PacNW Track Day/HPDE/School thread

[rice_classic]

Well, it's time to compile as many owner want to do track days in their Toyabarus or other cars.

Hello, my name is rice_classic and I also go by the name of Colin. I hold a senior racing license with the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs and I am also a driving/racing coach with Ridge Racing School (specific to The Ridge Motorsports Park).

First let's list the tracks her in the PacNW that one can do track days at.

WASHINGTON:


Bremerton: (old airfield, used for track days and autocrosses)
http://www.bremertonraceway.com/
I have no video or track map



Pacific Raceways: (Kent, WA), 2.24 mile road course, 10 turns. Technical track but very fun and lots of elevation.
http://pacificraceways.com/Index.aspx

Video and Trackmap:

The Ridge Motorsports Park: (Shelton, WA) brand new track and owned by members and racers with the ICSCC! How cool is that!? 16 turns and MASSIVE elevation change. Parts of this track are like; Infineon, Thunderhill and Laguna Seca.
http://www.ridgemotorsportspark.com/

Video and Trackmap:

Spokane County Raceway: (Airway Heights; Spokane WA) 2.25 miles and it's a FAST track. Also, a nice thing about this track is that I don't have to take my rain tires!
http://spokanecountyraceway.com/road_course.php

Track map and Video:
(BTW: this is was a very close race... that damn neon!)




OREGON:

Portland International Raceway: Northern Portland by Jantzen Beach. No elevation change and long run off room BUT remember, if the grass is wet your car won't slow down so stay on track!
http://www.portlandraceway.com/

Trackmap and Video:





Oregon Raceway Park: (Grass Valley Oregon, middle of the state) Now this is a rollercoaster. 16 corners, 400 feet of elevation change and a freakin' half pipe! This is another relatively new track with very inexpensive track days and co-owned by several ICSCC racers.
http://oregonraceway.com/

Track Map and Video:






British Columbia:

Mission Raceway Park: (Surrey, BC near Abbotsford, on the waterfront). This is the smallest track that sanctioned races are held on. This track, due to no long straight, is very hard on braking systems.
http://www.missionraceway.com/

Track map and video:







OK, next post will be about getting on track.

[rice_classic]

Want to do a Track day or an HPDE?
(HPDE = High Performance Drivers Education.)

Getting on track is easy. Take the loose stuff out of your car, consider a higher temp brake pad and get a helmet. Most outfits will rent helmets but sometimes they have limited quantities. Get a SNELL 2005 or newer (newest are SNELL 2010).

Here are some of the organizations that host track days, Schools, private coaches and HPDE's. (most of these terms are interchangeable). I will get into Racing Schools in the next post.

Car Clubs: (You don't have to own one the cars of the club to participate FYI. aka: you don't need an Alfa, to do an Alfa Club Lapping day)

Porsche Club of America: PCA Northwest Region http://www.oregonpca.org/ and http://www.pnwr.org/
BMWClub: http://www.bmwcca.org/node/2369
Alfa Romeo Club: Pacific Northwest Chapter http://nwalfaclub.com/
Audi Club Northwest: http://www.audiclubna.org/chapters-t...ific#northwest

For-Profit Lapping/Trackday/HPDE organizations. These are organizations dedicated to your fun. Tons of track time, professional coaching (if needed) and lots of days. Better buy another set of tires, or 8.

Ridge Racing School: http://ridgeracingschool.com/ They are exclusive to The Ridge Motorsports Park. Several events per month and they are full service and you can rent private coaching on a per session basis or up to a full day or even a full season!

ProFormance racing School: http://www.proformanceracingschool.com/ I believe they are exclusive to Pacific Raceways and ORP. Before I got into racing I started here. Great group of folks.

VCMC Motorsport Club: http://old.vcmc.ca/ They are specific to Mission Raceways Park in Canada.

Turn 2 Lapping: http://www.turn2lapping.com/ They do events at PR and The Ridge.

Adare Motorsports: http://www.adaremotorsports.com/ Excellent group of people and Specific to Spokane County Raceways.

Hooked On Driving (dot com): http://www.hookedondriving.com/hooke...rthwest-Region They do events all over the country! Link for their events in the PacNW.


But rice! How do I sign up, and how do I see all the dates in one place?

Go here:
http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/calendar

MotorsportsREG is an online aggregate that most clubs and racing organizations use to list and signup people for events. You can put in your zip code and search for specific types of events/schools withing whatever range of your zipcode you want. If you're going to be doing trackdays you need to be a member of this site.

[rice_classic]

Last but not least there are RACING organizations that host schools and track days.

Since I don't race with the SCCA I cannot speak for their programs. I race with ICSCC which is an all volunteer racing organization that is very popular in the PacNW and run by the racers for the racers.

First: let's break it down:

ICSCC: International Conference of Sports Car Clubs

http://www.icscc.com/index.php

This is the umbrella "Conference" that is composed of Member Clubs that all host their individual racing and non racing events under the ICSCC umbrella.

