Greg Weld's 65 Mustang fastback track car

[Panteracer]

Checkered flag racing was started over 20'years
ago by a group of Pantera racers. They run at thunderhill
Sears and laguna. There is actually a race class where all the
Classes run a race each time they run. Points, championships etc
Viper buddy and I have been asked to move up by we are good just
having fun. We run in A group with open passing everywhere
Group B is point byes at certain areas. Great group of guys with
Safety and fun the main focus. They have only have had one accident
in the last 20 years

Costs are down with smaller groups. Best track events that I have been
Involved with

Bob

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by Panteracer

Checkered flag racing was started over 20'years
ago by a group of Pantera racers. They run at thunderhill
Sears and laguna. There is actually a race class where all the
Classes run a race each time they run. Points, championships etc
Viper buddy and I have been asked to move up by we are good just
having fun. We run in A group with open passing everywhere
Group B is point byes at certain areas. Great group of guys with
Safety and fun the main focus. They have only have had one accident
in the last 20 years

Costs are down with smaller groups. Best track events that I have been
Involved with

Bob

I'll bet we had 6 or 7 wrecks at Sonoma mini Nats this year. Most in turn 7. And I know two of them were totaled late models.

[FETorino]

Originally Posted by Panteracer

Checkered flag racing was started over 20'years
ago by a group of Pantera racers. They run at thunderhill
Sears and laguna. There is actually a race class where all the
Classes run a race each time they run. Points, championships etc
Viper buddy and I have been asked to move up by we are good just
having fun. We run in A group with open passing everywhere
Group B is point byes at certain areas. Great group of guys with
Safety and fun the main focus. They have only have had one accident
in the last 20 years

Costs are down with smaller groups. Best track events that I have been
Involved with

Bob

Bob. Is that a membership only group or open to new participants?

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I'll bet we had 6 or 7 wrecks at Sonoma mini Nats this year. Most in turn 7. And I know two of them were totaled late models.

None of the wrecks involved Orange cars.

[FETorino]

Originally Posted by SSLance

I'm only 10 or 12 track days into my young track career and I've only had maybe 3 sessions total where I have been on a track the whole session with someone running similar speeds and a clear track otherwise. I remember almost every turn of those times... SO much fun...

It makes up a bit for those times when you are stuck in traffic the whole session or even when you have a clear track but are running out all by yourself. It's kind of like golf or snow skiing I guess, it's best when you are doing it with others of like skill and experience...whatever level that is.

Choosing the right organization to run with is a big deal.

You want an organization that polices its members and keeps people in the right group.

I like running with NASA because their focus is on you preparing yourself for competition. They don't do point by passing. They expect you to hold your line and be aware. If you don't they bump you back down to the lower groups. The end result when you run the upper groups is full course passing as in a race with other predictable drivers.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by FETorino

Choosing the right organization to run with is a big deal.

You want an organization that polices its members and keeps people in the right group.

I like running with NASA because their focus is on you preparing yourself for competition. They don't do point by passing. They expect you to hold your line and be aware. If you don't they bump you back down to the lower groups. The end result when you run the upper groups is full course passing as in a race with other predictable drivers.

I would agree with Rob -- I really liked running NASA. They have many groups - so just about any level from beginner to full on racer is welcome.

After each of our Group 4 sessions - it was required to attend a debriefing - took just 3 or 4 minutes - they called people out for doing stuff they shouldn't - asked why you did what you did.... and I watched as they moved two drivers out of 4 and down to 3. They were very serious - and I liked how they did what they did. You felt like the others belonged on track "together"

Funny -- first thing in the drivers meeting - first day - they asked each person they didn't know - to explain to the group (just your group) why you thought you belonged. One guy spouts off that he'd run Lime Rock and VIR and blah blah blah.....

HE spun THREE TIMES - and ran the crows nest - when we weren't running the crows nest we were running the bypass! (DOH!) --- at debrief they called him out and asked why he spun three times. He responded that he was in a rented car and didn't know the track.... That brought swift condemnation and he was told point blank that not only was he sitting out the next session - he was going down a group or two. I wanted to clap.

