Helmet never helped you any Jerr….



Funny how guys will spend a small fortune on the latest wheels --- or biggest baddest motor -- and won't spend a dime on safety. Doing these track days has convinced me that safety is CRITICAL. People are going really fast out there!

Greg, about two years ago, after I had worn out two sets of front bearings at $700 a set, I figured out tracking the charger was much more intense on it than driving it. Rotors, pads,rearends, clutches, tires, people just don't realize how fast all those need maintenance. The real truth here is if you are going to track, you need a track car. I think we need to put the TOURING back in Protouring and build racecars if that is our goal.

Oh man -- you hit it right on the head….


Oh wait!!! Is that why I have hot rods AND track cars…


Boy am I dumb!

Just stating the obvious...lol Of course most don't want to hear it. Guess that is why some have black balled me for even starting the conversation. Pretty sad.

I'll give you my take. When you build a pro touring car, you don't know what you have until it's finished. You can't do much with 650hp responsibly on the street or get anywhere near the actual limits of braking or cornering performance. That leads to track days like an ASCS. Then you realize you would rather race than tour. The fact that the goal of pro touring is to take an old body and make it drive closer to a modern car means that we crave performance. Performance leads to results.

I can understand why you are going this direction. I've thought it since I ran my first even with you in 2010. These cars are overpowered, under driven, rarely have safety in mind, and certainly not insured on the track. These are a few of the reasons I sold my car. I wouldn't want my ass on the hook either. It's not if, but when.

This novice nobody, for one, would just like to say thank you for not just leaving us out altogether, and marinating on what sounds like something that will allow us not only to be able to still be involved in some form of competition, but hopefully improve the driving skills of those who desire it to the point where we can both feel competent and show competence at faster events and tracks

I agree with your take completely Bill. I'm sure many a track day hoster shudders a bit when people show up with twin turbo wonders "hey its my first (or worse, actually 2nd ) time at a race track !".

Paul Walker's death is also a good reminder for all the street racing heroes out there. Just glad no innocent bystanders pulled in.

Seems like NASA has a good program with the power to weight classes, but pretty hard to enforce without a portable dyno and scales at the events.

The years of dirt bike riding and racing taught me the importance of maintenance and replacing high wear items. Taking my street bikes to the race track reinforced preventative maintenance, suspension setup, tires, etc. simply to increase survival odds if nothing else. When you don't have a cage and harness you do your best to increase your odds. You can control safety elements by the tracks you choose to ride (minimal vertical obstructions and safe run-offs) and the promoters you support which dictate who you ride with and how........then it comes down to a certain amount of luck. But.......where there's no risk there's limited rewards.

Cars (cages) create a certain false sense of security that takes away from the importance of preventative maintenance and implementing proper safety measures. Emphasizing and reinforcing those priorities is a win-win in my book. :thumbsup:

Bill, you're dead on and I agree with you wholeheartedly. I'm glad that I had a chance to go to a few events and get a taste of racing though. I'm the guy Preston was talking about there!! LoL! I can't believe that there hasn't been something BAD happen yet! Honestly, if it was not for the instructors that rode with me at the MMCC, it could've been me. Needless to say, after the first year with ZERO safety equipment, other than the stock old belts that is, I went home and had a cage installed! It's just too flippin fast and dangerous!!! I got a family to take care of!! Then I went and got stupid and added a couple hundred MORE HP! Absurd that we try to do this in "real" cars really, racing is for properly prepped cars.

Good call Bill, glad that you (and all of us that have participated) have been "protected". Anxious to hear what you are going to do.

^^^

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