Member clubs of the ICSCC:

Cascade Sports Car Club: CSCC Portland
International Racer Drivers Club: IRDC Seattle
Team Continental: TC Oregon (specifically ORP)
Northwest Motorsports Club: NWMC Spokane
Sports Car Club of British Columbia: SCCBC Mission Racways

These racing organizations host racing schools where you can then get certified to start the novice program at sanctioned racing (either renting or bringing your own race car).

I HIGHLY recommend doing a school with these clubs because they are very affordable as they are volunteer organizations so the cost to them is a bit less. Also you don't have to do the school if you have previous experience, you can just do the lapping day or do the lapping day with an instructor half day. Often times the instructors bring their own race cars and you might be able to do a ride-along at the end of the day to really get your feet wet!

All of their events can be found on:

http://www.motorsportreg.com/



Thank you, and I behalf of all these organizations; I hope to see you at the track.

[Fuzzysmith]

Can someone please sticky this?

[MarkRacerX]

Thanks for sharing !!!

I will be out to watch Spokane, WA event

[DarrenDriven]

I'm in for a group event in the Portland area. Watching this topic.

[rice_classic]

Another option for cheap track time (even though it might not be in your Toyabaru) but Star Projects has driver's education and hosts what's called a "Rat Race" where you can join a team to race a $500 car for 8, 16 or 24 hours!

This is run by one of the owners of Oregon Raceway Park and one of the founding members of Team Continental (Bill Murray, no not that Bill Murray).

Star Projects "Rat Race"
http://starprojectsevents.com/


Also, can we get a sticky?

[RWD_only]

+1 for a sticky.

Another HPDE organization that focuses on more of a coaching aspect that is still great fun is Hooked on Driving (common known as H.O.D.) They have a very new, and very well run PacNW section. Most of their events are out at Oregon Raceway Park but also run at PIR (Portland International Raceway,) and The Ridge.

Here's a calendar of their nationwide schedule:
http://www.hookedondriving.com/hooked-on-driving-events

Another car club that runs events in the NW is Audi Club Northwest. They don't run often but they put on a good show. Here's their website: http://www.audiclubna.org/chapters-t...ific#northwest

Another great organization, and one that I'm well versed in, is ChumpCar. If you haven't heard of them, they are just like 24 Hours of LeMons, and Star Projects "Rat Race." They run all across the country but Portland was their inaugural event and is sort of their home track. ChumpCar is a little more racing focused than LeMons, which is one of the reasons I like them over LeMons, but all of these organizations provide a fantastic service: cheap, fun, grassroots racing.

http://www.chumpcar.com/

Shameless self promotion: I try to spend lots of time on the track and it's paying off. My name is Joe Casey and I'm an instructor for the Oregon region of Porsche, and BMW car clubs, as well as for Hooked on Driving (I'm also available for private coaching.) I highly suggest trying any of these organizations out, you'll have a fantastic time, learn more about driving in one day than you thought possible, and likely come away with a new or enhanced passion for driving.

As a word of advice for new comers, it's worth noting that Alfa Club runs their program a little differently than the others at PIR. Audi, BMW, Porsche, HOD and others all deal with passing in the same manner, and for a beginner I like the consistency between the programs. What Alfa does is fine, but they're the odd man out, but they generally only run once or twice a year at PIR so it's not too big of a deal.

Big thanks to rice_classic for starting this thread and I hope to see you all out there.

[rice_classic]

RWD: I updated the posts with this information.


But yes, it is important to note if ANYONE wants to get into RACING then CHUMP, LeMons and Rat Race are awesome venues because it's super cheap and often times you can "join" a team without having to own your own car. I know a lot of people start out autocrossing, then lapping then doing a novice racing program with SCCA or ICSCC but I think the new jumping off point for racing is starting in something like Chump, Lemons or Rat. Definitely something to check out if you want to compete on track affordably or don't want to track your 86.

[Neziah]

I am very interested in hitting these events. Probably more so next spring/summer. They are very fun!

[Fuzzysmith]

And...I just registered. August 6th at Oregon Raceway Park. Hope to see some of you there!

[rice_classic]

Have fun! The race track is off a road called "Blagg Ln" and it meets with the main road in the little town of Grass Valley right by a school so please please keep your speeds respectable in town. Also, there aren't big signs for the left hand turn into the track but if the paved road of Blagg Ln becomes not-paved, you've gone too far.

Just recently a father/son rented the track privately to play with their Ferrari's (I know I know) and on the roads just outside of town they were hot-dogging using both lanes and the father had a head on collision with a truck of one of the towns-people. The driver of the Ferrari died.

The folks of Grass Valley are very friendly and very gracious to put up with what is sometimes a rambunctious crowd. The simple act of obeying the speed limits in town goes a very long way in continually winning them over. The ownership of ORP thanks you in advance for your understanding.

And last but not least...take your go-pro! This track is something you're gonna want to show your friends!


edit: This is a very safe track to "get it wrong". One would think that if your steering wheel come off in your hands it might lead to something disastrous, normally yes but there's lots of runoff here.

(this is not me btw, it was one of my friends)

[RWD_only]

Ditto what Rice said. Cops are usually swarming the highway to Grass Valley (Highway 97) and the many small communities don't take kindly to racers blasting through town. Please be mindful.