which is an absolute joy. There are two different tracks which can be joined together and the facility itself is beautiful. Look at running with Laps Inc., they have it down to a science at that track.

Road America should be a bucket-list track for you, too.

Road America was actually a planned deal for this year, I was going to make that trip with a really good local friend of mine. We were just going to hop in our cars and drive all the way up there. Before we could go, his incredible track prepped E92 was totaled though... very sad, I loved that car

One day I will have done all of these tracks for sure, there's plenty of time. I love road trips with good company & the challenge of driving on a new track that I've never been to before

I guess there's always a chance I could move back to southern CA. I've been thinking a lot about going home after I finish up this round of school in 2 years, so my track selection might change a little. Either way, I'll be quite happy with my options I'm sure lol

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by DreamTime

Yeah, the camera thing was actually about liability, not about recording lap times, I asked. I thought it was about lap times too at first. Apparently, the worry is that if a student crashes and the camera shows that the instructor was possibly "liable" by contributing something to the situation... well, then it could potentially create an issue. Although it sucked for me, I could understand that part of it.

I don't know...that sounds kinda fishy in that in principle it seems they are trying to assign potential blame for an instructor screw-up to the student. If they have nothing to hide, full transparency shouldn't be a problem.

I agree with Rich though. Should have happened long ago.

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

I don't know...that sounds kinda fishy in that in principle it seems they are trying to assign potential blame for an instructor screw-up to the student. If they have nothing to hide, full transparency shouldn't be a problem.

I agree with Rich though. Should have happened long ago.

Yeah, I thought the whole thing was kinda odd tbh. But, I try to look at things from other people’s perspectives, even if I don’t understand them. Ultimately, they did say they left the choice up to each individual instructor, but that they generally discouraged it and most of the instructors did too. So, I just left it alone. ARPCA put on a great, well organized event, but the whole experience did make me kind of homesick for my BMWCCA buds. Besides, a paddock filled with Porsches just did not do it for me like I expected it to lol. I missed seeing all the M3s