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noob questons for track day event

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Old Feb 4, 2008 | 08:30 PM
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Default noob questons for track day event

i would liek to try my skill on a road corse and i have one about an hour from me. summit point is the name of the track. on their web site they have an event calander and there is a open practice, it says this.


An unbelievable amount of track time for the racer. This event prededes SCCA race weekends and is available for any road racing car prepared in accordance with rules of SCCA, EMRA, PCA, SVRA, or HSR. Passing is permitted in curves. Mock racing or overly aggressive driving is not permitted.

Requirements
Current competition license.
Full driver and vehicle safety gear must be utilized as per sanctioning body requirements.
Current vehicle log book.
Cost: $200.00 per car. $5.00 per crew member.

Register the day of the event only


now what do i need to do to be able to do this? get a racing license? will my car pass thoes rules?
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Old Feb 4, 2008 | 08:53 PM
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That practice is for prepped race cars with drivers with experience. Your car won't pass tech, since it doesn't have a cage, amoug other things. Getting a race license isn't something you do in one morning; you have to go to a race school (take your own car), prove you are safe on track, etc, etc.

You need to find an HPDE: high performance driving event. At most HPDE events, you are provided an instructor and you can use a street car.
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Old Feb 4, 2008 | 09:56 PM
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Check out EMRA on the web. They do some time trials in addition to wheel to wheel racing. You should be able to join the club and run as a novice. You'll need a helmet. Check their rulebook online.
Summit is a great track BTW.
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Old Feb 5, 2008 | 03:39 PM
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i emailed them and this is what they said

To participate in Open Practice you must have a current competition license. Another program we offer is Friday at the Track, you get four
twenty minute sessions on track in your car with an instructor. You also get one twenty minute on the skid pad in our vehicle. We offer this
course March through November of each race season. The cost for the day is $225.00, we will be releasing the 2008 Friday at the Track
dates sometime this week. Please check our web site at www.bsr-inc.com for the dates.
Thank you,
Kathy
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Old Feb 5, 2008 | 04:29 PM
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Yes, the Friday at the Track thing is probably where you should start or look for a full weekend HPDE. The experience that I have had at HPDEs was awesome.
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Old Feb 5, 2008 | 04:58 PM
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Originally Posted by SHELBYGLHS
Check out EMRA on the web. They do some time trials in addition to wheel to wheel racing. You should be able to join the club and run as a novice. You'll need a helmet. Check their rulebook online.
Summit is a great track BTW.

i did a search for emra and on theit site i went to schedule and went down to emra time trial series then then sat april 19th Shenandoah @ Summit Point

is that the one i should attend? i dont see a price.
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Old Feb 6, 2008 | 08:31 AM
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Try out http://www.nasaracing.net/

I've been a member for awhile now been to a few track days with them. Mid Atlantic region uses Summit Point and They just re surfaced the track (SP Main) so it's a lot smoother great track to start out on. They start you out on the bottom and you work your way up. The key is to be consistant and not worry about speed. Not yet as that will come later. $300.00 for the weekend you get some class instruction + 3 (20-30min) seesions on track each day.
There is a lot going on corner workers, flags, and faster cars behind you, plus the new sounds your car will make. LOL

Last edited by formula87; Feb 6, 2008 at 08:46 AM. Reason: .
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Old Feb 6, 2008 | 01:43 PM
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Unless you have some sort of track experience, this is where you should start. My best advice it to forget what you think you know. A good instructor will teach you a lot and will have you and your car doing things you did not think it could do. I also feel that I am a much better all-around driver after a couple of HPDEs.
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Old Feb 6, 2008 | 04:16 PM
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july 21 they have it for only $40
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Old Feb 6, 2008 | 05:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Arctic2002ss
Unless you have some sort of track experience, this is where you should start. My best advice it to forget what you think you know. A good instructor will teach you a lot and will have you and your car doing things you did not think it could do. I also feel that I am a much better all-around driver after a couple of HPDEs.
I agree........ You will learn so much from someone who is a seasoned track vet. plus they would not let you out on track with out an instructor.

Originally Posted by bad6as
july 21 they have it for only $40
Sounds like NASA "hyper drives" if you went to that NASA link you can find out more. You get one session w/instructor so you can see if it is a good fit or not, before you pay for a whole weekend, it is not for everybody. You think "I can drive fast around a road course" It is a whole different world once you put the helmet on and pull onto the track, my first time was very intimidating. It is not for everyone
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Old Feb 8, 2008 | 02:11 PM
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Road racing is a completely different animal. Coming from 5 years of autoxing my car, I thought I at least knew how to go fast. I never thought I knew everything, but I learned quickly that road racing is much different.

I don't know much about those HPDEs or the other events, but here are my recommendations. First time out, get the instructor to drive your car, while you ride. Or, ride with him/her in their car. You learn so much more from watching what they do that by them trying to instruct you on what to do. You'll want to note braking points, turn in, shifting, etc.

Also, on thing that helped me was not shifting. I mean, you may have to shift a few times, but don't try to get the last ounce of power out of your car by shifting into 2nd when going 50mph. Go ahead and stay in 3rd, and get your driving line down.

Being consistent is 100x more important than being fast. Here, I'm talking about safety. There are other cars out there. They are going to be both faster and slower than you. When you get close to them, it's important to know what each of you will be doing. For instance, a guy may catch you in his Porsche GT3. He remembers that you stayed on the left side of this straight, so he deicides to pass you on the right. But, this time, you decide to swap to the right side, and end up cutting him off. Bad juju.

But, most of all, just listen and learn. Be a sponge. Absorb everything you see and hear.
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Old Feb 9, 2008 | 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by bad6as
i would liek to try my skill on a road corse and i have one about an hour from me. summit point is the name of the track. on their web site they have an event calander and there is a open practice, it says this.


An unbelievable amount of track time for the racer. This event prededes SCCA race weekends and is available for any road racing car prepared in accordance with rules of SCCA, EMRA, PCA, SVRA, or HSR. Passing is permitted in curves. Mock racing or overly aggressive driving is not permitted.

Requirements
Current competition license.
Full driver and vehicle safety gear must be utilized as per sanctioning body requirements.
Current vehicle log book.
Cost: $200.00 per car. $5.00 per crew member.

Register the day of the event only


now what do i need to do to be able to do this? get a racing license? will my car pass thoes rules?
Welcome to wanting to drive on a road course. It's an incredible thing to do.

www.nasaproracing.com has HPDE days at Summit Point. Go to the NASA website, select your region and sign up for the next HPDE 1 event at Summit. You will be given instruction and a proper curriculum to progress into licensed competition road racing- if that's the path you choose.
HPDE 3/4 and Time Trial offer all the track time and intensity you will ever need or get out of your street driven vehicle.
Figure a couple years worth of track weekends to have a competition license in hand. If you have money and 3 days time, go to Skip Barber (or any other accredited race school) and you can have a license in hand in 3 days, with not much seat time to go with it (which is a scary thing).
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Old Feb 12, 2008 | 09:36 PM
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Just started road racing myself, just about the most fun you can have with clothes on. Makes drag racing feel pretty boring.
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