NCM 23,23 April

So this is my first arrive and drive. I’m renting a C8 Corvette with 89x Motorsports for the two day event with Chin.

The distance to Bowling Green is too far to trailer for a 2 day event, and NCM has noise restrictions, which is kinda funny since it’s literally on I-65 towards Louisville.

Weather last night was nothing short of horrific, but it’s given way to a spectacular low humidity, cool sunny two days.

I’ll provide a few more pics and impressions of the car and track once I’ve been out a bit more. So far, so good……
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Well, that was a really fun two days at NCM!

First, this track is more difficult than I expected, I’d heard so many things about the infamous sinkhole, I was surprised at the number of blind and off camber sections, holy rollers, and tight esses, all combined with three high speed segments.

It wasn’t until late into the second day when I was able to feel more comfortable on most of the track. but….I was in a new-to-me rental C8, and there was a learning curve there as well.

Plenty of track time, just over 7 hours for two days as I ran the happy hour sessions at the end of both days. I had the track to myself pretty much Sunday afternoon, which is generally the case at these events.

Bowling Green is not the easiest place to get to, even with the arrive and drive it was 60+ miles from Nashville Airport. The wonderful track staff were absolutely superb. Very friendly, efficient and helpful when I ran out of fuel on track (an embarrassing first).

The C8 took some getting used to. It feels a bit heavier than the 458, but it is a powerful car and quite capable. If I’d had more seat time I’d have switched it into race mode. I felt the ABS was too intrusive in track, although brakes were not wanting. There was a fella with a 458 spider on track, the C8 had great low end torque but couldn’t quite hold him at higher speeds

The arrive and drive was a great success! 89x Motorsports (and Mike and Stephanie) were top notch! Mike has racing experience and managed the car really well, and he has a full setup (and provided a lot of support to those on need).

They even made me lunch both days and had cold beverages! I will go this route more as I access more distant tracks, and I highly recommend them for anyone considering going this route. I’d you take a close look at what it costs to run your own car, it’s not much different to do it this way - stress free so you can focus on tracking.

Weather was beautiful if not a bit windy (the pit gatekeeper told me it’s frequently the case).

In summary, NCM is a bucket list track, Corvette is justifiably proud of what they’ve created here - a Kentucky gem!
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T2 and 3 are a double apex which set you up through the Corvette Curves, a nice high speed section. T5 is a blind, wide sweeper which is most likely over braked (including me) before T6, a very sharp right (I dropped a wheel there and it cost me a rim and tire). T8 requires a bit of braking but’ll set you up for the hard downhill brake into the hairpin 10. T12 is called deception for a reason, brush the brakes past 11 and let the car track out, then get right to apex 13 and it’s a straight shot to Feax Rouge.

T16 is another blind sweeper which flows nicely into 17. Then it’s down the sinkhole and some tight esses onto the longest section, the back straight.

Course is just over 3.2 miles, making it one of the longer tracks out there.

 

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NCM was a technical and somewhat difficult track. It was a bit of a surprise.

Although I far from mastered it in two days, it started to flow better and I was ready to kill most of the nannies in the C8. IMO the ABS interaction is overly intrusive in Track mode, especially trail braking into off camber corners (to the point it was doing more harm than good).

I will return to NCM at some point, this time with with a bit more gazumbas on the blind sweepers into T6 and T17. I followed the experts bit wasn't quite able to hold their entry speed.

My 'experiment' continues with a very busy May (5 separate events at 4 tracks), I've visited over a dozen thus far, with more to come. Hasn't always been easy, but what an experience!

I get it about the local cuisine. WGI will also be a visit to Cornell to do a bit of mentoring the students in Chemical Engineering.

P.S. During an extended wait in the grid I had a great conversation with the gatekeeper, she was awesome and said she did it mostly because of the interaction with the drivers.