September 23 and 24

Phil Wicks Driving Academy will be at Carolina Motorsports Park for a two day event. The weekend will include the final east coast rounds of the North American MINI Cooper Championship. This is a very enjoyable track with a nice combination of speed on the east end and tight corners on the west. Even though there is not a whole lot of change in elevation on track I still really enjoy it.

There is one small motel in Kershaw, SC but not much else. I stayed there once a long time ago but prefer to stay elsewhere. We stay in Camden at the Colony Inn instead. The address is 2020 W. Dekalb St. in Camden, SC. The phone number is 803-432-5508. Mention CMP and get a discount on the room. Very clean and inexpensive place to stay and is about 20 minutes from the track.

We'll gather up anyone around on Friday night and eat at Ruby Tuesday in Camden. On Saturday night we'll leave straight from the track and head in to Kershaw to eat at Gus's House of Pizza. It is really neat to fill downtown Kershaw with MINIs on a Saturday night. The first time we did it we made the front page of the newspaper! I think the paper has all of four pages.

Come on out and enjoy your MINI with us.
If the two daughters get to come along we'll bring two MINIs, one Mini and one poopy ole Lotus.

I'm definitely planning on being there. Great track. Most importantly, lots of fun! I'll be leaving Nash sometime Friday. Headed your way.

I figured that little track will call your name again.

You want to hook up for the drive over again? I promise to take the 5 hour interstate route this time instead of the 12 hour scenic route.

Yah the 5 hours sounds good. I'll drop you a line when time gets closer.

Will be an instructor for the event and look forward to meeting some fellow Forum members. Say "Hi" when you see the NC license plate "TRACKRAT"

The discount deadline for this event is coming up soon, September 9. It looks like a number of MINIs coming out of the Atlanta area. Also, I think, one from Florida that enjoyed his time at Sebring.......nothing like a track full of MINIs.

I won't be bringing the Lotus as I had planned because a poor dog ran out in front of me in the second hour of a 14 hour rally across the backroads of Tennessee. I was grateful for my days spent in driving schools and at track days. I didn't see the dog at all. The hit rotated the Lotus to the right and I quickly had four wheels off on wet grass sloping down to the trees on the side of Chilhowee Mountain. Luckily I had enough grass to right the car and get back up on pavement before reaching a low rock wall. Although I was able to finish the rally from the TN/NC border to the Mississippi River, the Lotus needs a front clam. Ouch!! And the dog didn't make it.

Let me know if you are coming and if you will join us for dinner Friday night and/or Saturday.

I'll be there - BOTH days! After my first MINI track experience at Phil's event back in June at Summit Point I knew I had to find a way to get down to this one. I've even got Way Motor Works lined up to do a Friday eve Colony Inn sway bar install for me so I should experience a bit less of the ol' "plow and scrub" I became so familiar with on the Shenandoah circuit in WV. All the tropical storms look to be well out to sea and no threat and the week ahead down there looks very promising weatherwise. Cross our thumbs - this is gonna be FUN!

See you Friday Night

IMPORTANT UPDATE.

Do NOT meet us at Ruby Tuesday on Friday night in Camden, SC..........
.......................because there AIN'T one.

It is a Chili's Restaurant, at about 6:30. No worries folks, it's just a bit of brain fade.


Bluzeke, I am glad to see you are coming.

I'll be comiing in about 9 or 10. See yous Saturday morning.

I received the boilerplate email from Phil on 9/13 with the attached files and forms relating to the DA at CMP. A few days before the Summit Point event back in June we also received an additional email showing the names and assigned number of all who'd regisitered. No such email yet for this event so I guess we just won't be getting that info this time?

Number requirements vary with the track. Phil uses CMP corner workers, tremendously great group of folks (remind me to tell you about TEAM AMERICA when I see you ), and they don't require numbers to my knowledge. That is probably why you didn't receive additional info. I am not sure how many are attending but I think signups increased quickly in the last two weeks.

Here' s a link to some video of a rainy spec Miata race at CMP if you want to get an idea of the track. It is just what I came across first in a google search. Someday I might get around to doing some video myself. It just always seems to be on the list of things to do.

