Lately it's been a little difficult to get DSMers together in our local area. Too many flakes. Anytime I bring up the possibility of doing an open track day at one of the local road courses, someone replies saying they'd be afraid of breaking something or wrecking their car...

I'm getting so sick of that response. You're only going to wreck your car if you're a jack ass and don't know how to drive a car. If you aren't familiar with your car, you simply drive a little slower than you're comfortable with, especially on a track you are not familiar with. Just like you would on a road you didn't know. If something is going to break on your car, it was going to break anyway. Stay on the track and there's little chance of breaking things. A road course is a controlled environment that is safer to drive your car fast on than the street. There's less to worry about - nobody crossing the street, no speeding tickets, no putting others in danger, and most of the time the track is clear of pot holes and other shit that will cause problems. You drive as fast as you feel comfortable driving. Sure, freak accidents happen, but you can kill yourself walking across the street.

I swear, some DSMers really need toq uit with the excuses and get out there and drive your damn car! If you don't have money to drive your car or repair it when it breaks, you should have bought a different car! Sell the car to someone who will use it as it should be used.

[/end rant]



Anyone share this frustration?

I havent yet, but just recently joined Madison Sports Car Club, and they do driving schools and autocrossing. I look forward to participating come this summer when my car is actually fixed. They are also an affiliate with a Midwest group, I cant remember the name. This summer I will be taking classes and possibly doing some bigger races. And beleive me, I cant wait. I would be down with track days anytime. Cars are made to be driven and can most always be fixed.

--Kyle

i fully agree. but i guess my excuse for you is i live in Michigan and i know the car would break before i made it to cali. although i would love to do some tracks out there.

I'd come with you, but I'm a 3 day drive away trying to whip up local DSM enthisiasm in Ohio. We can't wait for spring!

Im from Bakersfield CA and Famosa race way is having its second test and tune this weekend [26&27th] anyone from so Cal is welcome to show up. There should be about 4-5 local DSMs running. Ill be in the red 92 if anyone wants to meet up. Im not to much into road racing but I may have to try it one day

You Cali. peeps have it good. I would give my left nut to have a road race track up in my alley of the woods here in the MidWest.

Ive never been to a drag track or road course. But I really want to go road racing, dont really care much about the straight line garbage. I Plan on driving 4hrs to the nearest road course this summer though and spend the day at the track with a few friends(Midamerica Motorplex).

As long as your car is in good mechanical condition, you shouldnt be worried about wrecking. And at Midamerica Motorcomplex there arent any cement barriers to smash into, it is very open which is cool.

Idk, you must live near a bunch of pansies, id be more worried about wrecking at the drag strip into a wall or something

diambo4life said:

You Cali. peeps have it good. I would give my left nut to have a road race track up in my alley of the woods here in the MidWest.

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I'm telling you man, we have at least 5 road courses in Cali and I'm within 2.5 hours of 4 or them (only about an hour away from Laguna Seca). Yet I can't get any local DSMers to get out there and drive them with me and my friends.

Too many broke-asses out here due to the high cost of living I guess. A lot of excuses too.

wheres a actual road course around here. if it was a actual track like something out of gran turismo then thatd be cool, but not one of these closed parking lot things with them cones and shit, thats just a waste of time, i can do that in my driveway.

and yes lude i feel ya, its hard enough just setting up a good meet, let alone a open track day. do you have any dates in mind for a track day thats close enough to be a 2 hour drive, thats a good track with facilities(not portapotties) and food and shit? and how much does it cost and do you have to be certified in any way and is there some sort of inspection other than the usual tech?

I filled out all the paperwork for the mid march Porsche day at Portland Intl Raceway...

but I need 100$ and I have $10.87 in my bank account... I have a wife and idiot friend and his g/f I have to support and I'm moving to Arizona for a school that is going to cost me over 20 grand for one year, and moving expenses 1000+

I'm broke!


Damn... I really want to go like I said got everything but the 100$.....

I'm not worried about my car breaking but I am worried about passing Tech with my Tires have less than 40% on them but I think they should pass tech if they are not bald...

Know a few locals (1 DSM 1 240sx and a few other ppl) that are also signing up with me but I need to come upw ith the money before March otherwise it goes up to 150$ or something...


Unfortuantly its very expensive to race a car... and if I had all the moeny in the world then I would be out there every day.

hopefully there are more tracks in AZ because Portland only has 1 road course... and its too rainy 80% of the year to go....

let me let you in on a little known secret ludachris...you could buy a entire greenday (or any other popular band) concert out and offer to give the tickets to say 10 of your best friends so that you would have the entire concert to yourselfs...(sounds like a once in a lifetime event huh?) and i guarantee you that maybe 1 or 2 people would show up...thats the facts...everybody has to be suspicious of others or they just have to flat out be a hard as$...i dont know........if you ever figure out what makes the average guy ticks let us all know...

I've been to Thunderhill Raceway in Willows twice in the last 6 months for open track days. I always offer it up to others in the North West forum, but out of the 4 times I've been to an open track event, the closest thing I've see to DSMs are Evos. Too bad, because once you get out on that track, there is nothing else like it...very addicting. I wish my budget would let me go more than once or twice a year! Here is a video that highlighted the last open track event that I went to:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167423

I feel your pain hell it's all I can do to get a group of us together just to hang out much less compete in any sort of event. If I had some sort of braking system on my car other than shitty pads on the 1 piston calipers I'd be tearing up road courses til I'd maxed out every credit card I had buying replacment pads and tires.

