NMS Targets Watkins Glen

Pre-COVID driving the Glen in 2019, Kyle Ray Smith as instructor.

In the Pre-COVID era, the NMS crew and several friends met up at a place called Watkins Glen International in NY, and had a blast driving the track for 2 days with NASA Northeast. We're planning to do it again in October this year too. In addition, NMS North has signed up for a Porsche Club of America weekend at the Glen at the tail end of July and August 1. Yes, not one, not two, but a THREE DAY WEEKEND of driving at the Glen! 

Brian doing the track walk, top of the esses at the Glen

What makes this place special? Well, WGI is a really fun track to drive, has left AND right turns, and has elevation that goes BOTH up AND down! Besides that, the Formula 1 guys raced there in the past, and more recently the track has hosted NASCAR, INDY car, and other races today. It's kind of a big deal!

Speaking of BIG DEALS, we love big deals, like at the last autocross when I found a quarter of a dollar in the parking lot. I mean like a George Washington quarter, worth at least 25 cents in real money! Oh, and the really big deal is that as a new member to the PCA, the local region offers a half price event in your first year, so I've cashed in my voucher and will get 3 days of driving for the price of one and a half. My math isn't so great, but they assured me it was cheaper than normal!

Brian wheeling the NMS Miata at Watkins Glen

There's still a month for more drivers to sign up, so for now let's take a look at the Yellow run group to see what cars I'll be on the track with at Watkins Glen. 

PCA WATKINS GLEN JULY-AUGUST YELLOW GROUP			HP
	2016 Porsche GT4	Fri-Sun	385
	2018 Porsche Cayman S	Fri-Sun	350
	2001 Porsche 996	Fri-Sun	300
	2010 Porsche GT3 RS	FRI/SAT	450
	2012 Audi TTRS	Fri-Sun	360
Nixon, Robert	2009 Porsche Cayman	Fri-Sun	265
	2019 Porsche 911 Turbo	Fri-Sun	540

Good news for me, it's not a race, so having the least amount of horsepower doesn't really matter. For each driver, the goal of DE is to improve their skills with personal coaching. Over three days in multiple sessions, over such a long track, I'm sure there's plenty of things I can do to improve! Along the way these faster cars will be passing me up, so that's part of my job, to be checking the rear view mirrors. By being aware of who is around you, and letting them pass in the appropriate place, everyone has a more fun and safer experience. In our group with instructors, I'm sure we'll only be passing in certain areas. 

See you out on the racetrack! Remember, if you spell that word backwards, it's still "racetrack." No, wait, that's wrong, it's RACECAR backwards is RACECAR. See, I told you I wasn't good at math. Or English.