Official GT350 Track Attack Attendance Thread

[drummerboy]

Bummer, Friday's class looks to be wet all day :(

https://www.wunderground.com/hourly/us/nc/concord/KNCCONCO57/date/2020-8-21

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[sweetchuck2001]

Bummer, Friday's class looks to be wet all day :(

https://www.wunderground.com/hourly/us/nc/concord/KNCCONCO57/date/2020-8-21

Should be a fun day either way. We drove one of our 3 afternoon sessions in the rain last Friday. As long as it's not downpouring, they won't stop.

 

[ExtantPuzzle]

I had a fantastic day yesterday, the weather was great. Was awesome meeting folks and learning how to drive fast. Definitely an experience I'll always remember.

That said, racecar-while-tall is a real problem. For context, I'm 6'6" and this was the first time I've ever done any kind of a serious driving event.

I got into Mustangs because I had the opportunity a few years back to go to SpeedVegas and drive a bunch of different things. Out of all of them, I fit best into the Shelby Mustang GT they had on site, and the 911 was a decent fit. When it came time for me to get a fun car, I gravitated toward the Mustang because I wanted something that I fit in well.

My GT350 has the comfort seats and I fit in it fantastic. I don't even need to put the seat all the way back (maybe an inch off the back seats), but it does need to be all of the way down. I've got ample headroom, clear field of view, etc.

When I first got into the Track Attack GT350, I was a little worried because the Recaros didn't go back as far as the seats in my car, meaning my knees were a bit more cramped and my legs had less room. Also, the seat didn't go down at all, so my head was a little closer to the top. Still, for the initial lap belt / no helmet ride over to zMAX, I didn't get too worried yet. When it came time to get all strapped into the car, I realized a few important things:

- With the helmet, my head was about two inches too tall for the ceiling of the car -- meaning that my head was now turtling into my chest and my shoulders were hunched up.
- This led to me not sitting up straight and instead hunching forward, which meant compressed lungs. I couldn't take a deep breath while strapped in.

Then we got to the Roval and were sitting in the shed, strapped in and waiting our turn for a few minutes before we could go out onto the track. No air conditioning, no breeze, can't sit up straight, can't easily turn my head because of the HANS device plus my helmet jammed into the roof of the car, can't take a full breath, baking in the heat, I'll own up to some mild claustrophobia.

Once we got out onto the track, I forgot about it all and had a great time. But those few minutes sitting in the car each time before we began? Those sucked.

Still, phenomenal experience and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I just hadn't accounted for the issues that being tall would have brought on since driving my own GT350 I had none of those experiences.

Side note: it didn't occur to me until after I left the facility and was halfway home that I should have tried to sit in my car with their helmet and see how it fit. Whoops.

 

[I am Jeff]

I'll be there on August 18th.

I’ll be there also 18th

I had a blast at the event and meeting you fellas!

 

[fpa1974]

I just came back. I attended the Friday session. It was wet in the morning but weather turned perfect for driving in the afternoon. We ran the hairpin configuration for the first track session and because things dried up we switched to the whole FP oval configuration in the afternoon. Needless to say I had a blast.

 

[drummerboy]

I just came back. I attended the Friday session. It was wet in the morning but weather turned perfect for driving in the afternoon. We ran the hairpin configuration for the first track session and because things dried up we switched to the whole FP oval configuration in the afternoon. Needless to say I had a blast.

Same here. The full course and banking were incredible.

In the morning in the rain I found it hilarious that even in track mode the car really doesn't want you to get out of line. I wanted to find the limit and let the rear hang out exiting those tight left-handers, but the car said NOPE, FIRST YOU STRAIGHTEN UP, THEN YOU GO FAST.

Would have liked to push it harder in the track sessions and was hoping by session 3 the instructor in the lead car would open it up more, but I understand why we couldn't. We never really romped on it on entry or exit, but to be fair we were nearing the limits mid-corner beginning to slightly understeer. I brought my dad along as a guest, and in the GT school car he had the less than ideal tires squealing nearly every corner. They were getting gummy on him at the end of the first track session with the tighter course, but the next two sessions with the longer stretches helped keep them cool.

Best of all, in session 3 I was 100% nailing the heel-toe, even in that complex transition between corner 4 and the quad-oval, so having that experience will be tremendous going forward. I installed a blip module and will probably keep it and try it out, but I'm not so sure I'm going to want to use it now.

 

[fpa1974]

Same here. The full course and banking were incredible.

In the morning in the rain I found it hilarious that even in track mode the car really doesn't want you to get out of line. I wanted to find the limit and let the rear hang out exiting those tight left-handers, but the car said NOPE, FIRST YOU STRAIGHTEN UP, THEN YOU GO FAST.

