Track Time Countdown

ONE MONTH TO TRACK WEEKEND

NMS-North will return to the track with the NASA NE folks on March 27-28 at New Jersey

Motorsports Park on the Lightning Course. NJMP is big enough to have 2 tracks, so maybe 

we'll go back some other time and run on the THUNDER side too. My track driving is not 

racing against other cars, so I'm working on improving my driving skills in what is called 

High Performance Driver Education, or HPDE. 

Down South, Brian has been getting fully prepped for some serious Time Trialing this year, 

now that he has a TT license. This week he's brought in some new G-Loc brake pads, and a

transponder for that official timing. More to come from him this year in the NMS track Miata 

too. 

OK, now that I've had this Cayman for a while, I know how to start the car and put gas in it, 

so those aren't the kind of things I'll learn in driver education. It's a little more advanced 

than that! Groups like NASA have a structured series of steps for drivers to go through as they

gain skills. What do you get for your "education?"  Eventually this can lead to getting a 

competition license if you want to do actual racing against other cars on track. If you don't want 

to go full on racing, fine, you can just improve your car handling skills and have fun!

 

You can check out the NASA FAQ on these type of events at this link: 

NASA NE FAQ

NASA starts drivers in the HPDE 1 group, and as they improve their skills and basically 

show that they can play well with others, progress up to HPDE 4. I'm hoping to move from 

group 1 to group 2 in March, so that's my next goal. You can do this in just about any car, 

although with most convertibles you need a roll bar, in addition to the helmets that are 

mandatory in all groups. Here's a look at the various cars signed up for my HPDE 1 driving 

sessions starting on Saturday:

BRAND  MODEL

Lexus     GS300

Honda    S2000

BMW      330ci

Toyota    Supra

Toyota    Supra

Acura      Integra

VW         GTI

Toyota    Supra

Porsche  Cayman

Porsche  Panamera

Subaru    Legacy GT Spec B

Infinity     Q50

CHEVY   CORVETTE

Mini         Cooper

Toyota     Supra

Scion       FRS

Nissan     GT-R

Toyota     Supra

Toyota     86

Mazda     Miata

VW          Alltrack

Chevy     Corvette

Honda     Civic

BMW       M3

Toyota     Supra

Honda     Civic Type R

BMW       M3

Cadillac   ATS-V

Ford        Focus