TrackDaze Summit Shenandoah [October 6-7]

[Andy]

Was the track slick or something? What's with all the carnage?

No clue, Pete. A GTI met the wall right in front of me inbetween little bend and big bend. It was a pretty hairy weekend. The track felt good after the morning dew burned off so I don't really know why there were so many crashes.

[Andy]

was there alot of bent sheetmetal or just those cars?

I want to say there were 6-7 cars that sustained some damage.

[getfast]

Make that five... two of which were minor (i.e. the cars were driven home.)

All were single-car incidents due to driver error and/or mechanical failure.

TrackDaze did everything in its power to keep this from happening.

Just setting the record straight,

Jon

[Andy]

Make that five... two of which were minor (i.e. the cars were driven home.)

All were single-car incidents due to driver error and/or mechanical failure.

TrackDaze did everything in its power to keep this from happening.

Just setting the record straight,

Jon

Hey Jon,

Wasn't saying that you guys ran an unsafe event. Shit happens, I guess. The trackdaze event in May was uneventful so I wouldn't think you guys were responsible.

[Mike]

no comment on that m5v10...

[getfast]

Thanks Andy. What's interesting is that there were significantly fewer 4-offs/spins/fluid spills than we had in May, yet many more hits that required towtrucks.

As you know... Shenandoah's not like VIR, where you can usually get away with mowing some grass and re-entering. When you go off at Shenandoah, there's always something to hit (says the guy who totalled an E30 there in '05.)

At all the instructor meetings, drivers meetings, and classroom sessions... we preached the TrackDaze mantra of "safety first, then fun, then speed." Our "1-3 strikes and you're done for the day, depending upon the severity of the strikes" policy was in place and enforced. We removed a few people from their sessions at various points for driving beyond their skillsets, to save 'em from themselves. Unfortunately a few other people fell through the cracks (going off big with no warning and no prior history of unsafe driving at this event), and a few cars got bent as a result.

At any rate, the number of crunched cars is unacceptable to the TrackDaze staff and we are addressing it for all future events.

Other than that, I thought the event went well and everyone enjoyed more than 3hrs of track time.

Jon

[PDenbigh]

Hey Jon,

Wasn't insinuating anything about TrackDaze's safety record. That's why I specifically questioned the track's quality, not the quality of the sponsor. I didn't need to ask about the sponsor really, we all know you're nuts ;-)

[getfast]

Hahaha no problem, I didn't think you were (or Andy was) and was merely setting the record straight.

I didn't drive on the track all weekend but heard nothing about it being slick or otherwise dangerous - possibly a bit each morning while the fog & dew burned off, but we had no incidents during those timeframes.

As far as the organizers are concerned, this was an unfortunate series of single-car incidents due to driver error and/or mechanical failure.

Jon

[navin]

Yah my buddy Aamir said there was a lot of bent metal out there - just wanted to thank the MM guys - didnt get in touch with my friend so I wasnt sure that if we got to meet up with you guys, but thanks for looking out anyway!

Andy, is that Universal Gold?! Car looks good, maybe UG is growing on me.

[Andy]

Yah my buddy Aamir said there was a lot of bent metal out there - just wanted to thank the MM guys - didnt get in touch with my friend so I wasnt sure that if we got to meet up with you guys, but thanks for looking out anyway!

Andy, is that Universal Gold?! Car looks good, maybe UG is growing on me.

Aamir is cool guy. If he wants pics of his car, let me know. I have the shots that nate took.

Yep that is UG. I didn't think it would work, but UG/red is money.

[navin]

Hey Andy, im sure he'd like some pics. Should i just give you an email address or something?

Did he have any problems with his brakes, Ive been trying to get him to upgrade to something better than Ultimates... hope he didnt have to bleed his brakes too... I ran out of Superblue when i was bleeding it the night before the event.

[.RJ]

UG/red is money.

I keep telling you guys this!

[Maengelito]

wtf andy, no pics of me? it was a good weekend for me. the carnage was a little bit unnerving which made saturday a bit frustrating for the instructor group. sunday we got a ton of track time and i got to have a few battles with a F5 cobra for a bit and our last session combined the instructors and advanced drivers so me and andy got to battle for a bit as well. i was looking around and it looks like someone caught our battle on video

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thanks again trackdaze for a fun event

[Andy]

Nate took the pics man.

[Maengelito]

weak... did he post the pics online?

[navin]

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.flickr.com">www.flickr.com</a><!-- w -->

search for "trackdaze"..

newb

[Evan]

maeng how many more pics of your pile going 25mph do you need?

[Maengelito]

evan, do you remember that time i asked you for your opinion?

[Evan]

wasnt an opinion, it was a question, chump.

build your car into a racecar already. THATS my opinion

[Chris]

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed the event Track Daze put on last weekend. I'm definitely doing more of their events due to the amount of track time, provided lunch, shirt, and relaxed environment.

I was also happy to find out the intermediate group (roughly group 2 with NASA) did not mandate instructors. I spent all but one session alone learning on my own which was very beneficial. I had Maeng ride with me for 1 session to help point out small mistakes I was making. I think it will be a good transition to group 3 with no instructor and passing anywhere.

The bimmer held up ok, but I heard some "clunking" during turns in my 2nd session out. Turned out to be a motor mount that was shot. I kept driving with it all weekend and it stayed about the same. I now have new Ireland Engineering urethane mounts to install this weekend.