[jensend]

Just a heads up to anyone looking for track time at Watkins Glen. The 2008 trackmasters schedule of Open Track and Student events is now posted on the trackmasters.com website. Students get four 30 minute track sessions daily. Open trackers get up to 5 hours of track time daily. Great group of people, very safety conscious and very experienced on-track and classroom instruction. The annual Kid's Day event is something that every parent and track junkie should experience.

[jensend]

The rule of thumb for kids rides is 3 laps per ride. Kids can have as many rides in as many different cars as they'd like during the time allotted for ride alongs (generally 1-2 hours depending on the number of kids). If you have a kid who is particularly crazy about your car, you can usually keep them out an extra lap or two. Most kids get lots of rides. The counselors (most of whom are former campers ) can get rides too, after the kids have had a few each. Same goes for parents of campers.

Still remember my first rider, a 10 year old girl undergoing chemo for Cancer. She had a cute head band and no hair. She talked non-stop the whole ride about the dance that was to be held that evening at the camp and about accidentally having discarded her chemo that morning because it had been placed in her orange juice to make it easier to take. She being unaware, assumed the orange juice was bad and threw it out. This necessitated the camp providing another dose. She also forgot to pack a dress for the dance. A counselor took her to the camp's theatre wardrobe and found her one. She was a wonder, full of enthusiasm and good spirits. As I had just finished chemo myself, it was easy to see how wonderfully brave she and all the campers were. I would never voluntarily miss a Kid's Day Event.

Also, since there are large numbers of family and guests at this event, it is usually possible to take one's own kids out for a ride once all the campers have had a ride or two. You can't get an experience like this just driving at a track. It is one of the things that makes me a diehard fan of the trackmasters people and their programs.