Have you ever been sitting in front of the TV flipping channels and come across a car race?  When you saw that, did you ever wonder what it would be like to take your steed out to a track and let it all hang out? How exhilarating would that be? Well, I recently decided to get up off the couch and take a shot at living the dream!

I have been interested in cars and racing since high school but never had a decent car (or so I thought) or the money to make anything happen. Then, as I got older and acquired fuller pockets, I started to auto cross. An autocross is a timed competition where drivers navigate one at a time through a temporary course marked by traffic cones, rather than racing on a track with multiple other cars, as in road racing or oval racing. Autocross tends to place more emphasis on car handling and driver skill than on sheer horsepower. Events typically have many classes, which allow almost any vehicle to compete, from economy sedans to purpose-built vehicles. Speeds are slower in absolute terms when compared to other forms of motorsports—usually not exceeding highway speeds. For these reasons, six years of auto cross ended up being a good warm up for lapping days.

I found an organization called National Auto Sport Association or NASA (http://www.nasaproracing.com/) when a friend invited me to an open house promoting the group at a local BMW service shop, Orr Autosport (http://www.orrautosport.com/).  I couldn’t resist the call of the many national and regional champion stories and pictures. After that day I was determined to get out and do this thing I had only seen and dreamt of. I did some research to find out what kind of safety requirements there were for such an event. Amazingly enough the equipment required was VERY basic: you need a properly working car (with seatbelts of course!), long pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and a helmet!

Some cars require other equipment, such as a roll bar for convertible vehicles. There are 4 levels (1 through 4) of High Performance Drivers Education or HPDE. Each level is designed to give you more and more freedom on the track as your skills grow. As you progress your way out of HPDE 1 and 2, you are given more freedom to pass cars at speed and drive without direct supervision. Eventually you get to HPDE 4, at which point you are able to “test” up to Time Trial (AKA TT). In TT you will race against the clock to set the best lap time you can in your classification, all while there are other cars doing the same thing simultaneously with you at the track. HPDE is not timed and not competitive; it is considered a driving school. As such, some insurance companies will cover your vehicle at the track; check with your agent before attending if you are worried about coverage. There are also companies that sell track day insurance.

When the day finally arrived I was so excited that I didn’t mind the 3 hour drive to Brainard in the middle of the night (I worked nights at the time). After almost no sleep I got ready and went to the drivers’ meeting. It was a balmy 90 degrees in the shade. We started out in the classroom with an introduction to HPDE rules and regulations. The day is broken up into four 20-minute sessions. Beginners are assigned an instructor to ride along with them to help them learn the racing line and how to handle your car. When you sign up for the event, you are required to disclose what vehicle you are planning to drive so that NASA can find you an instructor who has experience with the same vehicle. I was driving a 99 Mazda Miata, so I was given a Spec Miata racer as an instructor. After each session you meet up in a classroom session to talk about what happened during the last on- track session and to ask questions. During the classroom meetings you are given more instruction about the correct way to take a turn and other technical items.

Honestly for my first session I was already rather comfortable with my car and able to find the line after much auto cross experience and racing knowledge. I was a little under whelmed at first, amazingly enough. Sure you could get the car running up to 110 mph but that didn’t really seem all too amazing. It wasn’t until after I had gotten a session or two under my belt that I realized what my car was capable of and how amazing it was to be out there and running full blast! There is something about outrunning some big shooters with an under-powered car. Of course once you make it to the ¼ mile straightaway they normally catch up, but in the twisties you can run circles around them. The whole time I felt very safe. Everyone quickly became conscious of what was going on around them and drove with respect for man and machine.

As the day progressed, you could tell that all the drivers were catching on and we were all learning from our instructors and each other after each session. In-car instruction was done with a person-to-person microphone system that the instructor is required to have. Yelling at each other over wind noise (windows are required to be rolled down) through a helmet doesn’t work very well in most cases. Many times throughout the day we were asked if our instructors were working out well for us, and if they were not, we could get a different one. Having that option is nice, since the instructors are a vital part of your learning and safety on track at that speed.

By the end of the 3-day event I had clocked up 4 hours of on-track time and about 400 on-track miles. I was now totally hooked and have since attended 2 more events and have 2 more planned for this year. With gas prices on the rise it does take a toll on the bank account to get out, but it’s very much worth it. Lapping has to be one of the best things you can do fully clothed and it’s educational. After each event, you will better know what you and your car are capable of and become much more confident behind the wheel. Confidences and car control are things we can all use the next time someone decides they want to cut us off on the highway.

 Article by Doug Jurcich 2007-11-2616:25:06