It's official, I'm a Track Addict!
11-20-2007, 04:18 PM
#1
In Your Face, Ace
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It's official, I'm a Track Addict!
WOW! Still trying to get my head wrapped around the whole experience.
I attended the PCA Club Race and DE at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana this past weekend. As I'm sure it is with any rookie, I had no idea how to drive on a track. All of the typical habits you form in daily driving, were obvious mistakes on the track. I was able to spend time with 3 different instructor's and learned a lot from each of them. NPR is considered a technical track because of having 14 turns set into a 1.8 mile course. I believe this was a great track for me to start on because it forced me to learn the difference of using your brakes to scrub of speed, rather than "*****-footing" the pedal as you do in normal driving on the street. I also learned the consequences of trail braking, when I entered turn 8 and got back on the brakes which un-settled the rear end and I spun off track. I only clipped a ditch barrier tire, so no real damage to the car and it was a good spot for a run-off lesson. All of the feedback from my instructors was very positive in how I picked up my mistakes and I sure appreciate those guys. By the second day, I had the line down however my lack of consistency scrubbing speed and modulating the gas pedal properly would cause me to miss an apex here and there and get off line.
My care performed flawlessly and every instructor was blown away by how well it is set up. While I do plan to improve some things over time, it is a very capable car that surpasses most that students start with.
I've already registered for my next DE event that will be held at my home track, Road Atlanta in January.
So add me to the list of Track Junkies! And my only wish is that I had started doing DE's sooner!
I attended the PCA Club Race and DE at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana this past weekend. As I'm sure it is with any rookie, I had no idea how to drive on a track. All of the typical habits you form in daily driving, were obvious mistakes on the track. I was able to spend time with 3 different instructor's and learned a lot from each of them. NPR is considered a technical track because of having 14 turns set into a 1.8 mile course. I believe this was a great track for me to start on because it forced me to learn the difference of using your brakes to scrub of speed, rather than "*****-footing" the pedal as you do in normal driving on the street. I also learned the consequences of trail braking, when I entered turn 8 and got back on the brakes which un-settled the rear end and I spun off track. I only clipped a ditch barrier tire, so no real damage to the car and it was a good spot for a run-off lesson. All of the feedback from my instructors was very positive in how I picked up my mistakes and I sure appreciate those guys. By the second day, I had the line down however my lack of consistency scrubbing speed and modulating the gas pedal properly would cause me to miss an apex here and there and get off line.
My care performed flawlessly and every instructor was blown away by how well it is set up. While I do plan to improve some things over time, it is a very capable car that surpasses most that students start with.
I've already registered for my next DE event that will be held at my home track, Road Atlanta in January.
So add me to the list of Track Junkies! And my only wish is that I had started doing DE's sooner!
11-20-2007, 04:32 PM
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You have come to the right place! DE enthusiasm is well documented as being great for the soul, not so great for the bank account.
Now, you can start making up for lost time (but please, no more spins for awhile).
Now, you can start making up for lost time (but please, no more spins for awhile).
11-20-2007, 05:09 PM
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11-20-2007, 05:25 PM
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Awesome that you are finally driving your car!!! Congrats and welcome to our 12 step program!!
Since it was a PCA event and many of us are instructors why did you have so many instructors? Also, great to hear you were having fun and pushing it and all but I gotta admit if my first time ever student actually hit something with their car at their first DE I would at least be upset with myself and ask myself what could I have done to not let that EVER happen to a student of mine!
Glad you seem to still have had a good time, I am afraid the students and cars I usually get would not tolerate their car striking anything no matter how little the damage.
It is a DE and my student with the brand new 997GT3 RS probably wont have been so excited.
Also, you did all those mods to that car and never had it or yourself to a track before???
and the trail braking thing, not sure if that is even a topic that comes up at your first DE??
No flaming please, the above points just keep bugging me the more I thought about them, I am sure others will give an opinion
Since it was a PCA event and many of us are instructors why did you have so many instructors? Also, great to hear you were having fun and pushing it and all but I gotta admit if my first time ever student actually hit something with their car at their first DE I would at least be upset with myself and ask myself what could I have done to not let that EVER happen to a student of mine!
