Arrival

Ok, it took a while, but I can finally tell you about how my trip to Pocono Long with the Ferrari Club went. Well, as you know, I was a bit nervous about showing up with a Camaro since they invited me through the BMW club and were probably expecting me to show up in an M3 or something. I showed up nice and early and was pleased to see a Chevy Avalanche with a Silver Camaro SS on the trailer! I parked my truck right next to him (we actually had the same trailer too) and started to talk to him. I asked him if he had run with the Ferrari guys much. It turns out he has been a Ferrari club member for many years but opts to bring his Camaro. He said they tried to tell him not to bring it, but they let him. So, I could see they probably didn’t want me. When I signed in, it showed my car number and “BMW”. I didn’t say anything and just picked up my numbers and bracelet. They put me in the highest run group below racers. The run group above could pass anywhere without signals. It turns out Jim’s Camaro was an 00 that had just returned from Lingenfelter. It was putting out 430 or 440rwhp (I'm at roughly 370rwhp). :drive: He had 4 piston alcon brakes, some suspension work, 6pt. rollbar, seats, 315 rears, etc. I was also parked by a bunch of guys from the Viper club of which quite a few seemed to be hotheads. Some were really nice guys and drivers though.

1st Session

They didn’t require an instructor in this run group at all, but since I hadn’t been to Pocono in over 2 years (since my second ever track day), I decided to take an instructor out in the first session. They were lined up on pit road and when I went by, this one guy volunteered to get in the car. I took him out in the car and he was treating my like I had never driven on a track before. He was trying to make me shift at 4k rpm and barely go over 100mph on the oval…..you’ve got to be kidding me. In the infield portion he was freaking out about every little twitch (that’s how these cars drive). His most common phrase was “Slow down, slow down!”, followed by “Did you hear me?” He was telling me I needed to go slow to go fast and that the car had a lot of power. “You have to learn how to use the low-end torque before you can use the horsepower. It will make you a better driver. Trust me.” The guy was really pissing me off. When that session was over, he told me that Pocono can be a very scary track (understand I was going 145mph on the oval up against a wall only using 5th) for an instructor and that he taught many champions since 1984. I think he was one of these guys who thinks he knows everything, wants to prove it, and make you feel like shit. I’m no pro or expert, but I do have about 25 track days and have never had a wheel off. I run in the advanced group with the BMW club. I’m not a tool!

2nd Session

I decided to go out by myself and try to follow Jim in his SS. We got spread out and never saw each other out there. I picked up a lot of speed and didn’t listen to the instructor’s advice as to shift at 4k rpm the rest of the day. I felt very comfortable at the track and did opt to stay about 1 extra car width higher in Turn 1 because of some big bumps. He also had me coming out of the infield in 4th gear which I also stuck with for this session. After this session I got out of the car with smiles rather than the previous session where I was yelling about my instructor.

3rd Session

I went out hoping to run with Jim again. There were a couple of cars in-between us but it looked like we would get to run together shortly…. Well on the second or third lap, I was coming out of Turn 1 and the yellow was waving. Up ahead a silver Viper RT/10 had crashed HARD! He got down on the curbing in Turn 1, then spun shot up hit the wall (think it is safer barrier now, not sure) at 110mph+ driver’s side and then slid back down into the infield grass (you can see the skidmarks and markings on the wall in some of the videos). His brother was in another Viper and drove down to check on him (a no-no because you get in the way of the emergency crews). He was sore from the 5 pt. harness, but was ok. The car looked to be totaled. I was swerving around his wheels that had shattered and other debris when I went by. You should have seen them trying to push it off the flatbed and onto his trailer. His brother continued to run in the afternoon….more on that later. So that session ended with a black flag, bringing us to lunch. See video below:

VIDEOViper RT/10 CrashVIDEO

(May want to decrease the size to 50% to make it clearer.)

