Summit point with EMRA

Well, I just got back to new York after a two-day timetrials event at Summit Point Shenandoah. What a blast! That track is now quite possibly my favorite of the ones I have been to.

Saturday: beautiful weather and a decent turnout made out for a nice day of lapping. It was my first event at this track so I had an instructor for the first two warmup sesions. I also ran into Hal who helped me figure out that last section before the staight (thanks Hal). Someone blew up an oil line in the morning and blew gear oil all over the track butthe cleaning crews got it cleaned up and the rotary Miata who popped the line was not damaged and returned to action. Overall, it was a great day!

Sunday: this was a different experience. There were only 9 cars left by this point because everybody decided to go home the night before. It was unfortunate because the weather was perfect all day! It was reasonably sunny and the air was just right. Everybody ran two seconds faster today than yesterday. I had a blast chasing a fiat X19(?) around. Apparently we put on quite a show with our "epic" battle LOL.

The Miata behaved all weekend. I killed the brakes on the last session but there is still enough pad to drive around if need be. Also, for some reason the car consumed a lot of oil on Saturday but none today. I have no idea why.

There were a few automotive casualties but thankfully no injuries. A civic met with the wall near the chiquane--best of luck to them to get that up and running again. Also one of the instructors broke a tie rod in his car but I'm pretty sure a hammer was the tool of choice for patching that up. Both cars had trailers.

Of course I represented GRM with the free shirt that y'all threw in with my subscription. I wore it both days. I didn't wash it. Thanks for that!

Yeah, Shenandoah is definitely the most fun I even had at a track. Great place, and sounds like a great weekend!

Wait till you try the big track.. (Assuming you have not driven it already)

I really love that part of the country. Great track great people. All round a great place to spend a weekend!! I am looking forward to getting back to the 12 hour there this year.

Glad you had a good time. I was going to bring my street Miata to that, but I was too busy prepping my race car this weekend. I really like that track and I think it has gotten a bad rap from some internet sites because it is "too technical". (It could use a little more run-off area in some parts, but it's no worse than Lime Rock). I really love the mini-Laguna Seca "drop/turn".

And you guys are right...that part of the USA is a neat area. I'll be down there in two weeks (with my Sprite) for the Jefferson 500 Vintage (on the big track). If you're in the area, stop by and say hello (#909 Sprite).

I got a chance to watch some of the action on the shenadoah track after hanging out in the pits and watching my fellow spec7 racers over on the main track. I will be out on the shenadoah track in a couple weeks for a FATT. tha main cources is alot of fun but if your short on HP the main striaght isn't that much fun when your out there with car that put down big numbers but can turn for nothin. I can't wait to try that track out.

EMRA at Shenandoah was a great time. Lots of track time and cheap. They run excellent events.

Looked like you were having fun out there:

Sorry I didn't get to spend more time with you but I was busy helping my friend Dave. He did pretty good. 3rd on Saturday and 1st on Sunday. It's tough when you have to run against the Evo's

Hal wrote: Looked like you were having fun out there:

Looked like I was having fun? Just look at that grin on that Miata's facia! I think she enjoyed it even more than I did!

Yeah, the Evos were fast, but that Focus was pretty quick too. I loved hearing that supercharger as he was charging up the hill towards the chicane. The bridge was a great place to see and hear the cars go past. The yellow Corvette seemed to warp through space and time from up there--it was just a blur.

By the way, the line you told me about to get onto the straightaway (that akward right-hander before the two final left-hand turns) really worked. I think more people started doing it towards the end of the day and definitely on Sunday. It sets you up with a much better entry--I was full-throttle through both left turns and it stayed planted. And it seemed like the longer you waited before turning, the better.

Thanks for snapping those pictures!

confuZion3 wrote: By the way, the line you told me about to get onto the straightaway (that akward right-hander before the two final left-hand turns) really worked. I think more people started doing it towards the end of the day and definitely on Sunday. It sets you up with a much better entry--I was full-throttle through both left turns and it stayed planted. And it seemed like the longer you waited before turning, the better.

Yep, and if we happen to get over there at the same time again I will show you two other places that a light car like the Miata can pick up some time. Only problem is that they don't have telephone poles to use as aiming points so they are a little harder to get right.