2015 Track Season / All I want for XMAS

2015 Track Season has come to a close

So I have completed my final track event of 2015 and it has been a pretty interesting journey since I started getting back into racing/performance driving.

This year started out with the ACNA event on Summit Point Main. Other than my events last year on Shenandoah, this was my first time on a full race track. I was a bit intimidated and I wasn’t sure what to expect from myself, the car, or the track (barreling down the straight into turn one for the first time was daunting). But with the help of Mark as my instructor (great driver) and a few good friends (Matt Yip and others) I was able to make it through the weekend with only needing to change brake pads. The first day was a little slow but the second day, after speaking with Eric and talking to Mark about the driving dynamics of a FWD car and how it differs from a RWD car, Mark was confident enough to solo me by the end of the second day. This was my first advancement from the very beginner level, it meant that I was getting better. I didn’t actually go out on track solo as I didn’t feel comfortable doing it but I was motivated by the fact none the less.

To continue working on skills and getting more comfortable with performance driving, I participated in a few PCA autocross events at baysox stadium. I used to autocross with Eric and his dad back in 2001-2003 and it was nice to get back out there. Much slower speeds but still challenging and actually seeing my progress in a timed event was great. The first event I ended up in the middle of the pack but my second autox event I found myself second out of 10 non-Porsches and top 11 among all attendees (45). The only non-Porsche to beat my time was a Lotus Exige, not too shabby for an old VW. I did’t make it out to any other autox events but it was nice to reminisce and remember how I got in to this whole car thing in the first place. Andrew from this forum was able to make it out to a couple events as well with his WRX. I am hoping we can convince him to make it out a few more times next year (difficult to do with 3 kids).

My second track event was with the PCA on Shenandoah. This was a great event and I really enjoyed my time on Shenandoah. It gets a bad rap for being tight and technical but I really like it as it reminds me of a big autox. I started the weekend in green with an instructor and I learned a lot. My instructor was Gary Baker, he drove a 996 cabrio and he also autocrosses with PCA a lot which is how I recognized him. He helped me work on my braking and shifting. At this time I was still a little rough around the edges and a bit jabby with the brake pedal. With a lot of hard work and taking in all his advice he felt comfortable enough to solo me on Sunday. This time I actually did take the solo ride. It was weird at first not having that voice there in my ear to help me but I got comfortable after a lap or two. Gary decided to test my situational awareness and he threw a black flag at me. I acknowledged it immediately and pitted in. He was impressed and sent me back out. Now I was really getting somewhere, I was no longer looking over the edge of my hood, I was noticing all the flag stations and catching the flags when being shown, I was comfortable in the car by myself and my driving hadn’t changed that much from having an instructor with me. I was finally getting it and putting things together.

The third track event was with Eric, Crutch, and Chrissy down in NC at NCCAR. This was a one day event and Eric and I shared the car. The beginner level was sold out so I signed up for intermediate. Little did I know, the intermediate group was solo from the beginning. I wasn’t too sure about this since it was raining in the morning and I was at a new track so I requested that Mike and Eric ride with me a couple times. They obliged and I went out with both of them in different sessions. It was nice to get some input from two drivers I really respect and it gave me the confidence to go out solo on my third session. This solo run was a little strange because there were a few variables that weren’t being handled properly. Flaggers weren’t throwing flags when needed (passing flags, debris) and cars were taking passes when they weren’t given, etc. I made it safely and the total event as a whole was a good experience and another track notch in my belt. I think its important to get experience at different tracks. One other important note about this event, I was worried about the car because I wasn’t sure how much abuse one car could take at an event, much to my surprise the GTI held up really well and kept on ticking like it loved it. Cars really are magnificent machines.

My fourth event was back on Shenny, this time with the SCCA group. What a great group of people. Everyone was so welcoming and made the entire experience awesome! I signed up for Green (even though my last event was in yellow) and had a great instructor. Other than a few things to work on (braking again, still a bit jabby) I really just ended up taking the instructor for a ride. He didn’t have much else to say and really enjoyed his time riding in the car. He was really impressed with the car and how well it was doing. He pointed out that my little GTI was doing a damn good job keeping up with a new M4 (which he dubbed NEMESIS!). At the end of this event I wasn’t soloed, but the instructor did recommend me to move up from the green group. My hard work was paying off.