4th Session

This session I went out by myself again and was just having a good old time! The only thing was I switched the video tapes and for some reason had never rewound it before putting it in. It kept beeping and I thought the battery was dead, but it was the tape. I didn’t feel like losing track time to fiddle around with the camera, so I went out without taping. This happened to be the session where I was all over the red 360 Challenge Stradale’s ass for two laps before he let me pass him.—He had a hard time letting a $25k car pass his $250k car. His brakes cost $17k alone! I was also all over one of the Viper RT/10’s for about 4-5 laps. He would not let me pass him…..rode behind him until the checker came out…..he had an ego going (his brother was the one who crashed).

5th Session

I saw a previous instructor of mine from the BMW club in the garage. He actually instructed me my 1st time here and at Limerock. Him and a buddy of his used to run a 1LE and a LPE Firehawk so they know F-bodies and open tracking better than these Ferrari and Porsche guys. They have both upgraded to Z06’s recently, but I asked if one of them minded going for a ride with me. John went out with me and immediately started trying to get me to go faster primarily in Turn 1 (bowl) and Turn 2 (tunnel turn). I knew I wasn’t going as fast as I could, but it takes more experience and a bigger set of balls to go full throttle at the point he was telling me to. I started getting on the gas earlier and earlier, but there is still a lot of time to gain. I would enter at about 125mph or so in 5th and exit around 115mph, being about 105mph mid corner….(real rough speeds…hard to look down in that corner) He said I was doing a really good job and was pushing me to go faster unlike the other instructor who was treating me like a 2 year old. He said I’ve made a lot of progress since the last time he rode with me and that I was driving the car really well. He also said that my car was “set-up”. He said his Camaro never handled that well! I liked to hear that….my driving improving and the car performing! The below video shows that I was running Jim pretty hard in the turns and the braking zones but losing out a little (not much) on the straightaways. Remember his car is full weight, mine is stripped. The BMW that I let up for on the straight and then pass me was probably the fastest car there out of ALL the cars and it was purely on driving skill. He was going through the turns on the oval about 10-15mph faster than me and he said 30-40mph faster than most cars. You can see him in the video going wherever he wants in the banked turns.

VIDEOTrying to catch Jim in his 00 LPE 430rwhp SSVIDEO


6th Session

I started this session early. They combined the two higher run groups about a half hour earlier than my group was supposed to go out and just made it open track. I think these Ferrari guys just like to say that they went out on the track in their Ferrari at dinner or something and end up packing it in early. I was like hell, I’m going out. So I went out early and it was just me and a Maserati (touring car of which there were only 6 in the US). He was about 10 seconds ahead of me running nearly identical laps. It was like I had Pocono all to myself. The only thing was that I was kinda worn out after a full day and couldn’t take full advantage of the track time. I probably could have had another ½ hour of open track, but called it quits when I messed up a few turns in a row from brain fade/fatigue. If I had known this earlier in the day I would’ve cut another session short to get the open track at the end of the day. Below is a video of a clean lap, maybe not my fastest but clean. I’m sure I’m losing the most time in both Turn 1 and Turn 2. (not tenths of seconds, but full seconds).

VIDEOClean LapVIDEO

Additional Notes:

Some cars that I passed or passed me during the day:

VIDEOPassing and being passed by some exoticsVIDEO

(Viper Competition Coupe, old Lola, F355, F348, passed by C5, SpeedTC BMW, Viper SRT-10)

I like the Challenge Stradale’s, but out of all the cars, I think I’d have taken the Viper Competition Coupe if I could take one home. It was badass! :drive: It had the air jacks and all. The Lola was a vintage deal that was nice to see out of the museum even though he wasn’t pushing it hard.

All in all I was happy that I run with the BMW club. They are much more friendly and they aren’t ashamed to give point-bys. The skills of the drivers in the advanced group in the BMW Club seem to be much higher than the advanced group Ferrari guys. Some of these guys at Pocono weren’t even close to the correct line. It was a cool experience, but I did think there would be F40s or Enzos there and they weren’t. Jim told me he will let me know when the DC chapter has an event at Summit….he said that’s when the hot ones show up.

Wish I had some more exciting video (really wish I had the stradale on tape, but I don’t….it’s the red one in the pictures). My buddy Steve took most of the pictures….except for the Competition Viper.

