There comes a time in every driver’s life when just doing laps isn’t enough. They have become skilled and seasoned enough that simply improving their lines and working on their skill doesn’t cut it anymore. These people are looking for more, something to add that extra bit of “zing” back to their track weekends.
Well, to these people I say: “Hey, EMRA’s got you covered!”
The Eastern Motorsport Racing Association (EMRA) is a motorsports club that travels the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic facilitating track days for motorsports enthusiasts. However, at EMRA, there’s a twist. Each run group is its own Time Trial session (or TT for short). Additionally, the highest tier, Blue group, is a mix of TT’ers with the required safety equipment, and Club Racers. That’s right, EMRA runs a full on race during their track days, mixed in with all the time trial goodness. And if that wasn’t enough adding to the competitive spirit of their track days, each session is at least 30 minutes long, meaning extended track time compared to some other organizations (an average of 2.5 hrs per day) Who doesn’t love more track time?
Friday / Saturday – Meanwhile, on to our weekend recap… this weekend started out just like any other. We all met up at the track Friday night for drop off, unloaded quickly (in the wet because mother nature hates us all this year) and then we went to dinner. Friday night’s dinner was Buffalo Wild Wings with members John R., Eric M., Kenny E., Kevin E. (Ken’s son), Matt Y., and Brad N. in attendance. The food was great and the conversation was even better. Afterwards we went our separate ways to prepare for the Saturday “Summer Shenanigans” event at Shenandoah Circuit.
And a big shout out to Matt Y (pictured above) for putting us up for the weekend and for allowing John R. the use of his fully prepped Honda Civic race car. Much appreciated!
Rain, Rain go – away! Please come back some >other< day…
Day 1
Saturday morning started off rough. It was raining, then not raining, then pouring, then raining… it all made for an aggravating morning to say the least. And yes… the Viking (Brad N) had a mini temper tantrum fueled by frustration and a potentially ruined first track day of the year.
Registration and driver meetings were the norm with the exception of driver’s picking up their rented transponders. Except for the blue group “racers” who had their own drivers meeting, it was very much what you would expect. After registration and tech inspections (yes EMRA does tech on-site) it was just about time for a short orientation session. Since I hadn’t been out on track since VIR in November and my car setup has changed, I decided to go out. Saying the track was slick, or wet, or like driving on glass or ice… would be a huge understatement. It was rough goings, even at slow speeds. During the orientation laps a car went 4 off and spun, conditions were not in our favor.
The first couple sessions of the day experienced the same wet conditions as the orientation laps. Cold, wet, slick track surfaces combined with rusty drivers resulted in some slow and cautious lap times and a few black flags. One car wrecked which required a stoppage on track to get safety vehicles and ambulances out there, all drivers were safe and the only casualty appeared to be what was a well sorted Acura Integra.
Towards lunchtime the clouds opened up, the sun began to shine if only just a bit, and things started to improve. The track was drying (and would remain so for the next few hours) and drivers were starting to really hit their stride. I believe each group was able to net at least two dry sessions. It was during these dry sessions that the competitiveness had started to climb. Drivers were taking risks and being aggressive, attacking the track with vigor and applying pressure to their enemies, or nemeses. Each time we came in off track we would run to the timing tower to see how we did. It was exciting! In red and white groups it wasn’t wheel to wheel racing by any means but it was racing against the clock. Whereas, Blue group requires the additional safety gear because it is Club Racing + Time Trials in an “open passing” format. But for me, who hasn’t really thought about getting into competitive driving to this point, it certainly added some extra flair to my track day.
Imagine yourself … >here, here or here<
At the end of the day there was one final session, the blue group race/TT mix. The racers were gridded up front and lined up based on their qualifying times, and the TT’ers were held back. There was a rolling start (similar to our GTM run group at HOD last year) and then once they hit start/finish it was on! Each racer took off and things were underway. Or so we thought, not two laps into the race the black flags came out, the cars came in, and there was a lone car on track in pieces against the wall (oddly enough in the same place the Integra crashed earlier in the day). It took a good 20 minutes to get the track clean and clear again and the racers went back out to give it another go with one less car. Sadly, mother nature insisted it was time to end so the racers got one more lap and that was that. The track went cold and another successful, yet at times frustrating, track day was in the books.
About a half hour after that there was a brief awards ceremony and meeting to talk about the day. Here is where the excitement of TT really hit us. GTM members walked away with 5 trophies (3 first place, 2 second place) in their respective classes and a round of applause from the crowd (mainly for providing the beer, not for our driving). I didn’t stay for day two as I had a family obligation so I will let my buddy Eric M. fill you in on the rest…
Day 2
Other than a passing squall the weather on Sunday was anything but wet. Yes, it was hot and humid, but track conditions were perfect, aside the typical mud hole that forms between Turns 18 & 19 (Little-to-Big Bend) at Shenny. Times dropped radically as contestants were able to use better tires on Sunday. The competition between GTM members was still hot, Saturday’s dinner and BS session just made exacerbated the excitement for clear + dry track.
Member Kerwin W joined us for Sundays brawl entering in ST1, which is EMRAs highest class with his supercharged BMW E46 M3. With a stellar early morning run, Kerwin was set to take the 1st place slot in ST1 and Fastest Time of Day, had it not been for a Corvette who sniped his time by less than a half second. Either way an excellent performance by Kerwin for his first TT, and I think he summarized the weekend well in saying “I’m mad I didn’t come in 1st, but now I’m hooked. NJMP will be a different story.” #onlikedonkeykong
“Candid Camera” shot of our corner paddock area #thepartyiswhereweare #partycentral
Despite the chaos emanating from our boisterous paddock: the jokes, music and new on-track rivalries with some shouting about “cheater tires” we were fortunate to have one of the most exciting final sessions of a track weekend in a long time. Many of the racers had gotten their points and packed up for the day. Which left five GTM’ers to their own devices in an open passing session… uh-oh! 😉 At the awards ceremony the flaggers said we put on a helluva show. Deep passes, apex blocking, 3-abreast, you name it, a great battle with fast equipment, drivers you can trust and great friends. Member Ken E posted some of the footage on YouTube for your viewing pleasure with more pictures from the event which can be found on Shutterfly.
Closing out Sunday, we took home three 1st place finishes in ST3, ST5 and ST6 with 2nd place finishes in ST1 and ST6. Over two days, it was a lot of trophies.
Left-to-Right: Day 1: Kevin E standing in for dad Ken E (ST6 winner), Brad N (ST4 winner), Eric M (ST5 winner), John R (ST6 2nd place) and Steve F (ST3 2nd place). Day 2: Ken E (ST6 winner), Kerwin W (ST1 2nd place), Eric M (ST5 winner), Steve F (ST3 winner) and John R (ST6 2nd place) – Congrats to all our GTM’ers!
But a final Yelp review on EMRA: we definitely give them 2 Pistons Up! We could tell EMRA was definitely excited to have us there, and we were excited to be there and will definitely race with them again! We look forward to NJMP in August, and we hope you can join us too.