My fifth and final event was with ACNA again, this time at VIR, or Heaven in Virginia. For this event I signed up for yellow (Mark recommended me for yellow at the end of the first event on SPM). Heading down Friday night was a struggle, I had a long day at work and didn’t leave the DC area until about 6. Despite some heavy traffic I was still able to make it to VIR by 11:00pm. Rolling through the front gate and heading to the garages and north paddock, I knew I was going to have a great weekend. this track was amazing, top notch facility, definitely the best place I have been so far. Saturday morning it was raining, I woke up, emptied the car and changed the brake pads. I was ready to go. My instructor was a good guy. Bruce Parker. He was from Minnesota and had never been on VIR before. Actually, his first time on track was in the right seat of another instructor’s car and they spun out in the first session. I knew I was going to have an interesting time. During my first session, my first lap, I started to plow in to turn 6 and just bit it and went 4 off, I could have tried to correct it but would have risked spinning the car so I just straightened the wheel and drove off. After pulling in to the pits and collecting myself, I went back out. For the rest of the day I was taking it fairly easy and just worked on driving smoothly and picking good lines through the turns. I knew Sunday was going to be dry and I could really take what I learned in the wet and implement those experiences in the dry.

After a long wet day on track I parked the car and enjoyed a great evening with some of the best people I have ever met. Seriously, every single person I have met through this sport have been amazingly helpful and awesome people. After dinner we spent the night talking shit and hanging out. It was great to finally officially meet Nick and some of the others from here that I haven’t met before. After a long day it was time for sleep. Day two came and it was finally dry. This was the day I had been waiting all year for, taking everything I learned from throughout the year and putting it all together here at VIR. I had a check ride with my instructor in the morning but afterwards he soloed me and I was on my own. I was turnin’ and burnin’ and the car and I were kicking ass. I was still taking it easy with my braking zones but I was driving the line, aware of everything around me, catching flaggers, giving proper passes, doing everything that a safe track junkie does while driving at the limit. Later I let Eric take me out and show me what the car could do in red (and it did really well) and then we switched seats and I took him out. He had a few small things to say but overall he gave me a huge vote of confidence in saying that I was much improved from where I was at the beginning and that I am pretty much ready to move up. What a great way to end this track season.

I know I shouldn’t be focused on moving up through the groups and I really am not, I see each solo session earned and group move as a sign that I am getting better and doing things right and improving. I know I still need a ton more track experience and I have a long way to go but I have had enough experiences and enough fun to actually call myself a track junkie now. Maybe some day I will be good enough to be an instructor myself and help the sport grow by helping someone else just like you all helped me.

To close: I had a great year, I love my car, I love my track family, and I can’t wait to see you all next season!

All I want for Christmas…

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have a hard time answering the question we all inevitably get this time of year, “So what do you want for Christmas?”. To me this is a difficult question to answer because I am an adult and I have a job and I make enough money to pretty much buy whatever I want, or at least whatever I would want that I would tell someone else to get for me.

I remember many moons ago I had a girlfriend that asked me this question, and I would answer with a list of random things, and then I would forget that I told her what I wanted and I would end up buying it myself. I swear that year she ended up returning 4 different gifts because that happened. She wasn’t very pleased with me. We are no longer together and I can’t help but think that is the main reason!

This year, the answer to that self-serving question, asked by those lazy people that don’t want to have to think about how well they know you and know what would be the perfect gift for you, is even more difficult to answer. The reason being, all I really want for Christmas is more track time, more car parts, more time behind the wheel honing my skills and having great experiences with my friends. This makes shopping for me this year virtually impossible. I can see it now, Christmas morning I will wake up and work my way towards the tree to separate presents only to find that all of the gifts are “to:” everyone in my house that isn’t me.

So what about you, how do you answer this question? (for those of you that do celebrate Christmas)?  I tried sending links to sites like ECS Tuning and OG Racing and Hooked On Driving hoping that someone would get me a gift certificate that I can use wisely as I see fit but I tried this once before with my Jeep and I received mixed results (a Jeep baseball hat and a camouflage poncho for when it rains and the top is down). Maybe this year will be different!

Either way, happy holidays to you and yours this wonderful holiday season!

More photos available in the Vault!