Cars X Girl

Prior to Hallett, I have never been to a “real” racetrack. Well, not a road course, anyways. Nothing like this.

And this…. This was pure love. I swear, if I had a calling within racing, this is it. This is what I would love to do, day in and day out. I would forgo every other type of racing just to do this. I think. I haven’t tried enough to say that for sure yet, but I can imagine I would.

Overview of the trip

We left late Friday morning, sadly too late to make it out to the track at all on Friday. A close friend and mentor had offered to take me out in his Miata and see the layout of the track if we made it, but we kinda left a bit late. Thankfully, we made it in time to sign in, check into our room, get me to the novice introductory mandatory meeting and be around for the pizza party.

When we first pulled into the parking lot, my heart stopped. I swore I saw NSX tail lights, but I also shook it off as me being overly optimistic. Wtf would an NSX be doing here? Now, of all times? But it was, it was!! And the guy she belonged to was rather nice, if not a bit odd about the car. She was a 1991, and of course made my husband wish our S2000 was with us. (Alas, we just brought the Miata again.)

Saturday morning was killer. 4:30 am is a time I thought no longer existed, and yet here I was, crawling out of bed and forcing a danish down my throat, knowing that while I wasn’t hungry yet it was sure to beat the alternative. We then made the ~40 minute trek from the hotel to the track, mostly in the dark but getting to kinda sorta watch the sun rise. The driver’s meeting got in the way of that, sadly.

Thankfully, the horrible class room stuff was done! The first group of cars lined up and was off, and I was in my version of heaven… Only with just Miatas. I’d like heaven a lot more if I get more than just Miatas, but definitely have to have Miatas.

Saturday wore me out so bad that we went back to the hotel and went to bed…. Quite literally. We slept through the Saturday night banquet, and just woke up Sunday to make the five hour drive home, only stopping once.

But Saturday!!!

Watching the Intermediate 2 group out on the track for the first time was awesome. Listening to the cars running, sounding as giddy as kids at a carnival was just pure joy for me. After their first run, it was my group’s turn — the novices. As a novice, we each got an assigned instructor, who’d be working with us the whole day to get us used to the idea of driving on a track. It’s a lot different, that’s for sure… It’s even way different than autocrossing. (Though some bits are similar, I suppose.)

I crossed my fingers for an instructor that I knew, and had about a 30% chance in getting that wish. I was super lucky in that, not only did I get someone that I knew, but I ended up getting paired with one of the Spec Miata drivers, Chris Edens. (I think he’s around my age, but I’m not for sure on that. He doesn’t look very old to me.) He had to leave early on Sunday to get home, only to be leaving for Wisconsin and a Spec Miata race.

I was definitely in heaven, for sure. I had on my bucket list to talk to a SM driver, so I’m counting this as that. I spent most of the day talking with one.

And riding with one. And that was the crazy awesome scary cool part. As I said, us novices were taken out on the track at first by our instructors, so we could get a feel for the layout instead of just getting thrown into it. And it was the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten to do…. Ride, in my car, driven by a Spec Miata driver. It was insane. Insanely cool. It was fast, and my car did awesome. (She did awesome the entire trip, really. She loves racing.)

We were even complimented, as he said she was well balanced. From a guy who gets to drive a fully prepped race Miata, this was a huge compliment for us. And believe me, I’ve seen his Spec car before… I love getting to see her when I stop by the shop. (We’ve known his father for a while because our mechanic rents a space in his shop, and he started being there when we showed up a few months ago. We show up a lot…. Three cars keeps us busy.)

So I got driven around a bit in my first session. I started out driving the second session, but about halfway through turned it over so that I could watch and memorize a bit more. I drove for the entire third session, which showed that I had gotten the lines down, the braking down and all that good stuff. All that was left to do was go faster and get a bit more aggressive.

The forth session I was sent out solo, to see if that made me go faster. And it did! I went fast! Maybe not as fast as some people, but definitely fast for me… Sadly, I seem to have problems going fast. (I am constantly getting told to put my foot down in autocross. How many racers do you have to tell that to?!) This time, I did… And it was wonderful. I had a blast. I loved it. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to drive forever like that.

While it all seemed overwhelming at first, I felt like I was getting the hang of it by the end of the day. It was great to feel awesome after finishing my fourth session and to hang out, watching the Intermediate 1 group and then the Experienced group, where most Miatas were either turbos or supercharged.

I just love it.

I could go on talking about it forever…. It was a fantastic day, and it made me fall in love with the Miata all over again. I had been wondering about the car up until that point, but now I know that I want her with me still. She’s my little race car, and she’ll always be that way. I can’t imagine racing any other car, she’s perfect for that and she’s perfect for me. (My Silvia will just relieve her of the day-to-day duties of ordinary cars, so she can focus on being my cute little racing roadster!)

Did I mention that I loved it? I’m definitely going back next year…. A few times. It’s kinda expensive, but worth every penny of it. Plus I got the Hallett shirt I’ve been coveting ever since I first saw people with them. And I sure did earn it!

Only one low point to the whole trip — I lost one of my autocross magnets during my fourth session! Guess I went too fast and blew it off…. When, funny enough, I had joked about that earlier in the day. Will have to get it replaced now! (Or get better magnets, I guess.)

Pictures for proof!

Not that I think anyone would doubt me… But I’m sure you were all waiting to see some pictures! (And some may just skip to it, which is fine with me!)

Related posts:

1. Super Fun Weekend!
2. Tire Pressure, It's Important…