This one might seem a little silly until you get on the track. I really want to know when you're slowing down. I would love to see when you're starting to brake. On a lot of tracks, you'll be slowing from 140 mph to below 45 mph. It's a good idea to make sure the driver behind knows you intend to slow down rather quickly. It only takes a few seconds to check the operation of your brake lights. Do it.Steering
Here we're talking about excessive play in the steering components. You should put the car up on jackstands and check to see that the tie-rod ends are in good condition. You can also check for bearing play while the car is up in the air. I prefer to check my own tie rods rather than have a shop do it, but you may have found a shop you trust.
You should also consider using synthetic power-steering fluid, as it mitigates any possible heat breakdown. Synthetic fluid withstands severe temperatures much better than conventional fluid. The other thing is that, at the track, the steering will work much harder than it might on the street. You're going to create a lot of heat while on the track. Don't worry about this for your first few track days, but as you continue to track your car, using a better synthetic power-steering fluid should be on your list of upgrades.
What About Tires?
Tires are the great divide. There are street tires and there are single-purpose DOT-approved tires that really shouldn't be driven on the street. Kumho and Hoosier both make tires for your car that are incredible on the track as they will stick to dry pavement extremely well. They also wear incredibly fast and you shouldn't even think about using them in wet weather.
Once you make the decision to use DOT tires, you've crossed over the line into a whole new world. The problem is you can't drive any real distance on the DOT track tires, and the ride quality is non-existent. Take a look at the Kumho and Hoosier tires on some of the cars at the track and then think about being on the expressway during a rainstorm. It's not pretty.
The main rule for having fun is to not screw with the car. Run the thing stock. The problem isn't with your car. The problem is with the way you drive. During the first year, and maybe for a few more years, your car will be faster than you are. Spend money on entering more events not on a bunch of things that won't make you any faster. Too many people get excited about messing with the car and forget that they're the main factor in whether or not the car is fast.
I see folks on the Internet forums asking which exhaust system they should purchase for their first track event. Give me a break. It's really all about driving. You shouldn't start making changes until you know that you're a decent driver. You'll know when that time arrives. If you really feel the need to spend money, you might want to hire a driving coach. That investment will probably do more for your lap times than any parts you might purchase.
Are Track Days Hard On My Car?
This is a tough one. You won't put any excessive wear on your car in the first few events. If you do it often enough, though, you'll start running up the numbers on your Visa card. The most common expenditure will be for tires and brakes, as you'll go through both at a fairly good clip. I can't think of anyone I know who's had an engine or transmission issue in the past year.
Eventually you'll start to pick up some stone chips on your car. You can use something like the 3M InvisibleMask on the front of it. This is basically a roll of self-adhesive clear urethane that you install on the nose of the car. If you walk around the pit area at any track event, you'll see a variety of different techniques for protecting your car's paint. Ask questions.
How Much Do Track Days Cost?
The entry fee for a track day is between $200 and $400 dollars a day. Then you need to add food, motel bills, and gas on top of that. If you budget around $600 a day, you should be in the ballpark. Of course, that number doesn't include the tires, brake pads, and brake rotors you'll wear out over the course of the season.A realistic number is $1,000 per event. If that seems high, then you should probably stick to car shows. If you're a racer, you're probably asking how track time can be that cheap.
Most people have never driven their car flat out for 30 minutes, then gone back out and done it some more. I know a lot of people who have run stock cars four and five hours a day at Sebring or Homestead.
I also know people who have spent thousands of dollars on modifications and have never driven their car flat out for more than 10 seconds. There are a lot of people who would rather talk about going fast than actually doing it. Track events are for people who want to truly experience the performance of their car without getting involved in all the nonsense of racing. In fact, that's why most groups use the term High Performance Driving Events or HPDEs. It's really not racing, folks.
The best place to find an event near you is to go to www.mytrackschedule.com and look for a track in your area. The list shows 87 race tracks around the country and gives you the names of the organizers of various HPDE events. From that point, it's just a few clicks until you're enrolled in one very exciting experience.