Ok, so there is a new track opening up about 45 min from me in the spring. Its called thunderbolt raceway. Now Ive wanted to go to a road course for sooo long and have just never been able to figure it all out. I've talked to a representative a couple times though email but I'm still unsure.
So for those of you who road race, what do I need to do to get started. Join a club? The representative said i need to be with a recognized club to race. Where are these clubs? how much am i probably going to be spending? I have a very basic car which is my DD. But I just want to have some fun with it. Thanks for any help.

 

Ive only Auto-Xed my car so far, but i would love to get on a track. Ive been on Thunder hill with my friends Miata, and I was able to do so because my friend and his father are part of the Audi Club of America. They rent a few tracks once in a while and members get discounts. If you have the opportunity to join a club, it makes it a hell of alot easier, and from what i understand cheaper as well.

 

I think the rep was probably talking about groups such as the BMWCCA or the PCA (Porsche Club of America), NASA, SCCA because they host driving schools on road courses all over the country.

 

I went to a couple of "drivers days" (open track) at Grattan last year. It was $200 each day which included insurance, ambulence, corner workers and food. The day started at 7:00 am with a drivers meeting after coffee and danish. They went over the flags and general track etiquette. After that a professional driver went over the groove in all 10 turns on a chalk board for us novices.
The track went hot at 9:00 am. The pro led us around single file at increasingly faster speeds as we learned the track. (he was driving a Cobra ragtop.) We had the track for 20 minutes out of each hour. Passing was allowed on the 3000 ft straight and in the short chute before the hairpin. We were warned about passing in the short chute because it leaves very little time for braking.
After the lunch break we were allowed to take riders around the track on parade laps of 60 mph or less. A guy in a hot Z06 hit 145 on the straight during the session. His rider got out shaking. The dude that rode with me got such a rush he talked of nothing else for days.
Make sure you have a large power steering cooler and brake ducts. I roached my stock brakes and power steering my first trip there. I added eradispeed rotors and custom made brake cooling ducts for the second time. I also added a transmission cooler to the power steering system.(Koni shocks with Strano springs and sway bars were also added for the second day.)
The track hosts SCCA racing several weekends a year but my car is so bastardized it can't fit in any class but the "he with the most money wins" classes. I'm poor. The sports car guys get a few days there but I doubt if they would let me run my car with them. I too am looking for a way to run there more often. They offer a track "Drivers Club" at $2500 a year which gets you tickets to all of the races and up to 10 track days a year, but 6 are on Mondays --WTF.
The whole experience was way cool. The most fun I have ever had driving. I was hitting 135 on the straights and outran a couple of stock C5s, a Roush Mustang and several imports. I ran pretty even with a race prepped Cobra on slicks. I had to let my brakes cool more than him - that was about the only diff. They looked at my Camaro and couldn't believe it is a driver.

 

Sounds really cool.
So does anyone know what club to ask/join.

 

Are there any local autocrosses in your area? Autocrossing is relatively cheap and requires little preparation. Doesn't put much of a beating on the car. You don't go over 70 mph ever, so if you're looking to go 100+ then you might want to try a road course.

I recommend trying autocrossing first. You learn some good driving skills there and they can be applied to the faster courses.

 

I dont know of any Autocrossing events in my area. Hvan't heard of any anyway. I guess I'll try to ask look around. Anyone from this area?

 

head over to NJFBOA.org, join us there. its the NJ f-body club. we have monthly meets, race days, etc. this august theyre hold the east coast f-body nationals, again, at island dragway. theyve also talked to thunder raceway. so far, it doesnt look like theyll have just plain open track days.....but if you join the club, we're already starting to reserve track days, and get some people together for a group purchase of tickets to the ALMS race there.

as for autox, i race my TA up here at giants stadium. small local club, easy rules, no big deal at tech. if youre up for a drive, try them out. there is also the SCCA runs at englishtown, and warminster, i think its called. check out the NE section here on tech and the njfboa.org site.

 

None of the local clubs for f-bodies around here have a big enough membership to afford a day. I wonder if the Vette guys would let an F-body play. Under the SCCA umbrella I think you can look into SOLO. This is a natural step after auto-cross and a lot of tracks host events. Check out the web site for rules and stuff.
The best part of an open day is running with other cars at the same time. If you can't find anything closer than Grattan, MI it's worth the trip. Check out the Web site for Grattan Raceway Belding Michigan.
Parts attrition is an issue....if you play you pay. You will find weak links that drag racing and street driving don't uncover. It's all part of the quest for speed. The "fun factor" outweighs it all. I hope more people get interested in road racing, I think it would help bring costs down.

 

hes in NJ......thats a hell of a drive to michigan

 

Here you go ...
www.nasanortheast.org

I see Thunderbolt on teh schedule for the latter part of the year.

Go here to learn more about NASA and this region ...
www.nasaforums.com
http://www.nasaforums.com/viewforum....c52a1461a6ba51