Last weekend was my first event at this location. Compared to Gateway Intnl. Speedway in St. Louis, this track has MUCH more room for error before smasing into any barriers. The roadcourse sections had a few small elevation changes and two sections on the tri-oval. The set-up is about the same for the day.

I got bumped up from the beginner to mid-level class, so I didn't get to run with my friends who joined me. The good side to this is we could take some pics of each other now. We had check-in, did a self-tech on our cars, met the instructors, then headed to the driver's meeting. We ran two 20 minute runs and rode along in the instructors' cars to better learn the lines they recommended before breaking for lunch.

I ran my 2005 G35 sedan in a class filled with 911's and Corvettes. I waved many a car by, but learned the track and lines enough to keep up at the end of the 3 afternoon runs. The rain hit late in the day and I initially stayed out until it just poured. I came into the garage for about 2 minutes before it stopped and we headed back out. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" is indeed an art. I ran street tires which did a suprisingly good job of sticking on wet pavement. I did run with the VDC OFF and this stopped the intrusive VDC braking. I never spun, but did need to steer into the skid a few times.

It was a great day overall -running hard, meeting other "car guys" and just hanging out with friends. On to the pics-















A Porsche 959 - worth $500k in good shape and owned by the guy driving the Bentley Continental GT