All of you obviously have an interest in motorsports - or you wouldn’t be reading this. Many of us are on each other’s friends list because we met playing Forza. It’s the only game I play with any regularity. Some of you play because you already have experienced real motorsports, maybe just on TV, but you have a real motorsports interest.
Make 2016 the year that you translate this video game interest into a real life experience and go participate in a motorsports event. In the very least, make the trip to a motorsports event somewhere near where you live as a spectator. You will be surprised how open the participants are to conversation and encouragement. I have found the garages to be wide open during practice, qualifying and pre-race times. The people and the hardware are nothing less than impressive.
15 years ago, at the age of 50, I bought Gran Turismo and was hooked. I bought a VR-4 and did a few auto cross events. I am too much of an old Zen Surfer (longboarder) to enjoy the auto cross style and preparing all day for a few of 1 minute passes seemed out of whack – but that’s me. I was invited by an auto cross buddy to a track day at Sebring and I have NEVER looked back.
Check out the web sites of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), National Auto Sports Association (NASA) and any race track within a couple hours drive. Look at the schedules of events – from auto-cross, to time trials, to drift, to drag, to lemons and chump car racing, to all out class racing and even track days. You can enjoy an auto cross event in ANY Car.
Try to get ON THE TRACK – one way or another. Find a motorspoerts event in your area and GO. If there is a track nearby, check their detailed calendar and go check something out. See who is sanctioning track days. Look for HPDE (high performance driving events) on any track site schedule. There are many and just because it’s the Porsche Club or the BMW Club you do not have to drive one to participate. You might check out Chin Motorsports in the east half of the country. The SCCA has initiated Track Nights in America with tire Rack on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 4pm to 8pm for as little as $150.
There is no replacement for the g-forces, the smell of race fuel and hot brakes, and the camaraderie you’ll find among your new group of friends. You might even get a little adrenaline going. I tell my young driving students that a session on the track lasts longer than a session in bed and the perma-grin lasts for days. Of course, as we tell all of our first-time novice participants, the need for speed is real and is also a great new way to empty your wallet.
Definitely guys, get out and play! I’ve been autocrossing for 26 years now after racing RC for a couple seasons and deciding that for the money, I’d rather be IN the car. Racing games are awesome for down-time between events to stay sharp and just plain have fun. I always enjoy being able to show novices around and help them out after they got hooked on racing in games.
Absolutely !!!
I’m a 58 year old Brit and I live in Chicago and have been to Road America about 5 times to watch the ALMS races…awesome. This excited me so much I drove an indy car at the Chicago speedway with the Mario Andretti school. Got clocked at 163 MPH…again awesome!!. Since then I have been to the COTA in Texas to watch all of the recent F1 races. Again…Brilliantly awesome!!!. All this because I started playing Forza with Forza 2. I did visit the Algarve track in Portugal while on holiday, but my wife got to drive around the track because I had a broken collar bone from a scooter spill.
I hear you about actually being in the car, but watching is also exhilarating.
I live in the heart of NASCAR country. I’m surrounded by tracks. Actually raced at Ace speedway in Burlington once. It was awesome. Only once because it was expensive. But hope to do it again someday. I got Bowman Gray in Winston Salem the same distance as ACE. Love to go and watch modifieds . got a great GoPro go kart race track in Mooresville NC that is a lot of fun with its elevation changes.
Great post, I concur with everything you said. I started tracking with NASA 6 years ago next month and I’m a hardcore track junkie now. I’m also an instructor and seeing people get hooked after one day is a great feeling. It’s much easier to get into then most people think, just get out there and have some fun!
Can you elaborate on how it is easier than most people think? I am very interested in tracking and racing as a hobby but I do see large $$ associated with this. I currently have my eye on ChumpCar racing but no friends close to do it with. I have signed up for a Skip Barber Racing class at Road Atlanta at the end of February which I am anxiously waiting for. I had a 40% off coupon which took some of the burn off the price tag but I figured I might as well go for it while I can, right!? Anyways, any extra information would be awesome.
People really think you need a fully prepped race car to get out on track, which is not true at all. You just need something reliable, but slightly upgraded brake fluid/pads certainly wouldn’t hurt. After that just poke around on NASA’s and SCCA’s website for local events. NASA is a little easier to get started with in my experience since they offer HPDE groups at every event. However autocross is eveb easier because they run them in open parking lots… so its usually very close by. Big road courses like road atlanta may be a long drive for you but they are worth it. The yearly membership is around $40-50 and then its just paying for the individual event registration costs. They will put you in a “beginner” group with other beginners and an instructor will be provided. It’s all very structured and a great way to get out there with your own vehicle.
The skip barber schools are great for learning but a bit too expensive for my blood. For the price of one of those schools you can damn near build a nice lightly track prepped miata or Honda. That being said if have the opportunity to go then definitely take advantage.
I’d be lying to you if I said road racing is a cheap hobby/sport but it sure is rewarding and worth it! I’ve made some great friends doing it and have become a better driver than I ever thought I would be! Get involved for sure
I get to Sydney Motorsport Park as often as i can
Be it for V8 Supercars,Drifting,Muscle Car Masters,Drifting,World Time Attack…Drifting
Ive had my 2002 SS Commodore Ute maxed down the front straight as well.Well it did only have 4.11 diffgears and a Minispool diff in it #strayandaily
Also becoming an ARDC (Australian Racing Drivers Club) member in 2016 to access free events at the circuit and might even track my next hatchback daily for shi 73s and giggles
Yes…get out there and support your local track. If you really want to get involved most teams are always looking for help…and once you get that smell of racing fuel and burnt rubber in your system there’s no going back.
