Once again, it's time for the FNGT!If you don't know how this works,
click this link. That link will take you to another site to give you some additional information and tell you about some of our off-site features. That's also the site where we will host the weekly guitar threads, should upgoat go down.
NOTE: That site is by invitation only. If you want an invite, ask a regular participant (such as @Sleazy or myself).
If you already know what's going on, you probably don't need to click any of those links. You can still visit to see if any changes have been made, as that's also where we kept the archives and have a second forum.
By the way, we're down to just two of us. If you want to help, let us know.
TheRealBuddha 1 points 6 days ago
It'll be open so long as there's no snow but it'll be pretty dormant. Some driving schools may have lessons and they may have open track days. The thing is, it'll be 'cold'. It won't be cold by my standards but it'll be cold for racing.
A cold track and cold tires mean less grip. Hot tires (to a point) get much better grip. Being able to scrub your tires will also increase grip.
Here's a funny misconception for you...
When drivers are behind the safety car (or doing warm up laps) they're not going back and forth to heat their tires. They're going back and forth to scrub their tires - that is to roughen up the surface a little, giving the slick tires more grip as they pick up speed.
No, they're warming their tires by stabbing the brakes as they're swerving back and forth. You stab the brakes to get heat in the tire as it radiates out from the brake assembly.
Scrubbing your tires is only going to raise the temps to maybe 180°. The brakes rapidly heat up to as high as 3,000°. So, the radiating heat gets into the tires more quickly by stabbing the brakes.
But, the track will be open, more or less. It just won't have much of anything going on. Some teams may be using the track for testing. They'll have some driving school activities, They'll have track days and days when the track's rented out to clubs.
However, you can't count on optimal conditions. You can never count on optimal conditions, but you're less likely to have optimal conditions in the winter. It rains and there's sometimes a bit of snow.
I'm hoping they let me do formal timing at said track. A lot of tracks strictly forbid formal timing outside of actual races. The reasoning is that you'll drive faster and take more risks if you're trying to beat a time. So, you don't mount a transponder in the car and you don't get formal timing. You're not even allowed to have someone sitting on pit lane using a stop watch to keep track of your time.
I suppose that it is sound reasoning and that they have empirical data to back it up. After all, it's fairly common across many tracks. If you're not in a sanctioned race (and licensed to be in that race) then there's no timing allowed during track days or even during many track rentals.
If you want to do timed laps, you'll need to do things like pay for emergency personnel to be on site and have insurance. The insurane isn't to cover your loss, it's to cover any damage you do to the track. That's how some of the clubs I belong to have it set up, that way we can have transponders and do timed laps.
I might just be a bit high right now. I may have bumped into someone in the hotel bar who was obviously sniffling more than they should be, given their condition. They might have had some pretty sweet marching powder for sale and a willingness to let me get some. I might have bought an 8 ball. I might have flown back to VA with it in my suitcase. It was not a commercial flight and it did not leave the US. So, there's no security. The TSA has no power there.
Which is, as you know, one of the motivations to avoid commercial flight. It's just too much of a hassle to fly commercial these days. Plus, flying on planes is just too common these days. Once upon a time, you dressed up and were on your best behavior if you were flying on an airplane. Responsible parents didn't bring crying and smelly babies onboard. You didn't have to arrive 1.5 hours early to make it through security - security theater, really.
Ah well...