Yesterday I participated in the Tracquest event at Sears point. This was my first track event, and despite the fact I've been autocrossing for nearly three years now, and getting decent at it quite recently, the impending thread of rain all day kept me quite nervous for the days preceding the event.

Well, God (or Gods... ;) ) smiled upon the group of well-healed participants in shiney p-cars (and one 'starving' college student in a ratt-ass 325is) and the weather was gorgeous the entire day. The track was soaking wet and treachorously slippery the first couple rungroups, which, I figure, was great for me. Having the track wet forced me to go slow and kept me extremely smooth on the controls, and when it finally dried up, I think I was in a group position to slowly build up my confidence levels. My instructor was a girl from my club, ITS-racing Becky Swafford, and she was a fantastic teacher. Not to brag, since this was a DE, and being a DE a non-competitive event, but I was able to pass everyone in my yellow rungroup (newbs!) on my third session, and a good handful of the people in the medium group later in the day. Please don't take this as arrogance... I'm just happy to report that autocross probably prepares one a lot more then some of you might reckon for high-speed events.

The people there were great, really friendly... and the cars were spectacular! One of my favorite memories of my young life is now passing my instructor on our last session out (her tires were completely shot... I will deffinetely chalk this one up to equipment, lord knows she is much more skillfull) and a few minutes later, having the event promoter (Todd Sarota... great guy!) blow by me in his GT2 at what seemed Mach 2.5, tailpipes glowing a bright red in the fading twilight. One of those life-defining moments, I imagine... and probably the best thing I've done with my car to date.

I can deffinetely see why a lot of you spend so much money and time at the track... a life spent at the track would deffinetely not be a life wasted!

Here are a few pictures...

http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/sears12.07.04/_G4R0732.jpg
Through the esses... by the end of the day I was exiting them at about a hundred miles per hour...

http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/sears12.07.04/_G4R1330.jpg
A bit closer to the apex later in the day... although this might have been the second turn in the string of esses... which I was instructed was faster if you stay paralel to the berm, setting you up better for the next 'esse'.

I can't wait to participate in my next event... probably will be thunderhill!

More pictures here: http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=132&page=1

Steve

Nice pics, and it's impressive that you got signed off on your first weekend.

Congrats!! Time to get a real helmet now if you want to do some more high speed events!

Very nice pictures. I see you're hooked now. :D Have fun out there!

Congrats!! Time to get a real helmet now if you want to do some more high speed events!
No kidding... ridiculous looking thing, and I don't know if I'd trust my brains with it!

Heh, I just like the fact that your instructor had her eyes closed in that first pic...I'd sign you off too if it meant getting out of your car ;) j/k

Welcome to the dark side Steve.

Heh, I just like the fact that your instructor had her eyes closed in that first pic...I'd sign you off too if it meant getting out of your car ;) j/k

Welcome to the dark side Steve.
That's the same thing that Becky said! What is the light side, I wonder... hah!

Steve

"Starving" Steve? ;)

Congratulations on your first DE. I am hoping to do another early next year and haul a few of my friends from work as well. I did Thunderhill with the Unlimitedlaps crew, and was extremely pleased with the efficiency and quality of the event.

Nice wheels. Good pics :)

Congrats on your first track event!!! I like autox, but after my first track event I was like WHOA! Fun!

You are right about autox helping on the track. My first event was on a rainy wet track and my tail stepped out on me in standing water through a turn. I caught it immediately and my instructor asked me "Nice save!!! If this is your first DE, where did you get your car control skills from???" I told him autox.

That first pic is funny as hell! You've got this determined look on your face and she looks like she is praying.

what camera were those takin with

Jed, I don't know how she does it... I get frightened when any of my friends drive on the street and just accelerate hard.

MiniModder, no clue... there was a photographer there.

Steve

"Starving" Steve? ;)

Congratulations on your first DE. I am hoping to do another early next year and haul a few of my friends from work as well. I did Thunderhill with the Unlimitedlaps crew, and was extremely pleased with the efficiency and quality of the event.

Nice wheels. Good pics :)
That's why I put it in quotes, esse! :D

Steve

So wait. You didn't tell us. Did you win the DE????? :D

So wait. You didn't tell us. Did you win the DE????? :D
I would have, but I haven't made fun of autocrossers enough. That'll take that extra tenth of a second I need to win the DE run-offs... ;)

Steve

That's cool. I'll let you be the 2004 HPDE Champion of the West Coast.

My buddy James (NoSoup4U) got me a t-shirt at VIR with a pic of me driving titled "2004 HPDE Champion"

:laugh

So the big question is, now that you've been on a real track, will you continue to autocross or will you stick with the big track?

So the big question is, now that you've been on a real track, will you continue to autocross or will you stick with the big track?
Not a big question at all! Of course I'll still autocross... its a completely different thrill and a completely different environment.

Two different ballgames... and I love the competitive aspect of autocross.

Steve

That first pic is funny as hell! You've got this determined look on your face and she looks like she is praying.


:lol that is so true!!! hahaha lol :D ...

Is that an e46 behind you in picture 24?

http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/sears12.07.04/_G4R1330.jpg
A bit closer to the apex later in the day... although this might have been the second turn in the string of esses... which I was instructed was faster if you stay paralel to the berm, setting you up better for the next 'esse'.

Steve
Great pics, Steve!!