I live in NH and it’s like Nascar North here with almost as many tracks as NC. I’ve been fortunate enough to race the local short tracks around here for the last 20 years and been quite successful at it too. There’s nothing like winning in front of a large crowd.
Drove a Stock Car at Dover Downs (also known as the Monster Mile). Let me tell you - hop in one and drive it. Most will say “Meh, all they do is drive in circles”. I was of a similar mindset - until I drove one. The G forces, the amount of effort required to control the car, the mind over matter concept you have to deal with (when you come to a turn, most want to lift off the gas and slow down…in a stock car, that’s counterproductive. You actually want to stay on the gas, if not go faster, as the down force keeps the car glued to the track), it’s very humbling. Add to that the fact that in the Winston Cup car I drove, there is no power steering, power brakes, hell…power anything. Keeping that car in line at 90 mph versus keeping your daily driver in line at 90 mph…two completely different animals.
After that, I realized…I only ran 10 laps. I can’t imagine doing that for 3 to 4 hours at a time, in a field of roughly 40 other cars (I was with one other car plus an instructor on the track). Not to mention that I thought I was the man when I was told I hit 90 mph. I asked “When the real deal guys come here, how fast do they run?” The answer? 120mph on average.
I agree with the OP - if you have the opportunity, physically get out there and do it…regardless of what type of motorsport it is. Hell…soap box derby used to be the thing to do when I was a kid!
Enjoyed reading this - I am a road course junkie - but when I get to go to Homestead and the group of more experienced drivers get to include and drive NASCAR 3 and 4 - what a RUSH.
The first time I heard “We won’t do Point-Bys in 3 and 4. Just stay in your lane, you guys know who is fast and who is slow. Fast guys high. Slow guys low.” I wondered hmmmm? But when I found out why, it was painfully obvious. I could not have lifted my arm out the window without total concentration on my arm!!! The only thing I could think about was how much downforce was going through my tires. Side by side through the banks gave me a whole new respect for oval track racers.
I only live an hour from Daytona and go up there at least twice a year - and I have driven several low speed laps in my street cars on the 24hr circuit (100mph on the backstretch and at Start Finish) - the first of which was directly behind Brian Redmond - somewhat instructive - You think? - but they didn’t let us off the apron in the High Banks - I am sad to say - I have been driven around a NASCAR lap but . . .
. . . I have not been up on the high banks behind the wheel of my own car.
THIS IS MY GOAL for 2016. A Track Day on the Daytona24 Course
Great post. Couldn’t agree more at the last part “it is a great new way to empty your wallet”, but at the same time we keep going back year after year.
I am 34 now and have been going to track lapping since I got my license. Haven’t done any real racing yet.
But it goes like this, buys a car, go to track, finds weakness, mod car, go to track, happy about new mods but finds another area of weakness. (repeat a few more times)
Get a better car and repeat the above.
And through all that, you build car control, race craft, understanding of balance, what parts do, limits of the cars etc.
It’s a goal of mine - but I’m 26, building a career, and drive an '04 Honda Civic with 115,000 miles on the clock. I don’t think it’d survive a track day, haha! Soon as I can afford to buy a “play” car, I’m going to make it happen! My dad has a 911 but unfortunately he won’t let me touch it
It’s a Honda man! Just change the oil and good to go! When I started tracking I had an Integra with 210,000 miles, ran like a champ! I also daily’d that car and tracked it for almost 3 years. I wouldn’t recommend doing that but it can be done haha. Also here I am tracking the bejesus out of my daily driver now with almost 140K on the clock…
I started with track driving and was pointed to Gran Turismo 1. I’m glad for it because it became the only way I could afford to do it after a while.
These days Forza is pretty much my only outlet. I’ll occasionally take some time out for some mountain roads when I have the time, but even then, the extra wear on the tyres can make me cringe. It feels like its not rubber flying off the tyres, but dollar bills
Great if you can afford it, but thankfully for the rest of us, there are things like Forza.
Having been born and raised in Daytona Beach, I’ve been an aficionado of all things fast for nearly four decades. I’ve worked NASA RallySport rallies (Sandblast and Rally West Virginia), as well as with ISC, but any car I owned that I could have run in autocross or stage rally has always been my daily driver, so if I broke something, I’d be dead in the water transportation-wise. I now have 2 vehicles (4 wheeled, that is) - my truck and a Fiat 500. Once the 500 is paid off I fully intend on using it for autocross, though the SCCA regs are a little muddy on that matter as it is listed as a prohibited vehicle, but also as an eligible vehicle for the STF class. NASA is less ambiguous. As I’ve got about a year before it’s paid off, I still have time to sort out which sanctioning body I can run it with and what modifications are allowed (it’s currently lowered with a modified exhaust and intake, but is otherwise stock). I’ve also been considering running my bike in NASA’s RallyMoto division and that may be my earliest entry.