Not as much elevation change as Summit but still a really fun track.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...48966144932533

Judging from the number of addresses on the 9/13 email (27ish) it looks like a good sized group so far.

I've watched most of the internet videos I could find on CMP. As you say, generally flat and wide open areas for "oopsies". I assume top speeds here will be greater than Shenandoah - perhaps more room to find 5th gear. Lap times still look to be in the 2:00+ range. Wonder how the fields for the NAMMC races will be. Judging from the Webb Motorsports Update on NAM it looks to me like Randy and Brian will be no shows so who does that leave? Waylen Hunsucker will be there from Way Motor Works but what about others like Brian Black and Steve Diniz?

Well, up early tomorrow - I've got 500+ miles to drive and hopefully Waylen waiting to do my Friday eve sway bar install in the Colony Inn parking lot. If it doesn't get too late maybe I'll see you guys for the tail-end of your Chili's affair.

David

Well, we're 80% loaded! We will be heading out of Atlanta by 10 or so in the morning. See y'all at the Colony. I think we ended up with 5 coming from Atlanta for both days (Counting Diane and I) . I am really amped up about this.
bluzeke, glad to hear it was so much fun you made time to do it again! Way will have you antiswaying in no time!

Tim

I think it is seven from ATL area, Tim.
The Turners are bringing two cars, one classic I believe.

Seeyadamara.

I really cannot describe how much fun we had! Major kudos to the instructors and the whole Wicks group! Phil and his wife are the greatest and all of the instructors are really willing to teach even over breakfast at the hotel! And CMP is an awesome facility with great staff as well.

I had no clue what my car was capable of until the 1st green flag lap Sat morning with David as pilot. I had no idea what I was capable of until David was copilot!

I considered myself a pretty good driver at speed. By lunch Sat I felt I was 75% better, by the end of day one, double that. Sat afternoon I ran solo most of the sessions and worked on what I had been taught. I also hitched a ride with another instructor, Mick, in his cabrio and saw lines it would be a while before I tried! LOL. I was tuning lines in my sleep that night. 1st session Sun morning I grabbed David to help me with a couple of turns I felt I could do better on with more input. Good move on my part. It is hard to describe the rush of everything falling into place as you drift to the edge of the pavement exiting a turn and “use all that real estate” and add 10+mph to your exit speed.

Sun afternoon I had Diane’s instructor Ankhur (sp) volunteer to ride with me a show me a few different lines and techniques. Yee ha, everyone has a little different touch to the same line and he helped me push the envelope on braking. He has a MC that is set up for AX and when he drove my car to show me the lines he preferred, I really learned what kicking the rear out was about. I hit #1 too hot and did a short grass excursion and he never flinched, I must have followed the “what if” protocol fairly well. He may have been a little more confident in me than I was when he yelled “brake-turn” LOL

So far I have to say this was the best money spent so far on my car or Diane’s! And yes I am hooked and am looking at track day calendars already! So is she! “I need tires and a sway bar and......."

I think all of our Atl & NAM folks made major leaps forward! I know I sure did, it was really cool to meet other folks from around the country and attach a screen name to a face. There was a major abundance of grins for sure. And lots of new friends made, & cars modded in the parking lot!

I wish I could have gotten a few more shots but time between sessions was short and often I was busy picking everyone’s brain.

http://ImageEvent.com/tl4x40/wicks92306

Major congrats to Waylon! They put on some really awesome racing even with only 3 cars! Make’m think Phil has brought over some “yank’ ringer from the other side of the pond

One other thing, if you have not seen David and Donna both in their element on a track, you have missed one heck of a show! Boy, was the drive home boring!

Tim

LOL, tell us how you really feel Tim. Stop holding back.

The view from the flag tower. More of Coop's pictures here.

Video of Sunday's race

What killer shots Coop took!
Remind me to have him do photo work for me at the next track day. Can I pay him in cinnamon raison bars?

And yeah, I'm still pumped!

Tim

Well, considering this photo of him at CMP, I would say pay him in bananas.