[JusticePete]

Originally Posted by mercedestech

I've never attended an event like this, heck I've never had my car on anything but the street. Would it be worth attending with my stock suspension and tires/wheels? I have plenty of power with my current mods, but haven't done any suspension work just yet. Sounds fun, just wouldn't want to embarass myself.

You can bring ANY make or model of car to a road course and have obscene amounts of fun. There is a bit of vehicle prep work. This is a basic list.

1. Change your engine oil and filter.
2. Unless your Camaro is brand new, at minimum bleed your brakes. The preference is to flush out the old fluid and replace it with new fluid. If you expect to run hard upgrade your brake fluid to a higher temperature range than stock.
3. Check your brake pads. You don't want to start a track day with less than 60% of pad material.
4. Check your tires. You'll need more than a Lincoln's head of tread.
5. Check your wheels for any type of rim damage on the inside and outside of the rims.
6. Check your nuts. Loose nuts ruin track days. Lay a wrench on every nut and bolt in the driveline, suspension and brakes to make certain they are all tight.
7. Empty your car. You should not enter the track with anything but an empty interior (including storage areas) and an empty trunk.
8. Remove your floor mats. Remember I said empty.

The organizers will tell you if there are loaner helmets available and if you are required to wear long pants and long sleeves on track. My suggestion is to get a SNELL SA HELMET of your own. Your brain is YOU. Your helmet is your BRAIN BUCKET. Take good care of BOTH.

You will NEVER be embarrassed driving ANYTHING on a track day. Fly in and bring a Chevy Spark rental. Take my word for it, you'll have fun. A track day is NOT a race. No one cares how fast you drive. The goals are as follows.

1. BE SAFE
2. BE SAFE
3. BE SAFE
4. Have Fun
5. BE SAFE

Everyone will arrive at the track with different driving skill levels. It doesn't matter. You'll be grouped with drivers of similar skill levels. If you are a professional race car driver you'll learn something new at the track day. If you have never run a track day you'll learn so much your head will be spinning. With each lap you want to get more comfortable and more precise in your driving lines. You are striving for the perfect lap. You'll be striving a long long time As you hit your marks and learn the course you will get faster even though the drive seems to slow down.

There are countless video from Gingerman. You'll find quite a few on our YouTube channel. Watch them to help learn the track. Study the track map so you know it backwards and forwards BEFORE you go. BE SAFE. Have Fun.



This is Danny Popp at Gingerman. Don't even think of driving like him. He has more seat time than you can imagine, but he is fun to watch.



John Buttermore driving the PUSA Camaro. Watch his line, but don't expect to beat his times John is running hot laps and cool down laps. Just like Danny, when he is on a hot lap it is a hot lap.