When is the next track day around the Chicago area? I don’t want to drag my car but it seems the only place i can go legally is the strip. I can’t find anything until Aug. with the Shelby club and i want to get out there and have some fun. i have never tracked my car before so a school would be great too! i know i missed a couple already but my clutch is barely ready now i just got 500 miles on it. Anyway who’s going to the track ?!?

 

Blackhawk, Autobahn, Putnam, Road America--all are within driving distance.

Join Windy City BMCCA, and get a dual membership with Badger Bimmer, and you're set for track time with instruction.

The Shelby club is great--very fun bunch to run with.

Also check out MVP tracktime--they do a number of events in your area, including Autobahn.

I can't wait to hit the track, but my car is in a million pieces, working on it this weekend, but I don't see myself on the track until July at the earliest with all the work that needs to be done.

 

i tried contacting them and I’v had no luck for a few months now. i am very interested and looking to join because i feel like I’m the only mini owner in the Schaumburg area lol. I don’t want to spend money joining a car club that I can communicate with. I even posted on here with no luck either

 

I'm a bit surprised - have you attempted all available channels? I've teamed up with Boston BMWCCA for track time at NHMS and found them a welcoming and competent group.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

The Great Lakes Lotus club has invited the Chicago MINI Motoring Club to attend their track day at Gingerman on June 25th
http://chicagominiclub.com/2011/04/22/non-club-events/

The next Windy City BMW school is at Putnam August 13th and 14th. I believe you do need to be a member to attend.
I joined their club a couple years ago to do an event at Gingerman and had a great time. There are several instructors that own MINIs and they try to match those instructors to students with MINIs.
http://www.windycitybmw.com/

 

Windy City is a good group. But you have to join the BMWCCA group, which will then place you in the windy city chapter of the BMWCCA (you can pay extra for a dual membership--I'm in Wisconsin, so depending on what my schedule looks like, I usually get a dual membership with the Windy City group). Even though my primary membership is with Badger Bimmers, whenever I've done anything with Windy City I've been treated fantastic.

Easiest thing is go to the BMWCCA's website and join, or just call the BMWCCA, they'll get you squared away, put in the Windy City group, and you'll start getting the Windy City newsletter, as well as the national BMW mag, Roundel (Roundel is a great magazine, worth the cost of joining just for that). BMWCCA has declined in membership a bit and there is a huge push to get the membership up, and MINI owners are extremely welcomed with open arms.

 

That sounds like a blast i just need to check and see if i can get off work early that Friday so i can get out their! Thanks for the info this is gona be awesome!

 

Try motorsportsreg.com

You do have to register. Then you can search for different types of events such as HPDE, open track etc... by distance, by organizer such as bmwcca to PCA to ferrari club etc...

 

also myautoevents.com

 

I'll be doing a casual autocross this Sunday in Warrenville with the local Austin Healey and MG clubs.

http://chicagolandmgclub.com/members....html#warrax11

E-mailed the organizer, and he is OK with MINIs attending. At least 3 runs, and only $10..

 

Thanks for the heads up. $10?!?! That's a REALLY good price for a non club member to join in on an autocross (compared to other non club member rates I've seen in the area)!

 

Autox can be a lot of fun. It allows you to develop a great driving skill set.

Sometimes, there can be a lot of waiting around and sometimes there are some chores to do. And three runs seems very little. Especially if the runs are less than 60 seconds each which a lot of autox courses are. Remember to ask before you go.

 

Hope to see you out there.. I'll be the slow guy in a Red/White Cooper with offset stripes.

 

Ill be there who else is goin?

 

Ahhh... the wifey and I would love to go, but it's not in the cards for us this weekend. Maybe next event! Take some pics and post them up though.

Are you going just to watch or will you be running your Mini? If so, good luck! HEEL TOE, AND LATE APEX!!!

 

I wish I could run It but my clutch Is too new I don't wana risk it. especially since I have never down It before so I defiantly dont want to ruin it. Ill take some pix thoug for sure! Does anyone know when it ends?

 

They will be going somewhere close for lunch afterwards, so mid-day sometime..

 

I just popped in with the Chicago Miata club at the Flyers stadium and they put on a good auto cross event. I didn’t run because i got there around 2:30 i was just driving by and saw it. So if anyone’s looking too autocross in Chicago the said check out their website they do a few events around here. http://www.windycitymiataclub.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=220&I temid=181

 

Good tip on the Miata club events.

Also... CVO (Chicago VW Organization) holds autocross and road track events every year, and they allow non-members to join in, even if you're not driving a VW.

Here's the CVO events page on their website detailing their local motorsports events, dates, prices, etc >>> http://chicagovw.org/events.html

 

The Miata club does run good events and is open to all cars. I've done several of their events over the past few years. Need to get to one or two later this year. I see four Windy City BMW regular competitors in the top 13 times at that event including David in his MCS!

 

I think I saw you out in the parking lot. I was the guy in the black '05 MCS. Dustin from autoxcooper.com runs with WCMC in his '05 Justa and was class champion last year. There's another guy in an '07 MCS and another '05 MCS that frequents WCMC events as well. I'm trying to convince the organizers to put MINIs in a dedicated class.

Unfortunately for R53 owners, they put us in "Unlimited" class. Which means I'm usually up against M3s and cars with DOT-Rs or Hoosiers, even if Lynne is close to stock.

If anyone wants to run an HPDE-style event, check out North Suburban Sports Car Club. I ran with them in 2009 with my AWD DSM, and they're the cheapest sanctioning body if you want to hit up a road course. $120, and I got at least 30 laps in at Autobahn North the last time I went.