MINI Day at Pocono Raceway's
 

http://on.miniusa.com/thread.jsp?for...read=300002204
MINI Day at Pocono Raceway's posted byhttp://on.miniusa.com/mimages/message_reply_bgblack.gifhttp://on.miniusa.com/mimages/1x1trans.gif
Jul 25, 2004
Long Pond,, PA

Minimum requirements to participate in a PDA driving event:

Be at least 18 years old
Have a "SNELL SA-95" or "M" rated helmet (some loaner helmets are available at the registration office when checking in)
Wear long sleeve shirt & long pants while driving
Have properly working seat belts on both driver and passenger side
ALL convertibles MUST have an approved roll bar (main hoop should be made of .120 wall thick steel)
Vehicle must pass tech inspection by your mechanic or our staff and Tech Sheets must be signed by both driver and inspector
All vehicle safety related functions must be in proper working order
Exhaust must not exceed 90 DB (Except at Pocono !)
Street tires must have no less than 5/32" tread or race tires.
Pocono is located south of exit 284 of Interstate 80 just east of Scranton.

Take I-80 to exit 284, and head south on Rt 115 for a couple of miles.The track will be to your left.

Take the "track" road all the way past the track, past the Track Offices to the TUNNEL (Gate #1).

Sign-in (no fee) and then continue thru the tunnel into the Paddock and Garage area. We usually setup at the end of the Pits. Which end, depends on which Course we're running that day. (North, South or Infield).

Your "best bet" is to check the Pit-Out (or left end) first.


[Edited by MiniMight on Jun 21, 2004 10:36 AM EDT]

Here's another thread on this day: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=25609
And another: http://mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57999

I know everyone's been procrastinating (me included), so let's get registered! I do believe that there will be a great turnout!

Just like to clarify something. There is no fee to show up, gain access to the paddock, garage or pit area and hang out. If you are unwilling, unable, nervous, have no interest in driving on the track, still come out to join us. The camaraderie is much of the fun! Hopefully there will be some Minis as well as plenty of MINIs.

If you want to participate in the high performance driver's ed, all necessary info can be found in the above two threads.

See you out there!:smile: :smile:

If there's one thing i learned at Limerock.. I hate having to pass everyone on the track. Now not everyone got passed by me at Lime Rock, but then there weren't thirty classic minis on the course with me. There may be quite a traffic jam going round that track... Has this occurred to anyone? At risk of seeming like a total butthead, ofcourse.

Secondly, and very importantly: is this the point where i fork over the dough for a helmet? Doesn't PDA provide???

When I went to a PDA event last year, they had plenty of helmets. I was not among the first to arrive and sign in, and there was a size small helmet available to fit my little head. Plus there were several helmets left over.

When I went to SCDA, there were very few helmets, I had to wear one that didn't fit, with a baseball cap underneath. Well, I didn't do that for long, I headed over to the pro shop and purchased a helmet!

If the availability of helmets at PDA is anything like it was last year, you should be alright. Why don't you call them to find out?

There will not be 30 MINIS/Minis on the track together, even if 30 show up. There is a limit to how many cars can be in a session together. Not sure exactly what it is, but 20-25 is about right. There will be drivers of different skill levels, not all of them will want to run with MINIs/Minis just for the sake of being with them.

You're right about potential traffic jams. When I was in a group at Lime Rock that included 13 MINIs, because of the similarity of the cars and skill level of the drivers, we got jammed up quite a bit. The thing to do there (which I did several times) is to exit the track onto pit lane, and wait for a signal from the grid official to send you back out onto a clear space on the track. He/she will know why you left the track.

It is not time consuming to do this, and is totally worth it!

What time do we have to be there???

For those of you attending and following this thread:

The track opens at 7:00am, sign in/registration starts, and tech begins. MANDATORY driver's meeting at 8:30am.

If anyone is interested in sharing a room, let me know. I will be staying overnight the night before. Non-smoking, female.

If you're coming as a spectator, of course you don't need to be there as early!

See you out there!:grin: :grin:

July 25th Lodging
 

My wife and I spent Sunday July 18th Checking out a place to stay and found out all Hotel/Motels in the area where sold out due to a Blue Grass Festival so we went down I-80 East and found a Howard Johnson at Exit 302 Rt 611 in Bartonsville, PA. that was realy cool at $89.00 a night. So far we plan on staying Sat. July 24th night.

