I'm Here!

[emd645e6]

I've been a racing fan as long as I can remember. When I was young I was a huge fan of open wheel racing. Later on I gravitated towards stock car racing. The past year or two I have started keeping up with Indycar and F1 again. I don't know why I ever abandoned it. I went to my first Indycar race this year at Barber and had a blast. The Grand Am and Continental Tire Series also raced that weekend. That was something completely new to me and I'm now a fan of any type road racing I can get my eyes on.

When I was little, I would always see ads for Skippy in magazines and would wish like hell that someday I could go drive. Well, to be honest, I forgot all about until this year. I opted for the Intro to Racing class at Road Atlanta on August 16. It was far and away the most fun I've ever had in my life. My only track time up to that day was a horribly disappointing 20 lap drive in a NASCAR Busch Series car at Memphis Motorsports Park. I sucked so hard. I was black flagged 3 times for going too slow. To say it was a completely mortifying experience would be an understatement.

After that confession, now we'll go back to my intro class. I arrived over an hour early because I was so jacked up. After suit and helmet fittings, we went to the classroom for about 45 minutes before heading to the track. After a short crash course on the gearboxes and basics of the car, we jumped in...and I almost got right back out. The claustrophobia was near overwhelming. I gave myself one hell of a pep talk in the car while sitting on the grid. One thing that helped a lot was leaving my helmet off until they gave us the command to fire the engines. I'm 6'1" 225 and it was HOT that morning.

All of the claustrophobic. Feelings went away as I rolled onto the track. At this point my frown turned upside down and I never stopped smiling until we parked the cars at the end of the second session. Beforehand the instructors (Glen, Grayson, and two other's that I can't remember their names) had told us about moving over on the back straight, letting the other cars pass, and falling in behind them each lap. The first session was so much fun. Time flew by and before I knew it, we were in the pits. One instructor mentioned that if he finds a student setting a good pace behind the instructor car, that he may not switch the guys every lap. I was in his group and during the second session, I was the lead car for three laps. I was ecstatic. I had a great time doing something that I've always wanted to try and the instructors were awesome. I felt I did well for an introductory class and can't wait to do a 3 day and get the formula car close to it's limits.

Once we were back in the classroom, we received the sales pitch for 20% off future Skippy courses. It was a no Brainer for me to throw down $400 deposit ($200 for me and $200 to insure a buddy that may want to go will get the discount too). A friend and I are looking at the different tracks for our 3 day next year. Road Atlanta is a gorgeous facility and I loved every second of driving on her. We may try our 3 day there since it is $400 cheaper than the other tracks. Why is that anyway? After the 3 day I'll have some idea of if I may be any good at this at all. As of right now, I can see myself dropping a lot of cash on Skippy programs, and that's okay because I'll love every second of it.

I found this forum purely by accident and have lurked for a month or so before registering. Thanks for having me!

Mikey