I haven't done anything "performance driving" related in a few years and I'm itching to get back on track. I'm really considering this SCCA Track Night Out thing, however, my only toy is an MGB without roll protection. That leaves my daily driver, a Toyota Tacoma S-Runner as my only option. It is paid off, but its still got some decent equity in it. I'd hate to wad it up.
So, tell me your horror stories or tell me to relax.
I haven't had any incidents in my few track outings, but I had years of prior autox experience, so I was fairly comfortable with the car's limits at the outset. A buddy did ball up his DD at a HPDE years ago coming off Big Bend at Lime Rock, however.
Get insurance if you are worried about the car. Something like this:
There are a couple more I cant remember now.
Sell MGB, buy Miata, add roll bar, enjoy goodness without trashing your daily?
This is what's holding me back from taking my BRZ on track. It's only 6 months old and Lockton doesn't cover the events at my local track since there isn't as much focus on instructing as their is on track time.
EDIT: Nevermind! It looks like they are covering the events organized by the track owners now! YES!
EDIT EDIT: Looks like they've also lowered their deductibles a bit since the last time I talked to them (which was 5-6 years ago)
You'll want to check to see if they'll let you run a pick up. If it's on pick up truck tires, you may not enjoy it much...and you'll kill the tires.
The only cars I saw torn up at HPDE were caused by "kids" playing Fast and Furious. Drive smart and you won't wreck it.
Truck is a "sport truck", 2wd, sported up a bit more with Eibach springs, mono max shocks, and 235/40/18 tires.
I'll look into insurance.
I say to put a 4pt rollbar in the MGB and hit the track.
If you can't financially and emotionally walk away from it, don't put it on a track.
Insurance is an option for the financial end of things.
Toyman01 wrote: If you can't financially and emotionally walk away from it, don't put it on a track. Insurance is an option for the financial end of things.
This.
I never wrecked my car, but it caught on fire once. No damage, but it scared me enough to not put the car back on the track again.
And another reason I got the race car I'm selling now.
This is what makes me debate between the Abarth and the MR2. MR2 yes I'd be sad but it's paid off and only a few grand into it. The Abarth is still very much owned by US Bank & more into it, but probably more fun.
:quietly raises hand:
:quietly raises other hand:
:quietly raises one leg:
it happens, I had a second daily ready each time as I tended to daily things that were quite fun until the age of 30. Get something cheap and disposable that would be a good starting point for an enduro car or SCCA IT class car. Cheap, light, readily available parts and easy on consumables (I.E small wheels, cheap tires and lower levels of grip, so you'll get to the limits of mechanical grip sooner and be working on your ability as a driver more frequently each lap)
I've never done it, but I know people who have and I've seen it happen not infrequently.
When I was in my 20's I drove my DD on the track at 110% before I started racing. Hell, I even took a Hertz rental to the track and drove that at 110% because I was young and dumb.
As I got older I would still take my car to the track occasionally, but I was far more reserved. the last couple of times I did track days I went with Tom Spangler, we had the moto 9/10ths racing. We went quick enough to have fun, but never flat out, there was always a comfortable margin in hand. Could we still have had an accident? Sure, but the chances were way way low.
I say put a bar in the B and run that, you have something else to drive too and from work. I'd say driving on track at 8-9/10ths you are as safe as driving in rush hour traffic with other distracted drivers all around.
I've been fortunate enough not to have it happen to my vehicles, but I've seen it happen in front of me to brand-new street cars at HPDEs. I also have a few friends who have put it into the tire barriers or money shifted and lost an engine.
Definitely a good idea to only take it out there if you are willing to walk away from it - sucks, but that's the best mind-set to have. If it's just you on track and you're cautious, there's almost zero chance of wrecking the car, but there are always other drivers/cars around and that's when crap happens.
Why don't you take the truck to the SCCA track night and do the pace laps at the next event? That should be really safe and and you can get out there right away. Also, I don't think the SCCA track nights require roll bars in convertibles; at least, not for the pace laps. So, you could take the MG to that too.
Amusing story. Before I moved here I was marshaling at a Sprint at Goodwood in England. A young guy came through in a brand new Mini Cooper (THat's Mini, not MINI, this was 25 years ago) and rolled right at our corner. We red flagged the next car and went to assist him. He was fine, the car was a mess. He was going nuts. It was him moms car and he'd 'borrowed it' to 'go see some friends' That was going to be a fun conversation with mom when he got home!
The risk can be managed to some extent by picking your track carefully, although I realize most of us aren't within reasonable driving distance of more than one track.
This is why I don't run my DD in rally-X and I have two project Subaru's in the yard right now.
I need my DD to go to work on Monday. I'm not taking the chance of messing it up. Project cars FTW!
I know more people who've wrecked dual-use cars on the street than have wrecked any kind of car on the track.
I know two people who have accidentally jumped Opel Corsas off the edge of the track without any meaningful damage...one of them was at pretty high speed too, the guy was coming to the end of the main straight, locked up all four wheels and launched off the outside of the corner (it's a slightly banked right turn), over the runoff area and into the tall grass beyond it. Lucky there wasn't a fence back then.
I'll preface this by saying I track my paid off, 3-season (Iowa is the upper midwest) daily driver, and I have from time to time, purchased track day insurance.
If you maintain your equipment well, track days are probably safer than daily driving for all the things you can control and if you aren't constantly aiming for 10/10ths.
Things do happen that are beyond your control though, even if the other drivers are behaving well. Two of the biggest write-offs I've seen at the track were the result of two cars following each other into the brake zone at the end of the longest straight on the track as the first car suffers a cooling system failure and dumps all it's coolant along the braking zone.
Karacticus wrote: a cooling system failure and dumps all it's coolant along the braking zone.
This, or just before or after the apex, will ruin your day.
1977... Bridgehampton - my Opel Manta gave up in the hairpin 
I would do it WITH the insurance. But I also don't rely on a car anymore, and even when I did, I would be without one for a week max before I could get at least a stop-gap solution.
I don't think I'd track a DD. I don't even autoX it any more actually.
I missed it by minutes but last year at what I believe was the first track day at NCM a guy stuffed his newish 911. Total loss. I'd have to be really well off to risk that sort of financial hit on track time.
I saw a guy kill a new M3 on track some years back. I ran some laps in my DD MR2 Turbo years back, but that's as close as I got. I've been fortunate enough to never wreck a car on track, but I have put one off big time once. Didn't hit anything other than a giant puddle of water. From the pits they said it looked I sent a wave 30 feet in the air or so. All I know is that when I came to stop, I had a big flood hit me in the head.
I have been organizing track days for a long time. I've only seen two wrecks . . . and both were in the Experienced run group. Hard core track guys, who were always on the edge.
Don't track it if you can't afford to lose it is good advice. But if you can't follow it because the itch is too strong, then at least drive in a run group that matches your limits, with a safety margin. And don't run with groups with poor safety records, or no real rules.
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