Track Day Prep.

[David Pozzi]

Tips for driving, sorry these are out of order, just thinking of things as I go:

1 PAY ATTENTION to the instructor don't get distracted leering at all the neat machinery or BS'ing.
2. Start out easy, learn the exact line the car must follow on the track, the racing "line" is all-important, learn the line before anything, and stay on the line going easy then work on picking up speed while still staying in full control of your car.

3. Brake easy, nothing screws up a novice driver like running full bore up to a corner like a madman then jamming on the binders and getting the car all out of shape. You'll forget all about driving the line when you over-brake the car and do much slower laps.

Work on braking smoothly and apply the brakes less than max at the inital applcation, then once the front suspension settles you can add more brake but STAY UNDER CONTROL and enter the corner on the line. Take all the corners with a late apex point, this leaves you with a safe corner exit, maybe a bit slower for some corners, but you won't get spit out onto the dirt like you would with an early apex. As you learn and get more confortable you can move the apexes up a bit. Consistant laps are what you want.

3. LEARN THE LINE, LEARN THE LINE, LEARN THE LINE.
DRIVE THE LINE, DRIVE THE LINE, DRIVE THE LINE.
Use a slow (ish) corner entry with fast exit, drive smoothly.

4. Watch the gages, mainly the oil pressure and temp. If you can take a passenger, ask them to slug you if your oil pressure drops below 30-40 psi in the hairpins.



5. The cool-down lap comes after the checkered flag is thrown, it isn't another "Free" lap! you really need to cool the engine and brakes down before reaching the pits or you can melt the brake seals or warp the rotors. If you get out of the car and hear your brakes going "ting, ting, ting," your brakes are not cooled down enough and you should roll the car every 5 minutes to prevent the part of the rotor covered by the caliper from remaining hotter than the rest of the rotor.

6. If you dont have an 8 qt oil pan, overfill by a quart. DON'T run with the oil at the "ADD" level. Overfill won't hurt a Chevy since several quarts will be up in the top of the engine anyway and Button Willow has at least one very tough corner on oil pressure.

7. If your power steering starts to groan, ease off and cool it down or come in. You absolutely need a ps cooler or you are asking for trouble. A thin type transmission cooler in the return line can be quickly added and helps a bunch.

8. Watch your mirrors, look ahead, as you drive harder you tend to focus close to the car, but you need to be looking up and ahead for cars in trouble or oil on the track, etc. Don't push yourself too hard when someones on your tail, you might spin out and they could hit you! When a good driver passes you there is an opportunity to follow his line and learn from him, but don't try too hard and lose it.

If you see a cloud of dust or a car spin out, watch the track in that spot when you get there, the car may have hit oil on the track and spun, or may have spun off and thrown dirt on the track, either way there may be something to avoid, and it may not be a car. Craig Boone blew his engine and coasted off the track to have people hit his oil and slide off the track and almost into his car!!! Watch out for hazards and situations like this, there may be fiew to no flagmen at the corners to slow people down or warn them.

9. Give yourself time to adapt and learn. If you goof up right away you could blow the whole day so pacing yourself and your car is the rule for the day.

10. If you get in a big train of cars, pull in and motor slowly thru the pits and re-enter the track again.

11. If you have a leak, pull off the racing line, there are plenty of intersecting roadways to pull onto if you can't limp back to the pits.
Use your nose, if you smell coolant, gear oil, or something burning, pull in and take a quick look at the car.