Would have liked to push it harder in the track sessions and was hoping by session 3 the instructor in the lead car would open it up more, but I understand why we couldn't. We never really romped on it on entry or exit, but to be fair we were nearing the limits mid-corner beginning to slightly understeer. I brought my dad along as a guest, and in the GT school car he had the less than ideal tires squealing nearly every corner. They were getting gummy on him at the end of the first track session with the tighter course, but the next two sessions with the longer stretches helped keep them cool.

Best of all, in session 3 I was 100% nailing the heel-toe, even in that complex transition between corner 4 and the quad-oval, so having that experience will be tremendous going forward. I installed a blip module and will probably keep it and try it out, but I'm not so sure I'm going to want to use it now.

It was nice meeting you I was the 3rd guy in our run group

 

[72&18]

Same here. The full course and banking were incredible.

In the morning in the rain I found it hilarious that even in track mode the car really doesn't want you to get out of line. I wanted to find the limit and let the rear hang out exiting those tight left-handers, but the car said NOPE, FIRST YOU STRAIGHTEN UP, THEN YOU GO FAST.

Would have liked to push it harder in the track sessions and was hoping by session 3 the instructor in the lead car would open it up more, but I understand why we couldn't. We never really romped on it on entry or exit, but to be fair we were nearing the limits mid-corner beginning to slightly understeer. I brought my dad along as a guest, and in the GT school car he had the less than ideal tires squealing nearly every corner. They were getting gummy on him at the end of the first track session with the tighter course, but the next two sessions with the longer stretches helped keep them cool.

Best of all, in session 3 I was 100% nailing the heel-toe, even in that complex transition between corner 4 and the quad-oval, so having that experience will be tremendous going forward. I installed a blip module and will probably keep it and try it out, but I'm not so sure I'm going to want to use it now.

Curious what blip module you went with?

 

[drummerboy]

It was nice meeting you I was the 3rd guy in our run group

I was wondering if that was you! Nice to meet you, too!

Curious what blip module you went with?

Xineering. I have a thread about the install here if you're curious:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...-downshift-blip-module-install-review.143224/

 

[mrbillwot]

I’ve posted this before but figured I’d post again for everyone who didn’t see it 3 months ago. This was my experience at track attack. This might answer some of your questions about what to expect.

Was Aaron Quine your lead follow instructor? He's great - made me feel comfortable and give nice attaboys when doing the slalom & varying radius exercises in Utah last summer (I was a driving guest).
That exercise, skid car, and a on-track turn by turn Instructor nuanced guidance all had in-car instructors in the passengers seat. how did that differ this year given the radio & distancing practices for compliance? Am supposed to go mid Oct. and am wondering. For me those in car instructors were the best part - super patient guys (James Burke did my ride along instruction and also drove to show my hot laps...which was great for "see what I mean?" continuity as he blew my mind).
Thanks for posting this - excellent.

 

[drummerboy]

Instructor in the skid car with you,
Instructors watching from a distance and talking to you on radio for the slalom, braking, heel-toe exercises,
Instructor in a lead car talking to you on radio during track sessions.

 

[dpAtlanta]

I was 100% nailing the heel-toe, even in that complex transition between corner 4 and the quad-oval, so having that experience will be tremendous going forward.

I agree... the heel-toe was something I had not really learned until the afternoon session. I tried to practice on the local roads, but I was face planting the steering wheel and it was not smooth.

They first have you do threshold braking, then you do heel-toe braking in the am session. These folks know what they are doing for us novices... you can NOT practice heel-toe braking without being hard on the brakes. At least us beginners can not.

Once on the track, it became very intuitive and quite smooth.

 

[mrbillwot]

Instructor in the skid car with you,
Instructors watching from a distance and talking to you on radio for the slalom, braking, heel-toe exercises,
Instructor in a lead car talking to you on radio during track sessions.

Ah ok thanks.

 

[mrbillwot]

I agree... the heel-toe was something I had not really learned until the afternoon session. I tried to practice on the local roads, but I was face planting the steering wheel and it was not smooth.

They first have you do threshold braking, then you do heel-toe braking in the am session. These folks know what they are doing for us novices... you can NOT practice heel-toe braking without being hard on the brakes. At least us beginners can not.

Once on the track, it became very intuitive and quite smooth.

Dave Ive been working on that a bit too - tricky with size 13 hooves...unlike drumming (all heels up) ;-)

 

[dpAtlanta]

You will have a blast Bill...!!!!

I am going to tape this since I have drove the track now:

BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL™ 400
Sunday, October 11, 2020 2:30 PM
NASCAR Cup Series

If your Track Attack is before or after this event, I would watch it. It will be interesting to see just how SLOW our laps are compared to theirs, and if their lines are different.

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