Last weekend I instructed on track for the first time since my accident, and while my neck isn’t 100%, I can right-seat coach and drive a car on track again. I’m definitely concerned about things like sudden and unexpected stops (tire walls, Armco, and other barriers), but the general motion of a car on track is no longer a problem.
My student for this recent track event with Mass Tuning was a 16-year old girl who got her driver’s license two months ago. She was driving her dad’s clappped out Chevy Cruze, which I fully support (except the seats, which lack any support). But we found out quickly the budget Accelera Phi tires suck in the wet. Naturally, it rained the whole day!
Pineview Run is a busy and technical track, not the easiest place for your first track day. But she was a good student, listening to instruction, implementing changes, and without ego. So pretty soon she was safely navigating the track with pace and giving point bys. The next session we were quickly on pace with other cars, and right in the swim of things, cutting wakes through the wet track. By the last session we had a few dry spots, and she started throwing the car into turns and squealing the tires. With that she earned a few point bys, and even dropped her 18-year old brother (in a track-prepped BMW) in her rear-view mirror.
That was a good day with Mass Tuning, and a nice way to ease back into coaching again. This was my first event since coaching with Ross Bentley, Peter Krause, Sam Smith, Josh Herbert, and my brother Ian. We called it the Speed Secrets Academy, and it was a smashing success. I haven’t written about that event yet, but it went really well, far exceeding the high expectations the students or coaches imagined. Ian wraps up some of that in his blog about the Speed Secrets Academy, so I won’t repeat that here.
There have also been a few podcasts on that event:
- Ian and I were guests on Garage Heroes in Training, reviewing how the program went, and how it was different from regular HPDE. .
- One of our students, Michael Beers, was also on GHIT. After taking the class, Mike set the fastest lap on his team.
- Then I was on the Blind Apex podcast doing more of the same for Kaan’s audience.
- And finally Peter Krause was on Garage Heroes, doing another deep dive on the program and helping Vicki.
People keep asking if we’ll do another Speed Secrets Academy, when, and where? Yes, and I’m not sure. We had always envisioned this as a traveling road show, and we’d like to hit tracks in the Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast. But a lot of this hinges on the availability of Ross and Peter, so I don’t have even tentative dates yet.
In the meantime, I’m available for private coaching at Pineview Run. I prefer to coach here as we can do drills, data, and run through many of the program elements that we did in the Speed Secrets Academy. Alternatively, I can also meet you at Watkins Glen, but you’d get less out of a coaching session there than at Pineview.
- If you are a Pineview member or have an annual track pass, you can contact Pineview via the website. In the notes, mention that you want me as your coach.
- If you aren’t a member, contact me and we can schedule it. Pricing will depend on if you need a guest pass, and what day, but figure around $400-800.
The best track layout for coaching sessions is the short track, as you can get in more laps in than on the long track. This is especially important for doing drills, and we will be doing mostly drills.
Pineview’s track schedule goes like this:
- On Wednesday and Thursday, Pineview uses the short track, but it’s a shorter day that goes from 12:00 to 5:00. Still, that’s plenty of time and you’ll be exhausted.
- On Fridays they use the short track starting at 10am, and switch to the long track in the afternoon.
- On weekends, they sometimes use the Friday schedule, and sometimes use the long track all day. This layout is fast and flowy, but not quite as good for coaching sessions.
I’m working with Pineview to offer other coaching programs, and with Ross on the next Speed Secrets Academy. But until we get that figured out, hit me up for intensive drilling and 1:1 coaching.
Occam's Racer 