My first track day: my experience

Yep, I am in big trouble. I've had a taste and now I can't get enough. Figured I would share my experience here for anybody else thinking of trying it out.

Here in Utah, they do something every first wednesday of the month called Wide Open Wednesday. This is done out at Miller Motorsports Park. Basically they let you run you car around the track with strategically placed cones so as to not allow you to use the racing line and go too fast. That idea never much excited me, but recently they introduced a new program called WOW+. In this one, you get to drive on the track, completely unrestricted, with a bunch of other people. The catch is everybody has an instructor with them. This is done through the NASA racing organization, and its only $60 and you get about a half hour of track time.

Now THAT caught my attention, so the first thing I did was find out when the next one was and sign up. Now my experience with motorsports is mostly video games and sims. I've done a number of autocross events and even ran wintercross a few times out at Miller, but that was when the entire track was covered in snow. Until now, I'd never actually done any true track driving.

So I arrived, picked up my helmet rental, and headed to the classroom (the session includes a 20 minute class). They mostly just went over what different flags mean and safety things during this time, but I did learn a few new things.

I should mention that I am an AVID motorsport fan. I read all sorts of articles, and I've probably seen most of the automotive section of youtube. I also have a little sim rig at home that I race on, so I came into this thing with a good idea of what to do and what not to do.

Anyways out of the classroom and to my car, I begin to pull all the loose stuff from inside. I look around and realize I'm pretty massively outgunned. Here I was, in my little red junker ('99 miata) with mismatched hardtop and worn all-season tires. The poor engine has 200,000 miles on it and burns a decent amount of oil. Looking around, I see a Boxter, a bunch of newer Mustangs, an STI hatch, a 350z... there is even some guy that brought a brand new C7 'Vette. I begin to get anxious, already imagining a train of cars piling up behind me.

It turns out today we were running the east track. Lucky for me, that is the side of the track that lends itself more to cornering ability. Obligatory track map for any of you out there not blessed enough to know about MMP:

The east track is the side that contains Tooele Turn and Clubhouse Corner. Anyways, my instructor hops in with me, and off we go. I was nervous at first because I've never pushed my car so hard at such a fast speed, but within one lap I was already exploring the limits with the car. My instructor was super cool. He said I had the basics down perfect, and only really gave me advice on racing line.

I was scared of holding people up, but it turns out that these little Miatas really are quick little cars! I outran the 350z that was behind me. I passed all the Mustangs, the Boxter, and even the STI! I got passed by the C7 a few times though, that thing was just stupid fast. But yes, all in all I surprised myself a lot. Heel-toe was a little rough at first, I'd never done it in such an extreme situation like that, but after a few laps I was dropping through the gears with the best of them.

There was one moment where I let off the clutch a little early and tried to push it into third. I was greeted with a very nasty grind! Also, I was in 3rd gear most of the track, keeping the car around 6k RPMs, and I'm happy to say she didn't overheat at all on me! Everything in the front of the car is stock too! My brakes held up fine, and the shocks felt fantastic (they must have been replaced by the PO). The tires even surprised me a bit. They definitely gave up really easily, but I was able to carry more speed than I would have thought possible with those things. I cant even imagine what the car would feel like with some proper rubber on there.

Anyways, theres my "cool story bro" experience for you. It was awesome fun, and now I'm looking into registering with NASA and getting out there more often. For any of you out there considering something like this, just get online and check what kind of programs your local track has to offer. I'm sure you would be surprised at just how easy it is to get involved. Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Awesome, glad you had fun. Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the club.

I was stranded in Provo Wednesday with a rental car and nothing to do....AARGH! BTW, that was my first experience with Utah and your wacky liquor laws. I forgot all about Miller.

It's fun isn't it? Couple of weeks back I did the SCCA Track Night in America at NCM in my Miata and I had a similar epiphany, these things are fast!! Though the track prepped C7 and Z-28 were faster I never felt like a traffic pylon in the intermediate group.

With an engine with that many miles (and especially being a BMW I6) do some more track days and keep an eye on the oil level. You may find the heat and fresh oil has the effect of the "Italian tune-up" IE, loosening up the oil control rings and dramatically slowing how much oil is burning.

That happened with the original 1.6 in my Miata. I bought it off a "little old lady" (I really did) with something like 130k miles IIRC. The first few sessions of the weekend it went through 3/4 quarts of oil!! By the last two session of the 2nd day? It would take a 1 sec pour to top off.

You've now been officially bitten.

Ask that wanker GPS, a few tweaks to the E36 and it will make a marked difference in quickness and limits.

Enjoy!

For years I did autox, until I discovered trackday and never went back. Autox was great for teaching car control, but standing in the hot sun all day chasin cones for 3 minutes of lap time sort of tired me out. With around 4 20-minute sessions, trackdays really satisfy. As I recall, I had a tough time sleeping at all the night before my first event.

In reply to z31maniac:

Thanks, I actually drove the NB Miata though. My E36 needs bushings before I even consider bringing that thing out haha. The NB did awesome though, and I was having a bit of a pinging issue before, but it seems to have lessened. Maybe the italian tune-up burnt away some of the carbon buildup? Still need to get to the bottom of that one...

In reply to kb58: EXACTLY my sentiment. Autocross is great fun, and I still plan to go out occasionally simply because the two styles of racing are completely different. Being proficient at one will not guarantee that you will be any level of decent at the other. But yeah, working the course can be a real pain, especially in the middle of a scorching day.

One of us, one of us

For driving fun track days are great. As for your E36 leave it at home, you've got an old Miata that you can just flog the snot out of, should you break it who cares as there isn't a anything on it that costs more than $500 to fix. Run the motor till it goes kablamo then slap another used one in there.

As you do more (your an addict now) you'll find that most of the time people in prepped Miatas tend to be lapping faster than people in much more expensive rides. You'll also improve a lot more in the peddle car, there is also the great satisfaction of driving a slow car fast.

Finally I'll say what I do at the track days I instruct at; having driven everything from 7 figure Ferraris to some fast single seaters, THE most fun car you'll ever drive on a race track is a Miata.

You poor man there is no turning back now!!!!!

Tom

Sounds sort of like my first track day but in my Z31. I had about 300ftlbs/250whp to work with though :D I was on mix and matched all seasons, one 225/50/16 and one 205/55/16 front tires and the rears were 225/50/16.

I went to Nelson Ledges (Ohio) with my local Z club. It was a blast. It pretty much went as OP's event. The mixed all seasons provide tons of grip, having big diameter turns really lets the small amount of grip make lots of g forces. I had some average carquest brake pads from a previous owner, nothing special and only got a little brake fade.

Trackdays FTMFW thats for sure!

I instruct at track days. The majority of my 'best' students are the ones with Miatas. The lack of power forces you to pay attention to momentum, which teaches the best driving skills. Easy to take those to a faster car later; trying to start with a 'fast' car is usually a recipe for failure.

Pro Tip: don't tell your instructor you play video games or sims. That scares the beejeezus out of us. Most times that projects that you think trees are made of rubber.

In reply to Desmond: Glad to hear that you had a lot of fun. I'm surprised that you went out there with all-seasons;I've autocrossed with all-seasons my first season, and they're soooo slow. It sounds like your local track is 2 hours or less from your house. If so, be grateful. My local track is VIR, and it's a little over 4 hours away from my house.