No … I am not writing about that snowy, icy planet known to house the Rebel Alliance’s Echo Base…
HOTH stands for Helmets Off To Heroes an annual Veterans Day event held at the Jefferson Circuit of Summit Point Motorsports Park. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of this event and I was fortunate enough to be able to participate. HOTH was created by Miriam Schottland (and DriveLab) a decade ago as a way of showing appreciation to our active duty military and veterans. (Pictures from this event can be found here, Pictures courtesy of WDCR region of SCCA).
Since the event is FREE, it was limited to thirty entrants on a first-come-first-serve basis. As soon as I learned about this event I was quick to sign up, who doesn’t want free track time!?! -The event is set up for a wide range of skills sets: from those who have never stepped foot on a track to the well seasoned track rat. Having never been to a HOTH event I wasn’t sure what to expect.
In my usual fashion, the night before I was knocking out last minute repairs and preparations for the event. Having fried my brakes on my last session during EMRA’s Fall Finale held at Summit Main, I knew that was the minimum I needed to repair before hitting the track. Luckily, Jettadiah has done very well at holding up to my abuse this season and was ready for another round.
Sunday Morning my daughter Anessa and I jumped in the truck to head to the track and the thermometer showed an outside temp of 27 degrees. Needless to say, I wasn’t very optimistic on what the track conditions were going to be like. My used-borrow-and-blue Nankang NS-2Rs have held up well through my events, but how much traction would I have on a day like today? Arriving at the track, the temperature had dropped to 22 degrees, it was really starting to fell like HOTH – the planet. It wasn’t looking promising, but at least there wasn’t any chance of precipitation in the area.
After registering and being assigned to my run group – I took care of a quick tech inspection and then the driver’s meeting. During the meeting we were informed that there would be an option for helicopter rides later in the day – WOAH!
We were split into three groups: White group (Individuals with no track experience), Red Group (Individuals with track experience), and the Blue Group (Instructors willing to give a ride along) For the first half of the day we were broken up into exercises and alternated through the skid pad, a braking exercise, and a slalom section. Hitting the skid pad as my exercises was interesting as there were some patches of ice which caused many people to spin out. The braking exercise was useful for me to bed in my new pads. My initial test run at home before loading up was only about two miles and didn’t feel adequate.
Oh yea – I mentioned a Helicopter, right? – During a quick intermission, Anessa and I were able to take a helicopter ride around Summit Point. The skies were clear and we were able to see for miles! It was such a nice view of West-by-GOD-Virginia scenery! I will admit extras like the helicopter rides (which, I understood were not initially planned) did cause a slip up in the track schedule, but the folks from SCCA did a great job of keeping things under control. The atmosphere in the paddock was great among the many participants and spectators. Lots of the children were wandering around looking at the cars there and enjoying what was turning out to be a great day.
Back on track – My last exercise before lunch was the slalom and luckily the sun was shining and the temps were slowly rising so my tires were actually getting a little grip. We were provided a nice meal (which Anessa was helping with setup of during my time out for the morning exercises) and a quick class session while we ate. #workinglunch. Now for the best part of the day: ACTUAL TRACK TIME! – I wasn’t timing my laps but was very happy with my performance on the track. After my first session, My instructor (Dave) saw my driving style and decided I was capable of a faster line and utilizing skills such as trail braking. I got to observe many different cars throughout the day, but the funniest was a mid-size car with 3 passengers zipping around Jefferson, talk about a road test!
Dave was nice enough to take Anessa for a ride along in his Porsche Targa which she thoroughly enjoyed – but stated she wanted to go faster! I’m pretty sure she is hooked and we will be seeing her on the track in a few short years, so look out!
After a long and cold, but fun, day we all gathered in the classroom for a quick debrief and awards. In addition to the event being free a few individuals were fortunate to get $100 gift cards for things such as longest distance traveled, most improved for the White Group, and a most senior military member – which in normal tradition, the winner chose to give it to the most junior military member at the event. This is definitely an event that I will recommend to folks for next year whether they get the chance to attend or just come out to volunteer.
Again, I give a huge thanks to all of those who were involved in making the event a great success!
 2018 review!){kind=link}