Well, I know that I promised to continue my story in this issue. But, I was looking at the events page of the website the other day and I saw that the first track day of the season is right around the corner. So I thought I would spend few minutes giving the new members a quick rundown on how all this track stuff takes place, what to bring, and what you should do or have done to your car beforehand.

First things first. Track days are super fun if you come prepared, both you and your car. There is nothing worse than spending a whole bunch of money and then spending the day wrenching on your car. Start with the most important part, BRAKES! It will impress nobody if you can go fast but you can’t stop. Check your pads if they are not new get new ones. I can’t stress this enough. How fast you will wear down a set of brake pads is staggering when you compare that to how fast you will wear a set of pads down on the street. Next on the brakes list is change the fluid. Old fluid will have water in it and this lowers the boiling point of brake fluid. That is why when you look at the side of a can of brake fluid there are two boiling points, wet and dry. The dry point refers to the boiling point when the fluid is new and has no time to absorb any water. The wet point refers to the boiling point when it is saturated. If you look the wet point is much lower than the dry point. This affects you by lowering the temperature that your brakes can withstand before they go soft. There is nothing scarier than pushing on your brake pedal and it goes to the floor when you are trying to stop.

Next on your checklist should be your tires. You do not have to go out and spend a ton of money on the latest and greatest set of sticky rubber bands. But you should check the tread level and pressures of the tires you have on your car right now. Pressures are very important. . Don’t use the number on the sidewall of the tire, get the owners manual out and read it. You will find all kinds of useful info in there. One thing you will find is the tire pressure settings. This will be a good place to start. As you walk around the paddock of the track you will hear a lot of talk about tire pressures, it is that important. If you want to change the pressures that you are using go and ask some of the more experienced drivers that drive the same car as you. Ask them what they are using and what they think you might like to use. One thing to remember is change pressures in small increments. Big changes will only get you in trouble. Go out and buy a good pressure gauge. Not the stick ones, but a good gauge that comes with some kind of guarantee about its accuracy. Last thing to check is the tightness of your lug bolts. You will need a torque wrench to do this. If you do not have one ask around, someone does. Check them before every session.

Now that you have made sure you can stop and stay on the track, it is time to prep the rest of your car. Empty out all the Starbucks cups and McDonalds bags. Remove anything that can move inside your car. That includes your mats. You do not need any of those things becoming a projectile when you are braking. Go to your trunk and empty it also. Remove the spare and tool kit. Take out that big sub you are toting around, unless it is mounted securely to the car. Remove anything that moves.

Finally let’s go to the engine compartment. Grab a hold of your battery and make sure that it is secure. Get down on the ground and look for leaks. Car fluids are some of the most slippery stuff around and the track gets even more slippery when this stuff gets on it. Small seepage is fine, but no big leaks. This may also a good time to get that tune-up you have been meaning to get around to. If you use a professional mechanic tell him what you are doing and ask him to give your car a good looking over. The money will be well spent if he finds something wrong that could ruin your day. If you do your own wrenching get under that car and look at everything, take a good hard look.

Now your car is ready. It is time to get you ready. Wear comfortable clothes. This is not the time to be fashionable, nothing that will get in the way of driving your car. So, those big bellbottoms and platform shoes are out. Check the weather and bring clothes and gear to keep yourself comfortable. In the spring and fall be sure to bring an umbrella and in the summer bring sunscreen. Bring water you will dehydrate quickly at the track. There is very little shade at the track so be prepared.

All right, your car is ready and you are ready. Let’s go to the track! When you get there you will be asked to sign a waiver. This is for the protection of the club. After all of the paperwork is taken care of, go and find a spot to park your car and remove all the stuff I talked about before. Keep it in a small pile because everybody else will also have a pile and you don’t want your stuff getting mixed about with everybody else’s stuff. LISTEN; there will be announcements throughout the day. The first thing will be the driver’s meeting. BE ON TIME! If you don’t attend you will not be able to drive and we don’t want that. After the meeting there will be another meeting for the new people. At this meeting you will be given instructions on what to do and what not to do. LISTEN, there will be given out a lot a good info and you will need every bit of it at some time during the day. If you don’t feel comfortable at first this is totally normal. Everybody felt this way on their first track day and if they tell you otherwise they are lying. Ask questions. There is no such thing as a dumb question. We want everybody to have a good and safe time and we will always be ready to answer or help you. If you feel you want help with the actual driving of the track, ask. If you don’t know where you should be, ask. If you think something is wrong with your car, ask. If you have any question at all, ask.

So now you have a small sketch of a day at the track. This should not be considered a complete list. I have just scratched the surface and given a general overview. Like I said before” If you don’t know, ask”.

See Ya Out There!

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Installment 1

Installment 2

Installment 3

Installment 4