Free Track Day at Atlanta Motorsports Park, Dawsonville, Ga.

[Tha Driver]

Well I had no fun at all. I spent a lot of time & money trying to print out the invitation & get there. After driving for an hour & a half, I got to stand around in the heat for three hours. (Would it have killed them to provide some folding chairs?) My feet, knees, & back were killing me. They only allowed you to drive three laps on the SHORT course & ONLY IN THIRD GEAR. I thought we were going to get to DRIVE the car. After seeing folks waiting for 30 minutes or more after putting on the helmet & harness I wondered how many were going to fall out from heat exhaustion. I left - before getting in the car. A girl from Ford asked me why I was leaving. I said I thought I was going to get to drive the car, & leaving it in one gear is not DRIVING the car. I said I could get a better test drive at the dealer. She said we were not "test driving", they were there to "showcase" the car. If Ford thinks driving around in ONE gear is showcasing the car, they have NO IDEA what performance driving is all about.
My back & knees STILL hurt. They haven't quit hurting. I haven't been able to do anything since. They're hurting sitting here typing this. My back & knees have NEVER hurt sitting in a chair before. I don't know when I'll be able to work again. This is costing me more money than if I rented a car & track for the day. I knew that a "free track day driving the GT 350" was too good to be true. Yeah, maybe it was fun to drive three laps on the short course in third gear, but that's not my idea of a "track day". I damn sure wish I had never heard of it.
But I do appreciate the club inviting me. I know they had no idea what to expect. Thanks.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

[Raydar]

Sorry about that. Everyone else there seemed to have had a good time.

[Tha Driver]

Sorry about that. Everyone else there seemed to have had a good time.

Yeah I'm sure it was fun to "drive" the car. But you got to drive it for what - three minutes? In third gear?
The longer I waited in the heat & the more pain I was in, the more I got this overwhelming sense of disappointment. I had imagined all kinds of scenarios of what they would do & how they would do it. I never once thought we would be limited to three laps on the short course in third gear only.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

[TopNotch]

When you consider that the engine was capable of revving to 8200 RPM, and you could have easily done 100 MPH in third, there wasn't any point in changing to a higher gear. The pros driving the "hot laps" also stayed in third gear, and really gave us quite a ride.

[Tha Driver]

When you consider that the engine was capable of revving to 8200 RPM, and you could have easily done 100 MPH in third, there wasn't any point in changing to a higher gear. The pros driving the "hot laps" also stayed in third gear, and really gave us quite a ride.

Let me ask you this. How fast did you go through turn 1? 'Cause to me it looked like about a 30 MPH turn. If so, you should be allowed to downshift to 2nd gear, to accelerate out of it. After that, you might get up enough speed to use 4th on the back straight (or not: probably not it's a very short track). In either event, having to take that turn in 3rd is NOT performance driving, & to me a "track day" is about performance driving. If they had just provided some chairs for us to sit down while waiting for 3 or 4 hours to drive, I would have been able to stick around & find out the above for myself. As it was, I just couldn't stand it any longer & I'm still suffering with a backache as the result.
I have a LOT of work to do right now, & I can't do it because of the time I spent standing around at the track - which I don't understand, because usually when I have back problems from working it goes away after taking a break for a few hours.
I'm starting to get really depressed as I'm nearly broke & need to make some money right now...
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Custom Fiberglass Parts

[Fierofool]

Sorry that you didn't enjoy it.  Maybe I mis-labled the title.  It wasn't an attempt to misrepresent anything.  In the image I posted on Page 2, it says "Track Tour" instead of Track Day.  It says we would be allowed to take 'several' laps around the track. 

I had the same difficulties as you with my neck, back and legs hurting.  I found a spot that had a strong breeze and shade by sitting on one of the support pads for the display building.  I even sat in the floor during one of the narratives about the car.  Had I not removed my folding chair from the trunk a couple of weeks ago, things may not have been as difficult. 

I would have expected more than than just a few laps, especially since the program said 40 minutes on the track, in each of the 4 color groups schedule.  40 minutes on the track is a lot of time.  That's the amount of time Road Atlanta gives you when you do the PDX in preparation for your SCCA license. 

Anyway, even though it wasn't what I envisioned, it was a hot and exhausting day, and my neck is still sore, I still got a lot of enjoyment out of it. 

[TopNotch]

The car I drove was capable of powering through a curve at 30 mph in 3rd gear. However, I did downshift a couple of times at that hair-pin curve at the entrance to pit row, and the pro with me didn't say a thing. So I'm figuring they really didn't mind a little down shifting.

[GTRS Fiero]

This was an exciting topic.  I'm sorry it wasn't enjoyable for everyone.

When I used to test cars, we didn't fare much better.  We were expected to put each car through its paces.  We did 0-60 runs, 60-0 stops, 60-120 runs, a street run, a slalom, skidpad test, etc.  For a full 8 hour day, only about 2 hours of that was in the car.  At the start of the program each year, we had to qualify, and go through a bunch of classes that usually took 2 full days.  We could do whatever we wanted in the car, but we had to do lots of paperwork, and there was a lot of waiting. Of course, most of the testers were under 40, and most were current or past racers.  For those who have raced, it is HOT.  Between the attire, the equipment, the heat from the car, and no AC, it's hot.

Refreshments, tents, and chairs were provided to us.  Should this event ever come up again, you'll know to check on or bring these things.   I brought a towel.

My favorite thing was the pic of Fierofool, gone to the dark side.  No fair.  I pulled the image off page 2 and tried to post here, and it said it was too big.

[GTRS Fiero]

Let's try this:

[TopNotch]

That's me (TopNotch).

[GTRS Fiero]

Sorry.  Still a funny pic.  Did you do heavy (Darth Vader) breathing?

Odd.  Somehow, I thought you were bigger.  In the 180-pound range.  Of course, I had thought Aerodon was a bit bigger than that, and then saw a pic where he might have been under 120.

Did the helmet make you claustrophobic?  The head cloth isn't so bad, but sometimes I get like an attack, where I have to rip that helmet off.  Worse, the faster you try to take it off, the harder it is.  I guess it's like opening one of those orange asprin containers with the white lids.  The worse your headache is, the harder the container is to open.

[Fierofool]

The head sock was because the helmets were worn by many persons during the day.  Just for cleanliness.  I raced and rode motorcycles from 1966 til the early 80's so wearing a helmet or getting it off and on never bothered me.  They fitted each individual for comfort before harnessing up.  I did get a little warm while waiting to get behind the wheel, but found a tent for some shade.  Once in the car, we ran with the windows down.  Heat wasn't a problem. 

AeroDon was a small man in physique, only.  Maybe 5' 10".  I would guess about 165.  The picture on our home page was when he was quite healthy and still working. 

[GTRS Fiero]

He was still healthy there?  That looked like the down side.  I saw pics of him working on the shift and AC charge where he looked considerably more healthy.  From what I gather, he was a great guy and a good Fiero mechanic.  He seemed to be a fair driver, also.

We were told that, if we wanted to wear the helmet again, we should wear the head sock.  After I smelled the sock, I was fine with that.

[Fierofool]

Don was actually very ill when we worked on the Warrior Project.  He had already been diagnosed as terminal, but was taking treatments to slow the spread.  Sometimes, shortly after a treatment, his face would be huge and swollen.  He never complained about his fate.  He just said he was going to enjoy his family, the club and his Fieros and continued to sing in the choir at his church.  Always quick to seize on a word or phrase to crack a joke. 

[GTRS Fiero]

Sadly, I had it backwards, it appears.