That may be Turn 2, topping the hill, with the grandstands in the background.

Sounds like you had a blast. The blacked-out grill goes well with the paint.

Is that an e46 behind you in picture 24?
Yeah... I must have been running in the intermediate group at that point. E46 M3 with lots of goodies, super nice guy, got to talk to him for a bit. And don't worry, I let him by at the first possible oppurtunity... :D. Think he was running on rcomps...

Steve

Great pics, Steve!!

That may be Turn 2, topping the hill, with the grandstands in the background.

Sounds like you had a blast. The blacked-out grill goes well with the paint.
Yeah, deffinetely could be... I mussed that one up everytime until maybe my third to last session, when I *truly* started looking ahead. My instructor Becky kept giving me these exhausted looks everytime I hit it after that, because the first thing she had told me, maybe even before we had left Davis that morning (!!!), was "LOOK AHEAD."

I also spun there in the morning, which was predicted by local bimmer-buff Steve Kupper... it was so ungodly slippery there when it was wet in the early sessions. Its a notoriously slippery turn, I've heard, and with the consistant layer of water over the entire track, it was a handful in any of the low gears. Taught me to respect that corner real early on, and didn't have a problem with it after that...

Steve

http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/sears12.07.04/_G4R0732.jpg

http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/albums/userpics/sears12.07.04/_G4R1330.jpg


More pictures here: http://www.yellowlightman.com/dmc/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=132&page=1

Steve

You look so determined haha. Looks like you had fun I actually 3 min from there. It was really wet outside yesterday.

You look so determined haha. Looks like you had fun I actually 3 min from there. It was really wet outside yesterday.
I do kind of have a gregory peck grimace, don't I.

Who took the pictures? Really good shots.

Great pics, glad you brought it home in one piece!

Glad you were able to get out there.

Yeah, I agree, autoX helped me have confidence in taking the tight turn. I had a better understanding of what to expect of the car during cornering.

Looks like you have a good idea of level-head about the whole thing. I think you will do well. :)

Who took the pictures? Really good shots.

More then likely it's an professional photographer like www.gotbluemilk.com or head on photos (not sure what their web address is). They usually show up at DE's or any type of track event to make some money. The camera must be a semi-pro SLR camera or a pro SLR camera with a telephoto lens.

I want one!!!

More then likely it's an professional photographer like www.gotbluemilk.com or head on photos (not sure what their web address is). They usually show up at DE's or any type of track event to make some money. The camera must be a semi-pro SLR camera or a pro SLR camera with a telephoto lens.

I want one!!!
www.headonphotos.net

Really pretty pricey, I don't want to say just how much I speant on a CD full of pictures, but the guy running it was really nice and they have a pretty trick setup in their trailer. I figured I'd splurge since this was my first event and I wanted something to take home from it (other then my un-balled up car...).

Erik, on that note... I can tell you one of the thoughts running through my head early in the morning was how dreadful that call to you would have been...

"Erik??"
"Yeah."
"...can I borrow the trailer...?"

Steve

Yeah... I must have been running in the intermediate group at that point. E46 M3 with lots of goodies, super nice guy, got to talk to him for a bit. And don't worry, I let him by at the first possible oppurtunity... :D. Think he was running on rcomps...

Steve
I think that'd be a good pwned picture. Got it in a high enough res to print and frame it? :D

glad another bmw owner finally knows why bmw's are bmw's >:)

Not a big question at all! Of course I'll still autocross... its a completely different thrill and a completely different environment.

Two different ballgames... and I love the competitive aspect of autocross.

Steve

You can compete in a DE format:

www.opentrackchallenge.com

Steve,

Welcome to 'The Dark Side'! I would have been at Sears instructing for Todd but i sprained my back and couldn't sit that long. I'm up in Cameron Park and have been doing track events since Feb 2000 in my 98 M Roadster. I am the Track Steward for both Trackmasters Racing ( www.trackmaster-racing.com ) and Northern California Track Club ( www. ncracing.org ) and can highly recommend both organizations for well run safe and sane events with excellent instruction available. I've aslo instructed for Unlimited Laps. Hunpin runs a very good event. I hope to see you out at Thunderhill next year.

Steve,

Welcome to 'The Dark Side'! I would have been at Sears instructing for Todd but i sprained my back and couldn't sit that long. I'm up in Cameron Park and have been doing track events since Feb 2000 in my 98 M Roadster. I am the Track Steward for both Trackmasters Racing ( www.trackmaster-racing.com ) and Northern California Track Club ( www. ncracing.org ) and can highly recommend both organizations for well run safe and sane events with excellent instruction available. I've aslo instructed for Unlimited Laps. Hunpin runs a very good event. I hope to see you out at Thunderhill next year.
Too bad I missed you!

I'm really looking forward to driving Thunderhill... Sears was a bit of a sketchy track to first learn on with all the walls.

I'm kind of in a pickle right now though, since if I want to keep doing this, I think safely, I should probably think about adding some sort of roll protection, but unfortunately, my SCCA class does not allow the removal of rear seats.

The weight of a 4 or 5pt rollbar would more then offset the reduced weight of the rear seats, but rules are rules, and although I know nobody would give me any lip about it locally (cool guys and mostly my friends...) its not fair and it would be sort of cavalier to flaunt that in front of their face.

Steve