Scott….my advice for you….you can go through Turn 1 a lot faster than you think, and also the tunnel turn. There is gigantic bump/dropoff at the apex in the tunnel turn which you hit at 110mph+. I timed a few of my clean laps and they looked to be in the 1:41/1:42 range. My first time there I was in the 1:55 range….so I’ve improved a lot over the last two years. With your HP and skill, I can see you in the mid 1:30’s if you are comfortable running hard in Turns 1 & 2.

Here is another dumb video below. Ever been questioned about taking an instructor out with you.....dumb, dumb, dumb!:

VIDEOInstructor can't ride with student?!?!VIDEO

Pictures:

PICTURESPocono Ferrari Event Photo AlbumPICTURES

-Dennis

Thanks for the writeup. I enjoyed reading it.

I think I recognize that drivers suit...

Nice write up.

It's nice to hear about one of our F-bodies whooping up all over Ferraris. Bet some of those guys went home with bruised egos.

:drive:

The thing is they think their car is superior (which it is), but by how much? The bigger thing they think is that they are a better driver than everyone else. The skill comes in and then they get passed by what looks to be a bone stock (which it's not) mulletmobile Camaro!

I picture every one of them looking in their rear view mirror saying "I can't let this POS Camaro that can only go in straight lines pass me!" as I am glued to their ass in the turns!--Swallow your ego....I let people pass me no problem.

I was at Roebling Road in April and there was a brand new Maserati Coupe in my run group. He had passed me a couple of different times but in one session when he went around me I stepped it up a notch to see if I could hang with him. Roebling has a huge front stretch and he would dust me in a straight line but I started reeling him in through the turns. This went on for several laps and I was never able to get on his ass but I didn't realize how much pressure the bone stock looking Trans Am was putting on him until he spun off in front of me. One slice of humble pie for the Maserati driver please.

Yeah, I know the feeling. Sometimes I back off a bit because I think I am going to push them until they wreck in front of me. I thought that was going to happen to the Viper that I rode behind until the checker.

good info! so you ran counter clockwise and used the north course's infield.
i won't be doing that configuration. we'll run clockwise using TWO infields. slightly more technical layout:

but if i stay for the sunday event, they will do the same layout you just did, but i don't think the BOSS will let me stay there for 3 days (its a friday to sunday event and i was only gonna do 2 days).
how much does it cost to run with them? i think PDA is about $250 per day.
too bad about the ego's getting in the way, but i'd expect that at a ferrari event. it happens at PCA's too most of the mixed groups don't have that too often (PDA, EMRA, etc).
awesome vids. :drive:

Scott-

The configuration you will be running is MUCH more technical....but it is fun to run the Pocono Long layout every once in a while....nothing like going through Turn 1 of the banking like the NASCAR guys!--Although since I ended up taking in 5th....the straightaway speed suffers only allowing me to get to 145mph. I can hit almost 140mph at Summit Point and that is starting at 90ish in 3rd.

Is your BOSS your wife? What's one more day? The Ferrari event was $275 for the day including lunch. When the BMW club runs there (usually using Turn 3 and the infield) it costs about $275 for (2) days. Summit Point is about $175 a day now, and freaking Limerock is now $275 a day (SCAM). The BMW guys are really cool, especially once they get to know you. I hear PCA's are the worst and Viper events aren't much better. I'd like to try Trackmasters some day but for now I'm pretty happy with about 15 or so track days/year through the different BMW clubs in the area.

Good luck when you go and post videos as usual.

-Dennis

I'm building my 87 camaro to run these types of events and would like to run my 98 Z-28 as well but what do I have to do in order to run my car on an open road course? Do I have to go to a school or are you assisted on track days?

You are provided an instructor that will teach you every session until he feels you are consistent and competent enough to drive by yourself. You will learn a ton about car control, etc., just don't expect anything to happen overnight. It takes time, and practice, practice, practice. :drive: It is a ton of fun and worth every penny.

I can't wait to get out there and run, I'll definatley need an instructor because I've only ran a open track one time and they wouldn't let us open our cars up, it was at the Memphis motorsports park in Tennessee.

Dennis, thanks for the great read!