I will be at this event, but am doing the PDA with a local Club here in NJ. Hope to see you all out there!

This should be fun to do especially that it is mostly mini's going.

What club?? and where in NJ

The M-Club. We are going to be on the north track.

It is in north Jersey.

www.themclub.net

Dan, we will be on the north course, as well. Are you bringing your MINI?

The Pilo Racing Mini will be Present... Should be some fun... What type of mods do you all have?

Cool, Eric from Helix will be there as well.

I think I'm bringing my modded MINI S, 15% reduction pulley, ECU upgrade, CAI, ignition wires, Magnaflow, H & R Springs, lower adjustable rear control arms, stainless steel brake lines, Ferodo DS2500 pads, Super Blue brake fluid, nothing unusual or novel. Hopefully will have my new tires on for this weekend, Yokohama AVS ES100.

Sounds good. As part of my tire rack sponsor ship I have those tire. They are much better then anything that comes with the Mini. great price, good trackion, and good off weather handling. You will like them. Sounds like a nice setup that you got there...

I decided to order up a couple of extra belts as I am running the 19% pulley, and do not want to be stranded at the track...

See ya there..

can you still sign up? and how do I do that if I can?

Gears
 

What is the Gear thing all about?? Neutral,4th Gear ect. Oh!! By the way mine is a plain old MINI S w/JCW thas it for now.

That gear thing is how many posts that you have...

Not sure if there is room..

http://www.pdadrivingschool.com/registration/index.jsp

You might be able to sign up here..

It is not sold out, there is still room.

Call Joe at PDA and see how he wants to handle your registration, you may be at the point whrere he wants you to bring cash.

Where it says PDA membership #, put Mini Owners of New Jersey, but do this after you print out the form. It will save you the $35 membership fee and the $25 non-member fee. So, it'll be $200 even.

Hope to see you there!

MiniMight, a JCW is not a plain old S!!

Dan, Eric will have extra belts in case yours don't come in in time. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the Yokohama's! Oh, and I forgot to mention my slotted rotors.

Sounds good. I'm gunna be leaving from exit 28 on RT 80 around 6:00 AM and should be there about 7:00 AM. My belts should be here tomorrow but thanks for the info from eric. I think I left a NAPA belt there once too... so he might owe me one... lol

i think i might just go :lol: :sly: :lol: :lol:

:grin: :cool:

After keeping an eye on the weather during the days prior to this event, I'm happy to say that we had no rain, contrary to weather predictions!! It turned out to be a beautiful day, not too hot, with the sun coming out later in the day, perfect for driving on the track!

We had 17 MINI's, and 1 Mini. The Mini didn't join us on the track, but we appreciated the presence nonetheless! I also think that one MINI wasn't out there with us. Since we didn't have enough for one run group (needed at least 20), we were spread out in the groups according to skill level, with the majority of the MINI's in the Novice run group.

The big surprise of the day came when "koolmini", showed up!! He was driving home from the summertime slaying of the dragon, stopped for gas near Pocono, saw a MINI and BMW gassing up, and they asked him if he was heading for the track. Well, he wasn't, but he did!!

Happy to say that PDA had plenty of helmets for loaners.

Aahhhh, what can I say about driving on the track? It's exciting, exhilirating, challenging.... I enjoyed the North Course more than the South Course of last week. The inner part of the course was more "technical" - more turns, while the part of the course on the tri-oval was less freaky than the South Course. The banking on the North Course was less steep, and that section was plenty long for those that like to build up lots of speed!

My new Yokohama AVS ES100's were great on the track! Incredibly different from the run-flats, confidence inspiring, instead of skip and hop, they skip and grip and grip and grip.

What a fantastic day, hanging out with MINI pals, meeting new people, spending time with those already familiar. MiniMight, it was great to meet you, MiniPilo, it was great seeing you again, hopefully we'll see you at another track day in the near future!

A number of us stopped at a local pizza place afterwards to rehash the days events. When I got home, I was exhausted, I totally conked out!!

Photo links: http://tinyurl.com/4ogaq

http://share.shutterfly.com/os.jsp?...lk4ZtnbQ&open=1

Next week - VIR!

what a blast :grin: i think i will be doing some more track days :wink:
:cool: :grin:

More photos: http://pocket-rocket.smugmug.com/Cars

There are already several of us signed up for Lime Rock on November 5th with SCDA. They have some great instruction and Lime Rock is so popular it always sells out!

www.scda1.com