I know Rob is working towards or on - his Comp license - and after running with this group - I think I will join his effort. With the new car being built - I could run in TTU (it won't be built to run in any other class - so that group is wide open to run anything)..... and I loved their organization and how they handled everything.

[fleetus macmullitz]

Excellent info Greg.

Thanks for sharing...and caring.

[Panteracer]

Checkered flag racing requires you
to have someone invite you. After you run
there is a survey sent out to all members to
see if the driver was safe, courteous etc
If approved then you can become a member
Then you can earn a race license if you want

Similar to Nasa but in a smaller sense. One of my Pantera
buddies runs with Nasa but in his supercharged very fast Nsx
out of Arizona. He is an instructor, class winner and really likes the group

When I ran in Texas with our Pantera group we combined with Drivers edge on the
Texas World Speedway track. I was not allowed to run at first in the top group
and required to have an instructor for a couple of sessions. At first I was a little pissed but when I went out with the instructor he showed me a few lines I would not have used. Next secession on my own I worked on what I learned
Third session he helped me tune a few areas. With over 50 track days and
multiple years of Autocrossing I found out you can learn something new
every time you run
Next session I was one of the fastest in the group They came to me the next day saying I could move to the top group. Problem was it started raining and never quit. Still a great memory running the big banked track

Bob

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by Panteracer

Checkered flag racing requires you
to have someone invite you. After you run
there is a survey sent out to all members to
see if the driver was safe, courteous etc
If approved then you can become a member
Then you can earn a race license if you want

Similar to Nasa but in a smaller sense. One of my Pantera
buddies runs with Nasa but in his supercharged very fast Nsx
out of Arizona. He is an instructor, class winner and really likes the group

When I ran in Texas with our Pantera group we combined with Drivers edge on the
Texas World Speedway track. I was not allowed to run at first in the top group
and required to have an instructor for a couple of sessions. At first I was a little pissed but when I went out with the instructor he showed me a few lines I would not have used. Next secession on my own I worked on what I learned
Third session he helped me tune a few areas. With over 50 track days and
multiple years of Autocrossing I found out you can learn something new
every time you run
Next session I was one of the fastest in the group They came to me the next day saying I could move to the top group. Problem was it started raining and never quit. Still a great memory running the big banked track

Bob

Funny how that works huh......


After dicing with this Porsche -- I gave him a point by - he didn't take it (was front straight and I pointed him by and LIFTED at the beginning of it) -- next lap -- I WAVED him by.... Why? Because I wanted to follow him for a couple laps -- to see if I was holding him up -- and maybe he was a little bit faster and I could go to school on him. As figured - he could carry a bit more average speed in a couple sections - T2/3/4 - but the edge went to the horsepower whenever it was available....

His wife had gotten a great tip about running the off camber T4 (where I had spun once during a session trying to late brake it over the blind rise in an effort to find a line that worked). She shared it with us and damned if it didn't work! You were immediately rewarded with more speed thru the turn. And it just FELT like you owned the lousy SOB. Made me think about hiring an instructor - now that I have quite a few laps around these tracks (Sonoma and Thunderhill) - to see what I DON'T KNOW! You don't know what you don't know sometimes! LOL

[Panteracer]

I used to run the Pantera in 2nd and 3rd at laguna and
Thunderhill revving the hell out of the car. It was great in the
turns but I later found I could go faster in 3rd and 4th as it was
less motor on the edge so you could go through the turns faster
and more smoothly
I am too comfortable in the car but would love to tweak a few things
to make it faster. I am too set on leaving it alone which I think is
leaving some speed on the table

My big problem has been trying to make my Firebird like my Pantera
It has a long ways to go but I am slowing bringing that car in the right direction

One of my Pantera buddies has been tweaking his wide body car heading for
2500 lbs. I told him I am going to take it to an autocross one day since he just works on it an rarely drives it

I believe seat time, trying different lines and finally changing things on your
car are they keys to going fast. Finally follow someone who is close to your speed and the next time let him follow you. You will both learn something
Bob

[GregWeld]

I try different things all the time -- late apex - late brake - different gears -- sometimes I'm not good enough to recover!

<------- Myself