Kevin Doe
02-26-2008, 11:19 AM
A friend of mine posted this on anothe forum. I figured I'd see who from here will be attending as well.
Okay registration is open for the first NASA Great Lakes region event at Mid Ohio. The event goes from Friday, April 11th to Sunday April 13th. You can sign up for Friday only HPDE, Saturday AND Sunday HPDE, or all three days if you've got it like that. Cost is $175/day and gives you 4 twenty minute sessions with an instructor in your car the whole time.
Due to time constraints I like to do the single days. They do not like to split up Sat and Sun so if you want to do a single day only you have to go on Friday. I signed up for Friday. I will likely just head up there very early in the morning on Friday and come home Friday night. You guys are more than welcome to caravan up there with me. I believe Kevin will be signing up as well.
What do you need to do?
Go here: https://www.nasaproracing.com/joinrenew.html and click on the Buy/Renew Membership button to join NASA. This will cost you $44 and includes a year subscription to Grassroots Motorsports magazine. Once you are a member you are eligible for any HPDE events with any NASA region.
Next step go here: https://www.nasaproracing.com/nasa_e.../?event_id=708 and scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the registration options. If this is your first time you want to sign up for either the Friday or the weekend HPDE and select HPDE1. This will give you an instructor.
To get ready and learn what you need to do go here: http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html and read that page. At the bottom of the page you will see links to various articles about what to expect and how to prepare your car. Read all of them, they are all short.
What do you need?
You need a SA2000 or SA2005 helmet, this is an absolute must or they will not let you out on the track. A motorcycle helmet will not suffice and they check your sticker. I bought a Pyrotect from www.soloracer.com for a good price. These are the cheapest I have found.
You need to flush your brake fluid and replace it with high temp fluid such as ATE super blue or Motul which you can find online anywhere. If you go with ATE you only need a single one liter container, if you go with Motul keep in mind that it is sold in 1/2 liter containers and you will need 2.
You absolutely must have track pads. No, metal masters will not cut it. The bare minimum pad you could use will be Hawk HP+ (Hawk HPS will melt after about 5 laps). You can get fancy expensive race only pads but you won't need them for your first few events.
You have to have safe working factory seatbelts in the car for driver and passenger. You can use harnesses, but they must be installed properly with a roll bar. Your seats must be solidly mounted, if they move when you jerk them back and forth you will not be allowed out.
Your wheel bearings must be sound. They will walk up to your car, grab your wheel and jerk it back and forth and side to side. If there is any play they will not let you out on the track. Check this before you get there.
Your car needs to be in good mechanical order with no fluid leaks of any kind. You also need to make sure it can sustain wide open throttle for basically 20 minutes solid without over heating. If you run into any issues on the track you can easily pull into the pits, so don't worry about being stuck out there or anything.
They have 93 octane, 100 unleaded, and 110 leaded at the pumps at the track so no need to worry about fuel. If your car is making decent power you will need to fill up at some point between the 4 sessions.
So that about covers everything. Don't worry if you think your car is too slow, or if you are worried about Mid Ohio being dangerous. There will be plenty of slow cars out there and since you are new to this you will not be pushing the car hard at all. This track is only dangerous if you push the limits without having any clue what you are doing. In my brief experience with NASA I have found that everyone is there to have a good time, and they do not allow aggressive drivers to put other people in danger.
There will only be 3 passing zones for the beginners and the slower car HAS to wave the faster car by. If the slower car does not wave you by you ARE NOT allowed to pass them. This ensures that you will not be surprised by someone diving to the inside on a turn and taking you out. The instructors are all very good and will offer you tons of great instruction to get you on the right line and find your braking points. The classroom instruction is also very helpful and will get you prepared for your day on the track. There is a debriefing after every session as well so you can talk about your experience or ask any questions that you may have.
I am very excited about having my new car and I plan to do quite a few events this year. Mid Ohio is beautiful and the track is one of the best in the country. I hope to see a lot of you guys sign up that have expressed interest in the past. There is nothing to be nervous about and if you go on Friday I can get you all squared away. Friday will also have a lot less traffic. It's time to stop talking about it and start driving, you will thank me for getting you out there.
