Track Weekend #2 :-)

I knew I'd like going to the track even before I went... Angela did too ;-) So, without jumping off the deep end my plan is, for now, only attend The Drivers Edge events that take place at the local track down in Cresson TX (they go to two others tracks - Houston MotorSport Ranch and Texas World Speedway in College Station). I'd eventually like to try both of those tracks, but right now it's not practical.

So... the weekend of Dec 4th & 5th I went back down to MotorSport Ranch in Cresson to run the 1.7 mile track in the opposite direction from last time.

Even though I'd run the track before, coming at it from the opposite direction makes it a whole new track. The line you take when running the track Counter-Clockwise is definitely not the line you take when running it Clockwise! I also had a different instructor this time, who had a very different approach to things. I liked him just as much as my last instructor. They both offered info that helped me improve! I was a bit more comfortable this time, so I was pushing the car a bit harder, and my tires show it! The good thing was I improved my lap times from the last time by a full 5 seconds! I was very happy with that, plus the kudos I was receiving from the instructor. He, like my instructor last time, was very surprised my car still has it's stock suspension. We were one of the fastest cars on the track. Felt good to pass Corvettes, and stripped down race cars :-) It felt REALLY good when guys I passed on the track would come up to me afterwards, introduce themselves and want to talk.

I took video again of every run. Here's the last few laps of the 1st run on Sunday. These were some of my quickest laps of the weekend, mainly due to the fact my instructor was introducing me to some new techniques during the later runs that day so they weren't as "pretty" (more on that in a moment :-)



During the last run of the day my instructor was trying to get me to downshift during braking instead of after braking while entering the turn. Downshifting during braking (without throttle) is a pre-curser to heel-and-toe. I say he was trying to get me to do it because he was explaining it in pieces, and I didn't know what the end result was that we were shooting for... in other words me no-comprende what he say... So I was trying to figure it out "on the fly" so to speak... while going 100mph :-) Here's when I finally figured it out... well, actually, it was because of this that I finally figured it out ;-)



No harm, no foul... and it actually was kinda fun ;-) No damage done, and the car is fine. And since I learned something from it, it was worth it!!

You know... I gotta mention one thing... notice the instructor's feet during the spin... the guy doesn't flinch! Either he's got nerves of steel, or he has confidence in me... Or I guess he could just simply be crazy... yeah, that's probably it!!!