i was really hoping to attend the season opener at gingerman raceway in april but i noticed that it said "previous track experience needed", which felt like a kick to the teeth, being that i have none. does anyone know if i would be able to participate? i tried contacting them but got no respone

 

1. I don't know what they will do to see if you have experience? You could always say that you do. But you will probably wind up slowing people down, generally being in the way, and people might figure out that you have not been on a track before. I think alot of people will agree this isn't a very good option.

2. Find a group that welcomes novices. I'm pretty new to the track thing myself, there is alot to learn. Searching here is a good place to start for alot of good info. Also if you haven't been to an auto-x, i would try to get to one of thoes before hitting the track. It's not even close to the same but you will get to drive through a closed course at your limit and see where you fit in.

Good luck!

 

If they are saying that, they probably have a pretty good reason. You have plenty of options when looking to run at Gingerman, keep your eyes open for local groups that run open track events up there. Also keep in mind Autobahn is basically in our backyard. Putnam Park and Grattan are not far either. NASA Midwest visits all these tracks this year.

 

yeah i wasn't planning on lying and saying i know what i;m doing cause i do know that there is alot to know about being on the track. i looked at autobahn but i didnt see any open track days on the calender. i was hoping to start with open track days or SCCA first then merge into NASA but i dont know where to find any places that takes novices, and the places that have open track days only take experienced drivers

 

As a beginner, I strongly recommend that you do NOT drive on a racetrack in an event that doesn't provide instruction, including classroom instruction as well as requiring that an instructor ride with you in your passenger seat at all times until he is comfortable that you can drive solo. Otherwise, you are going to develop a lot of bad habits and mistakes, and you probably won't be learning much, and you might not even be having all that much fun. Such events are also less safe.

Groups in our area that hold events which provide instruction include BMW CCA, NASA, and CGI Motorsports, among others. You can find schedules and sign-up information on their websites. I also recommend that you start out with events on tracks that are beginner-friendly, such as GingerMan (2.5 hours from downtown Chicago) or Putnam Park (3.5 hours). I will be instructing at Putnam Park with Hoosier Chapter BMW CCA the second weekend in April, and they put on an excellent event. They welcome cars of all makes. You can find additional details on this event here.

 

I'm not really trying to "sell" NASA, but it is about as beginner-friendly as it gets. Contrary to what some believe, it's not all wheel-to-wheel competitive racing. They have a great 4-step HPDE program that you can work up through at your own pace and a Time Trial class, so you can theoretically race against yourself or the clock for your entire "career". And of course there is wheel-to-wheel which you can eventually graduate to.

btw the Midwest community is very large and growing fast, and a really stellar bunch of people. We have a ton of guys in this forum that run in NASA and post all the time, I'm sure they can give you some good pointers.

SCCA and NASA have different rules and regulations, especially with regards to how you prepare your car. If you're planning on running both, it's best to get a good idea of where you want to end up with each organization, sometimes the levels of prep allowed by one make running your car in the other prohibitive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PIC Performance &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm not really trying to "sell" NASA, but it is about as beginner-friendly as it gets.</TD></TR></TABLE>

From the NASA events where I've instructed, I would disagree with that statement. NASA puts on excellent events for those who are interested in competing as well as for advanced drivers, and their events are fine for those folks. However, compared with some other groups I've observed (e.g. BMW CCA and CGI), in NASA's novice groups (HPDE1 and HPDE2) I've observed an emphasis on competing, less emphasis on instruction, and some unruly driving behavior that wouldn't be tolerated elsewhere. NASA does a terrific job for experienced students, and is not bad for beginners by any means, but I've seen other organizations whose events are significantly more beginner-friendly and beginner-focused.

 

good info guys, does every track offer instuctional classes or only select tracks?

 

It isn't the track that would dictate this, it's the club you participate with.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by granracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It isn't the track that would dictate this, it's the club you participate with. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup. When you want to drive in a drivers school at a track, you don't find a track; you find a group that conducts drivers schools there. The three groups I mentioned in my post above are perhaps the three biggest that are very welcoming of folks driving all models of cars. Click on the links in that post (copied below) and you can find their schedule and signup information for their events at various tracks around our area. (With BMW CCA, you have to navigate to the chapter that holds the event, which is why I included the link for Hoosier Chapter and their April event. Windy City Chapter does a late April school at Road America, a June school at GingerMan, and an August school at Putnam Park.)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nsxtasy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Groups in our area that hold events which provide instruction include BMW CCA, NASA, and CGI Motorsports, among others. You can find schedules and sign-up information on their websites. I also recommend that you start out with events on tracks that are beginner-friendly, such as GingerMan (2.5 hours from downtown Chicago) or Putnam Park (3.5 hours). I will be instructing at Putnam Park with Hoosier Chapter BMW CCA the second weekend in April, and they put on an excellent event. They welcome cars of all makes. You can find additional details on this event here.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

awsome! i will definately check that out then, thanks