Track days anyone?

I did Blackhawk and Joliet this year and plan on doing Gingerman next year. Don't know any dates yet though.

 

I did a set of track events this year. Here's what I recall with approximate dates. Hope it helps

LFSC does an event at Blackhawk in April. Can be rainy given time of year.

BMW club (Windy City) does an event in late April/early May at Road America. While very structured, it does offer great instruction - actually some of the best in my experience, to get you going round the track more quickly.

June/July there are a bevy of events - Alfa Club at Blackhawk, Continental event at Blackhawk and Phil Mirenda usually has a calendar of events at Gingerman every month. WC BMW also offers an event at Grattan in early June.

FCA meet (usually Gingerman) early August.

September (early): Phil Mirenda (CGI Motorsports), Gingerman; late: Alfa Club at Road America.

October: Badger BMW at RA and CGI at Gingerman. LFSC usually has an event at Blackhawk (although I didn't get notice of it this year and I assume it was cancelled).

 

We are having our Gingerman event on May 2-3, and if all goes as planned, we will have our fall event at the new Autobahn Country Club.

 

Michael,

I'll put those dates into the 2004 calendar. If anybody has anymore dates they already know about, please post them here for inclusion.

 

Andreas. I JUST found out about the biggest car show in the Chicagoland area,AND,it's in honor of Route 66,and is actually held on a stretch of the authentic old Route 66 in Berwyn,IL. Next year,it will be held on the first Saturday AFTER Labor Day,on Ogden Av.,in Berwyn.(put it on the calender!) "The Route 66 Car Show". They had almost 500 cars lined up along Ogden Av,(the same Ogden Av, that Continental Autosports is on,but several miles East). Check out the website www.msutv.com That is the website for Motorsports Unlimited. Thats the car show with the guy,Bill Wildt,that is having the car show on Thanksgiving Day morning,over by the Museum of Science and Industry,at "The Rock" in honor of the very first automobile race in America. Check out the website,and it has the whole story behind the Race at "the Rock". It was wonby an 1895 Duryea. Pretty intersesting. They list the times and channels that his show airs on local cable access channel. Look at the site and find out what day,time and channel that it airs by you. You can see this guy,the Route 66show,etc. His site also shows other Motorsports events. You may still be able to catch his show,that I saw yesterday(Sunday) about the Roye66 Car Show.

 

F355B
Phil Mirenda runs CGI Motorsports. I've done one of his events. No issues. He's also been recommended to me by a couple of people I know quite well.

I don't know what your issue(s) were, but my experience has been with most, if not all these guys, that once paid you've committed, space reserved etc. If you don't show, you still pay. I can't say I am "fond" of the practice, but I've learned the hard way that this is usually how it works -- even if the reasons for a no show are totally beyond your control. Maybe others have different experiences.

 

The St. Louis Area Lotus Lovers (STALLS) had a great event at Putnam Park in September and will likely do it again in 2004. Feel free to check out the STALLS web site at www.kamainc.com/STALLS/home.html or contact me at Feffman@Yahoo.com

Mark Pfeffer - Grand Poobah STALLS
1999 Lotus Esprit V8

 

Impressive reviving a thread from 2003. I look forward to Road America this year.

 

I went to MVP track time last year at Joliet - - was a great experience.

I signed up for 3 more events this year, and highly recommend it.

 

Got my summer track time lined up. I trackday a month thru Sept starting in May. Plus open wheel with skip.

 

Word of caution if you're taking a Ferrari to the track: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225357 -- if your car is from that dealer not on Ogden, they consider your warranty to be void if you go to the track.

 

Also, if you're looking to do some serious tracking in Chicagoland, then joining LAPS Inc is a great way to get started: http://www.lapsincorporated.com/

They do 10 events per year, mostly at Autobahn Country Club. That's where I got started before joining the club.

The bulk of the cars going are either Porsches or Lotusses, though. I was the only one daring enough to bring a Ferrari and the result was as linked to above.

If you're looking to do some wheel-to-wheel, they're even do Miata races at some of these events. I just picked up a Miata myself and they're a ton of fun. You can beat on them all day long and they're incredibly cheap to maintain. A good one is between $24-28K.

If you otherwise get hooked, I can warmly recommend a Porsche GT3. Just got another one and they're just amazing. Drive it to the track, do hundreds of miles of hard tracking, drive it home, no issues. Should never have sold the first one I had for a F430 .

 

Hi all:

Lamborghini Chicago / Fox Valley Motorcars of Westmont is also hosting a pair of track days in 2010 at Autobahn Country Club. Open to all enthusiasts.

Monday April 26th, North Course, $199 per driver.
Monday September 20th, South Course, $199 per driver.

Details and registration forms are on our website under the "about us" tab.
www.lamborghinichicago.com or call me.

Scott Rothermel
630-654-9000