Thomas91169 said:

wheres a actual road course around here. if it was a actual track like something out of gran turismo then thatd be cool, but not one of these closed parking lot things with them cones and shit, thats just a waste of time, i can do that in my driveway.

and yes lude i feel ya, its hard enough just setting up a good meet, let alone a open track day. do you have any dates in mind for a track day thats close enough to be a 2 hour drive, thats a good track with facilities(not portapotties) and food and shit? and how much does it cost and do you have to be certified in any way and is there some sort of inspection other than the usual tech?

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From Modesto, you're about 2 hours away from Buttonwillow, Infineon, and maybe even Thunderhill. Probably less. Most track days cost anywhere between $100-$200 for the whole day depending on who you sign up through and many provide some sort of food. Open track days don't require any certification, but some will need you to pass a basic tech inspection... just the usual (tires, battery tie down, leaks, etc).

100-200 bucks? no wonder nobody goes. man i get pissed when it costs me 15 bucks for the strip and 20 in gas to get there, and i might get 3 runs in.

I've got the same problem Luda. I do all types of racing, rally, auto cross,
road racing, and drag. And every time I ask some people to go every one comes
up with stupid excusses. So if your ever around Chicago and want to go to race,
any kind of race I'm in.

I have. The Becker brothers (Nick and Jon) used to get one going with the Mini club over at Sears Point. I took the roadster out there twice, and the 510/240Z once. It was great to see what the cars could really do (and, in one case, how little a TR-6 could). These days it's more a matter of getting the time off and fronting the money for the trip. And I've not caught wind of a day at Sears for fifteen years.

If you went to a track one time, just to see what goes on. Maybe get a ride with someone who's running that day or just to see the cars, the track, the noise, the smell, you might just get hooked. Track days run every year so if it's a matter of $100 or $200 save your money, because once your hooked "you will" find a way to make it back to the track again and again. There's nothing finer then coming off the final turn onto the front straight!!
It's like frigging heaven.......................
Greg

Thomas91169 said:

100-200 bucks? no wonder nobody goes. man i get pissed when it costs me 15 bucks for the strip and 20 in gas to get there, and i might get 3 runs in.

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keep in mind that you just payed $15/min to run at the drag course (in track fees alone), and that's only if you're ticking of 20 second 1/4 miles. 3 runs for $15? shit. Let's see here. You're paying $900/hr for the drag racing. I fail to see where it's economical.

The expensive part of road courses are fuel, tires, and brakes. (IIRC in that order). The track itself might be $100-200, but for that, you're getting a couple of hours of time, and in some events an instructor for a couple laps to give you pointers. The strip can be worth it if you're tuning (or really into dragging, i guess)- Road courses are what make you an excellent driver though.

I'm going to try to hit up PIR or Spokane this year. We'll see what happens.

Ludachris said:

I'm telling you man, we have at least 5 road courses in Cali and I'm within 2.5 hours of 4 or them (only about an hour away from Laguna Seca). Yet I can't get any local DSMers to get out there and drive them with me and my friends.

Too many broke-asses out here due to the high cost of living I guess. A lot of excuses too.

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I live about 20 minutes from Laguna Seca, I wasn't sure if they still did open track days.

I think most people here fail to realize that MOST of the DSM community here is street cars, owned by people who either have no time or no inclination to go to a track. I would still rather hear "No, I just don't want to," rather than "I'm worried about breaking things."

I'll have to fix that oil leak though to pass tech

I live in the midwest and there are some open day track were it is free. sometimes you have to do is pay 8$ per person and have 5-6hrs to run on the track. And other times are free.

I think the real reason is most people are scared, and honestly do not have as good of a handle on their cars as their self-lauded bravado of running 13 second time slips and "breakin 150 miles per hour" on a huge highway that goes straight for 20 miles.

Chris,

If you ever decide to hold a open track meet count me in.

There are a few decent tracks in VA/WV - but they're still a 3 hour drive away. I'd wanted very much to visit VIR when I had my Talon, but they only hold a full track day once a year, and when things are that rare, anything that may crop up will screw up the plans (and with DSMs, those "things" happen quite often) - it wasn't that I was afraid of things breaking, but that things were usually already broken - and a track day wouldn't have helped any.

With a good track day, you want to be able to have all the proper equipment to ensure you can drive to as well as from the event - which means usually a change of tires, a replacement set of brake pads - when you factor in the price of entry to the event, you can be talking about $500 or more. Sure, it's awesome to get that kind of seat time, but it still doesn't come cheap most of the time.

And to the guy who said that they could run an autocross in their driveway, I'd love to see that. If you've never done it, then you have no room to talk about how much of a challenge it can be and how much of a better driver you'll become by attending Solo-II events.

I'm still going to try to get to Summit Point, maybe towards the end of the summer, and AutoX's for the Subaru and the Eclipse

cait sith said:

I think the real reason is most people are scared, and honestly do not have as good of a handle on their cars as their self-lauded bravado of running 13 second time slips and "breakin 150 miles per hour" on a huge highway that goes straight for 20 miles.

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I'm sure that is prevalent among the younger drivers, yes.

Some simply cannot afford the time or money. I'm one of those. I was I was rich.