Check out these links for stuff you need:
www.soloracer.com
www.racingbrake.com
www.raceshopper.com
And here is an interactive track map:
http://www.midohio.com/track.aspx
Okay registration is open for the first NASA Great Lakes region event at Mid Ohio. The event goes from Friday, April 11th to Sunday April 13th. You can sign up for Friday only HPDE, Saturday AND Sunday HPDE, or all three days if you've got it like that. Cost is $175/day and gives you 4 twenty minute sessions with an instructor in your car the whole time.
Due to time constraints I like to do the single days. They do not like to split up Sat and Sun so if you want to do a single day only you have to go on Friday. I signed up for Friday. I will likely just head up there very early in the morning on Friday and come home Friday night. You guys are more than welcome to caravan up there with me. I believe Kevin will be signing up as well.
What do you need to do?
Go here: https://www.nasaproracing.com/joinrenew.html and click on the Buy/Renew Membership button to join NASA. This will cost you $44 and includes a year subscription to Grassroots Motorsports magazine. Once you are a member you are eligible for any HPDE events with any NASA region.
Next step go here: https://www.nasaproracing.com/nasa_e.../?event_id=708 and scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the registration options. If this is your first time you want to sign up for either the Friday or the weekend HPDE and select HPDE1. This will give you an instructor.
To get ready and learn what you need to do go here: http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html and read that page. At the bottom of the page you will see links to various articles about what to expect and how to prepare your car. Read all of them, they are all short.
What do you need?
You need a SA2000 or SA2005 helmet, this is an absolute must or they will not let you out on the track. A motorcycle helmet will not suffice and they check your sticker. I bought a Pyrotect from www.soloracer.com for a good price. These are the cheapest I have found.
You need to flush your brake fluid and replace it with high temp fluid such as ATE super blue or Motul which you can find online anywhere. If you go with ATE you only need a single one liter container, if you go with Motul keep in mind that it is sold in 1/2 liter containers and you will need 2.
You absolutely must have track pads. No, metal masters will not cut it. The bare minimum pad you could use will be Hawk HP+ (Hawk HPS will melt after about 5 laps). You can get fancy expensive race only pads but you won't need them for your first few events.
You have to have safe working factory seatbelts in the car for driver and passenger. You can use harnesses, but they must be installed properly with a roll bar. Your seats must be solidly mounted, if they move when you jerk them back and forth you will not be allowed out.
Your wheel bearings must be sound. They will walk up to your car, grab your wheel and jerk it back and forth and side to side. If there is any play they will not let you out on the track. Check this before you get there.
Your car needs to be in good mechanical order with no fluid leaks of any kind. You also need to make sure it can sustain wide open throttle for basically 20 minutes solid without over heating. If you run into any issues on the track you can easily pull into the pits, so don't worry about being stuck out there or anything.
They have 93 octane, 100 unleaded, and 110 leaded at the pumps at the track so no need to worry about fuel. If your car is making decent power you will need to fill up at some point between the 4 sessions.
So that about covers everything. Don't worry if you think your car is too slow, or if you are worried about Mid Ohio being dangerous. There will be plenty of slow cars out there and since you are new to this you will not be pushing the car hard at all. This track is only dangerous if you push the limits without having any clue what you are doing. In my brief experience with NASA I have found that everyone is there to have a good time, and they do not allow aggressive drivers to put other people in danger.
There will only be 3 passing zones for the beginners and the slower car HAS to wave the faster car by. If the slower car does not wave you by you ARE NOT allowed to pass them. This ensures that you will not be surprised by someone diving to the inside on a turn and taking you out. The instructors are all very good and will offer you tons of great instruction to get you on the right line and find your braking points. The classroom instruction is also very helpful and will get you prepared for your day on the track. There is a debriefing after every session as well so you can talk about your experience or ask any questions that you may have.
I am very excited about having my new car and I plan to do quite a few events this year. Mid Ohio is beautiful and the track is one of the best in the country. I hope to see a lot of you guys sign up that have expressed interest in the past. There is nothing to be nervous about and if you go on Friday I can get you all squared away. Friday will also have a lot less traffic. It's time to stop talking about it and start driving, you will thank me for getting you out there.
Check out these links for stuff you need:
www.soloracer.com
www.racingbrake.com
www.raceshopper.com
And here is an interactive track map:
http://www.midohio.com/track.aspx