My mom’s boss is a family friend of ours. I’ve known him since I was in high school or so, and my mother has worked with him since, up until now. He’s also employed my younger brother for a stint. He’s got a son who’s recently finished college. He would send us big baskets full of goodies for the holidays, so basically he’s fam.
He also has an S2000 that doesn’t have a stock part in it, and he’s addicted to speed.
I’ve had my 2015 WRX since Jan 2018, and I’ve enjoyed it in spurts, but commuting with it in Los Angeles is hardly a worthy use of its power. I drove to Seattle and back last year as summer ended, but I haven’t really had time nor opportunities to drive it – as opposed to commute with it. But ever since I got it, Sid has been asking me if I’d be interested in taking it out to the track.
The timing finally worked out, and we set a date to race at Willow Springs, 1.5 hours away from Los Angeles. Although I have this WRX I don’t consider myself knowledgable about the car at all – I could change a tire, at best. I figured this might be the best (and most exhilarating) way to learn more. Before tracking there’s a pretty hefty checklist of things to consider, but the big tips were A) getting an oil change B) replacing brake fluid C) checking tires. I was due for service at the dealership, so I just dropped it off to get it tuned up. Other pre-race considerations were acquiring a helmet, finding my tow hitch, emptying my car the night before, getting decals, registering my car with the venue/company. The plan was to meet at his place at 5AM on a Saturday morning and then we’d caravan towards Rosamond, the city where the track is.
I also spent my Friday studying the track on YouTube. There is a fantastic guide recorded/narrated by a Porsche driver which I watched a few times over. It was around 9pm Friday when I really started getting some jitters: ‘Am I gonna do well? Whatever. It’s my first time, I shouldn’t have expectations. It’s gonna be fun. It’ll be great. It’ll be Gran Turismo.’
I get to Sid’s place at 5 AM sharp. His son has joined us, to spectate and try his dad’s s2k for a session. We arrive in Rosamond around 6:45 without incident. Grab some egg mcmuffins for breakfast and then we’re on our way.
There’s something about all the extra liminal time of a track day that is never present during the usual race footage you see on television, or playing racing games – waiting to get into the track, paying entrance fees, parking your car, orientation meetings, waiting your turn – and it was so exciting to experience it all first hand. I registered in the purple group – ultra novice with very little-to-zero track experience. I registered for two instructor sessions for the first two sessions and then the remaining sessions of the day were solo. We had our introductory group meeting at 8 AM and were filled in with all the basics of racing, of which I won’t go into too much detail except that you just have to pay attention, to everything, at all times, so you don’t crash or fuck it up for everyone else racing.
That moment was a very vivid memory. A room full of drivers, sitting and standing, one of the instructors up front trying to explain and keep his voice loud enough to overpower the din of engines and exhausts, the first group session already underway. Trying to memorize every flag color and its meaning, trying to internalize their tips for every corner.
I had to meet with my instructor after the meeting. An older and affable man who tracks his 06 wagon WRX. He was super nice and gave me great insight and advice to the track, and just tracking in general. I realized that I tend to let go of the steering wheel when I come out of a turn, which is hardly safe for a beginner like me – but probably some unconscious ‘I’m on my cocky shit’ tick that I had to be more cognizant of. My first two sessions went great.
Sid had registered in a more advanced group with his car, and I was excited to see him track, but after his first session he came back and his car was not malfunctioning. Every time he’d engage VTEC (which, for his build, was apparently anything after 3000 rpm) he’d lose all power. It was crushing. The timing of this track day was supposed to be a grand return for him, because his car had been in and out of the shop for atleast a year. It was crushing for him to get to the track this day and then not even be able to race. We found out weeks later that his CAT melted. So after my first two sessions and then lunch, they headed home.
I stuck out one more session, my first solo session, and it felt really good. The WRX has traction control which I left on, and without my instructor and his guidance on turns I was getting a little more reckless, which meant my TC was kicking in more often – fairly sure it saved me from spinning out atleast twice. Of my three sessions, my time improved with each one.
It was such an incredible feeling to be able to push my car. Maybe pushing past my own limits, but I’m unsure if I pushed the car to its own limit. Every session is about fifteen minutes, and you get as many laps as you can get in. With the novice sessions, the rule that marks it differently from advanced sessions is that it has ‘Point-By’ passing, which means if there is a car behind me, I have to stick my finger out the window and point them in the direction that they can pass me from. Advanced sessions are open passing. I tried to be as courteous as I could with point by, but truthfully that was probably the most harrowing part of every session: when there is a car in your rear view mirror. I’m already expending all my effort paying attention to flags, turns, my speed, my gear, my apex, visual cues for attacking the apex, my braking, that when I see someone behind me it’s like one more Very Important thing that has to supersede all the aformentioned things i have to pay attention to. But I think that with more track experience, those things become muscle memory later on.
That said, it’s still the most exhilarating thing to come into a turn, hit the apex, come out roaring and just get closer to whoever’s in front of you. And when the session is done, the adrenaline wears off a bit, and then it becomes an internal checklist of optimizing where I felt i was doing poorly. An interesting mix of pure excitement and then immediate learning from mistakes, with the promise of applying that knowledge in the next session.
Sid and I 
Parkin lot pimpin
I’m kinda hooked. To keep my adrenaline up after that session I started watching the F1 series on Netflix. I’ve been watching more track recap videos on YouTube. I’m aware that it is going to be an expensive hobby. But now I get it: it used to be, I see car mods and I was like, sure, I guess. But if I’m modifying my car to get better track times, then it’s well worth, and not just installing mods for the sake of installing mods. Why even try to drive fast in the city, on a regular day? Gotta save that effort for the track now.
That was April 6. Sid had asked me if I was interested in racing again, this past saturday, but I wasn’t ready and my car wasn’t ready. We’ll see if I can race some more in the summer.