Glad you seem to still have had a good time, I am afraid the students and cars I usually get would not tolerate their car striking anything no matter how little the damage.
It is a DE and my student with the brand new 997GT3 RS probably wont have been so excited.
Also, you did all those mods to that car and never had it or yourself to a track before???
and the trail braking thing, not sure if that is even a topic that comes up at your first DE??
No flaming please, the above points just keep bugging me the more I thought about them, I am sure others will give an opinion
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11-20-2007, 05:50 PM
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Welcome to the "Slippery Slope". Trust me when I say it is all down hill from here. In no time you will be scheming about how to get to the track again. Next it will be race seats and harnesses etc. You will soon be past the point of no return and you won't even look back.
11-20-2007, 08:44 PM
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Awesome that you are finally driving your car!!! Congrats and welcome to our 12 step program!!
Since it was a PCA event and many of us are instructors why did you have so many instructors? Also, great to hear you were having fun and pushing it and all but I gotta admit if my first time ever student actually hit something with their car at their first DE I would at least be upset with myself and ask myself what could I have done to not let that EVER happen to a student of mine!
Glad you seem to still have had a good time, I am afraid the students and cars I usually get would not tolerate their car striking anything no matter how little the damage.
It is a DE and my student with the brand new 997GT3 RS probably wont have been so excited.
Also, you did all those mods to that car and never had it or yourself to a track before???
and the trail braking thing, not sure if that is even a topic that comes up at your first DE??
No flaming please, the above points just keep bugging me the more I thought about them, I am sure others will give an opinion
Since it was a PCA event and many of us are instructors why did you have so many instructors? Also, great to hear you were having fun and pushing it and all but I gotta admit if my first time ever student actually hit something with their car at their first DE I would at least be upset with myself and ask myself what could I have done to not let that EVER happen to a student of mine!
Glad you seem to still have had a good time, I am afraid the students and cars I usually get would not tolerate their car striking anything no matter how little the damage.
It is a DE and my student with the brand new 997GT3 RS probably wont have been so excited.
Also, you did all those mods to that car and never had it or yourself to a track before???
and the trail braking thing, not sure if that is even a topic that comes up at your first DE??
No flaming please, the above points just keep bugging me the more I thought about them, I am sure others will give an opinion
It was a total mistake by me riding the brake rather than allowing the car to work and keep the suspension settled. It happened on the first day and I was not doing well with the braking portion. I immediately got much better! As I posted, I learned the dangers of trail braking by accident and without major incident. It helped me understand a lot of things so I chalk it up as a good lesson.
And yes, the car was prepped before I ever drove it. My car is a dedicated track car and I expect things will happen however would not want to push it off a cliff as of yet.. I also took a chip to the windsheild from traffic on the track and that actually bums me more than the tire scruff that is an easy fix.
11-20-2007, 08:50 PM
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11-20-2007, 08:52 PM
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Lets see, the 928 forum. The 944 turbo forum when I had one of those. The infamous OT forum. and have dabbled here in the Racing and DE. I think I'll be doing a lot more here too!
11-20-2007, 10:18 PM
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Your new Cycle of Life begins...
1. Buy cool fast car.
2. Start going to track events. Get hooked.
3. Throw lots of money at cool fast car.
4. Realize that cool, fast car does not fit in any racing classes.
5. Buy slower, cheaper car to race.
6. Notice that actually racing slow, "cheap" car costs as much as track days with the cool, fast car.
7. Sell cool, fast car.
8. Race, race, race.
9. Realize that you're broke, the house is falling down (because you have no time to deal with it), and you're sick of driving a big diesel pickup to the 7-11.
10. Sell all race junk.
Repeat.
1. Buy cool fast car.
2. Start going to track events. Get hooked.
3. Throw lots of money at cool fast car.
4. Realize that cool, fast car does not fit in any racing classes.
5. Buy slower, cheaper car to race.
6. Notice that actually racing slow, "cheap" car costs as much as track days with the cool, fast car.
7. Sell cool, fast car.
8. Race, race, race.
9. Realize that you're broke, the house is falling down (because you have no time to deal with it), and you're sick of driving a big diesel pickup to the 7-11.
10. Sell all race junk.
Repeat.