SCCA Track Night in America: Straight From the Office to the Track

Ed
By Ed Higginbotham
Mar 18, 2015

We'll be heading to our first Track Night in America event on Thursday, April 9 with our BMW M235i and maybe a couple more cars.

Who doesn’t want to enjoy a night at the track after that Wednesday that really should have been a Friday? What if we told you that you could satisfy your track driving fix on a weeknight? The Sports Car Club of America and Tire Rack have launched Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack just for you.

This program is designed to get drivers on track after work during the week. They’ll have groups ranging from paced laps and novice instruction to advanced driving sessions. The goal is to get more people involved in the sport and give those with some experience a little more track time.

Only street cars are allowed. The goal is to keep things very approachable for rookies. Events typically start around 4 p.m. and finish up around 8 p.m.

Want to get involved? It’s easy. Just check the list of participating tracks.

We’ll be heading to the first Track Night in America event at Palm Beach International Raceway on Thursday, April 9, with our BMW M235i—and maybe a few other cars from our fleet.

Come join us.

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Comments
NordicSaab
NordicSaab New Reader
3/18/15 1:35 p.m.

Might come to the April 9th event. Where is registration and what is the cost? I couldn't find it anywhere.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/18/15 1:38 p.m.

I think they're still working on the signup info. Let me ask what's up.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/18/15 1:41 p.m.

Looks like you can register for some events but not others. As soon as I hear back from SCCA, I'll pass along the info.

series8217
series8217 Reader
3/18/15 2:38 p.m.

This is one of the programs that Heyward Wagner has been working on since he was selected to be head of SCCA Experiential Programs department.

I met Heyward when he was instructing an Evo School event at El Toro Field near Irvine, CA a few years back. He's a fantastic driver, instructor, and all around really smart and cool guy. I'm happy to see his department is producing some innovative new programs.

I think the Track Night program is a fantastic idea. Rather than booking a weekend at the track, the idea of the program is to utilize track facilities on weeknights when they would otherwise go unused, and offer a schedule that accommodates those who can't dedicate a whole day on a weekend to their hobby because of obligations to family or work. I think the weeknight format will also encourage more community involvement and youth involvement since it promotes a "hang out" atmosphere.

We really need a true SoCal event. Willow Springs is too far at 1.5 hours from LA and 3.5 hours from San Diego.. An event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana (45 minutes from LA) would be absolutely incredible, even if it's just the infield course and not the Roval.

NordicSaab
NordicSaab New Reader
3/18/15 2:44 p.m.
series8217 wrote: This is one of the programs that Heyward Wagner has been working on since he was selected to be head of SCCA Experiential Programs department. I met Heyward when he was instructing an Evo School event at El Toro Field near Irvine, CA a few years back. He's a fantastic driver, instructor, and all around really smart and cool guy. I'm happy to see his department is producing some innovative new programs. I think the Track Night program is a fantastic idea. Rather than booking a weekend at the track, the idea of the program is to utilizes track facilities on weeknights when they would otherwise go unused, and offer a schedule that accommodates those who can't dedicate a whole day on a weekend to their hobby because of obligations to family or work. I think the weeknight format will also encourage more community involvement and youth involvement since it promotes a "hang out" atmosphere. We really need a SoCal event. Willow Springs is a 1.5 hour drive from LA and 3.5 hours from San Diego.. a little too far for a weeknight. An event at Fontana --- even if it's just the infield course and not the Roval -- would be absolutely incredible.

I cant agree with this more. I often find myself going to "car meets" with not real purpose because weekends tend to be spoken for. PBIR is exactly 1 1/2 hours from my work. I could hook up the trailer to the truck, work half a day, and hit up the track in the evening. This sounds like a win-win

rcutclif
rcutclif GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
3/19/15 3:40 p.m.

Looks like you can do a run/work setup for 20 mins of track time at $35. Doesn't get any more GRM than that!

I fully plan to hit some of the GingerMan or Blackhawk farms events.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/19/15 4:04 p.m.
NordicSaab wrote: Might come to the April 9th event. Where is registration and what is the cost? I couldn't find it anywhere.

You can now register for PBIR: http://www.tracknightinamerica.com/events/1970354-201504-palm-beach-international-raceway

NordicSaab
NordicSaab New Reader
3/19/15 4:12 p.m.
David S. Wallens wrote:
NordicSaab wrote: Might come to the April 9th event. Where is registration and what is the cost? I couldn't find it anywhere.
You can now register for PBIR: http://www.tracknightinamerica.com/events/1970354-201504-palm-beach-international-raceway

Thank you. I will hopefully use this to setup for the Mitty skidpad :P

fornetti14
fornetti14 GRM+ Memberand Dork
3/19/15 4:18 p.m.

This is a super idea!

Gingerman Raceway near South Haven, MI has something like this and you see all sorts of interesting cars show up. Glad to see a sanctioning body run it on a national scale.

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