When Margo and I decided that it might be fun to take our
Corvette to the track and to try our hand at laying down laps on road courses
in California and Colorado, we elected to do so as a team. If it was to be my
hobby then it was to be something we shared. Perhaps hobby is not the right
word as all too quickly it began consuming our weekends to where time away from
track was time wasted.
However, electing to pursue a shared program meant that it would
take us twice as long to develop the necessary skills to be truly comfortable
on track. It also meant that on more than one occasion, my turn on track
(usually the Saturday) meant that when it came time for Margo to go on track,
our beloved Corvette was pretty beat up.
Imagine the reaction from Margo when she leaped from the car and
chased me around the pit area letting me know in no uncertain terms that I had
given her a car with no brakes. Not at your average track mind you, but at
Laguna Seca where brakes stopped working as she approached the dreaded corkscrew.
The upside of our time at track was less about our performance
than it was about the friendships we formed and the almost tribal communities
we saw forming that centered on the cars the participants brought with them.
Miata folks in general didn’t talk to Mustang owners just as Subaru drivers had
little in common with those who brought their Corvettes.
“You Corvette drivers think you own the track,” we once heard a
Subaru driver state, where the response was a simply hand gesture towards the
printouts pined to a wall. “Did you check the time sheets?” In reality it was
friendly across all groups so much so that there was no hesitation on the part
of Porsche drivers when it came time to push a wrecked Corvette back onto its
trailer.
Yes, all good fun and even today, some of the friendships remain intact. This latest post to the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) magazine, Speed News, focused less on track times and more on the tribes that formed and the friendships that developed solely as a result of the car we brought to the track.
What Car Did You Bring, Friend?
Adding
“meat” prior to track weekend: Off with Pirelli, on with Toyo
Venturing out onto a road course in a street car that very first
time is a lonely experience. All that brave talk just a short time ago fades
quickly with the realization that you are now on your own, and you have to be
on your best behavior. There are no bystanders to impress, just lessons to be
learned and mistakes to be eliminated. On the other hand, this should be a
piece of cake, because my wife Margo and I have been car aficionados for
decades and have always liked to drive fast. Then again, the math worked
against us — everyone around us was of an age that they easily could have
passed as our grandchildren.
We
decided from the outset that this would be a joint endeavor. We would each
drive one day per weekend, with me taking the car out Saturday, and Margo
taking it out Sunday. Sounded fair, but as the drama unfolded each weekend,
there was more than one instance where I finished Saturday with a car that
wasn’t track ready anymore, leaving Margo with nothing to do Sunday. It wasn’t
long before we switched days, but even then, the outcome was obvious. We were
taking twice as long as our fellow car aficionados to progress through HPDE
because our seat time was halved. However, the really good news is that even as
we worked at our craft and took it all in, we were developing friendships with
those around us.
There
is a reason you see NASA racers clustered around similar cars each weekend.
There will be the group of racers who have come to compete in Mazda Miatas, all
talking about one Miata characteristic or another. Elsewhere there will be a
row of Camaros competing in the Camaro-Mustang Challenge. The atmosphere is a
lot different from the F1, Indy and ALMs races I’ve been to, with every
participant only too happy to help out one another. On track and racing for
those tiny trophies on offer each weekend, it’s often a different story, but
around the paddock, it’s all smiles.
In the
time before we venture out onto the track for what might be our first time, we
have probably talked already to some of our fellow participants. More than
likely, we have strolled by those participants who have turned up in vehicles
similar to our own. Regardless of whether they’re owners of momentum or torque
cars, bonding among participants happens pretty quickly, such that by the end
of our first year, Margo and I already counted as friends more than a handful
of regular participants who readily opened up about the car they had brought to
the track and the amount of experience they had accumulated. We begin telling
tall stories about how fast we were on this track or the other and how we must
change our brake pads to this or that product or perhaps, throw away an
outdated OEM suspension in favor of adjustable coilovers! All good fun.
But
here’s the thing. Something will go wrong, and the more skilled you become and
the more you press your street car, things will most definitely go wrong. When
was the last time you checked your power steering fluid? And yes, you can boil
this forgotten fluid with R-spec tires pretty easily, as we found out! Simple
things like tire punctures and overheated engines are all par for the course,
but then again, if you run out of gas on track, you deserve to lose at least
one session for the day! Making friends and engaging in conversation is perhaps
the best way to become more knowledgeable about the capabilities of your own
car. And when something goes horribly wrong on the track, it becomes a lot
easier communicating with those around you when you are at ease with their
capabilities and knowledge.
Most
important of all? Try to make friends with those driving a similar car. Ask
them about their experience. Where are they having difficulties and where are
they doing just fine? There will always be questions about how fast you went,
but the real questions concern the basics — braking, turn-in, exit, track out —
so, if your peers are talking about late apexes for safety, then maybe they are
worth talking to. If they cautiously introduce the topic of trail braking,
perhaps there has been something you have missed.
On the
other hand, if all they want to know is whether they can run in HPDE2 before
lunch and then move up to HPDE4 by the end of the day, then give them a knowing
smile. Unless they are a hot-shot karting champion, the odds are that they may
not have the kind of advice you are looking for. Yes, going fast safely means
communication, so get to know and then assess all those in your group. It will
come in handy during that afternoon’s third session. You know, that session
after you snacked on carbs for a couple of hours and became lax with your hydration
routine. Then again, if you are slacking off, with friends around you, there
will be plenty of input to process when it comes time to pull on your helmet,
and it may have little to do with your car.
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