We are excited to announce our 2014 Track Junkies lapping event schedule, as well as some changes to the Track Junkies program that we hope will make our events even more enjoyable and popular.
Here are our 2014 dates:
- Friday, May 2 from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM (precedes WMCA race license school)
(For clarification, a race license is NOT required for any Track Junkies events) - Sunday, May 11 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
- Friday, May 23 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
- Wednesday, June 4 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Friday, June 13 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
- Wednesday, June 18 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Tuesday, July 1 (Canada Day) from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
- Friday, July 11 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
- Wednesday, July 30 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Tuesday, August 12 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Friday, August 22 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
- Wednesday, August 27 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Friday, September 12 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
- Saturday, September 20 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
For evening events we still offer 2+ hours of scheduled seat time, and for daytime events we offer nearly 3 hours of scheduled seat time … a great value, that is about to get better.
Registration is already open at trackjunkies.motorsportreg.com for our entire season of lapping events.
Here are the main changes to our program:
- Rates are going down … $295 for full day events and afternoon-evening events; $195 for evening-only events; and $100 for instruction. All include GST.
- Annual memberships are no longer part of our program or rate structure. That means no up-front membership fee, just a lower overall track rate for everyone.
- You’ll notice we are running several Fridays from 1-9, rather than 9-4. This opens up the evening before race weekends for those who are travelling, or cannot take a full day off work to practice. Also a great excuse for anyone who wants to sneak out early on Fridays!
- We are going to hold a second drivers meeting at 5:40 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday evening events, and at 5:15PM on the Friday afternoon/evening events, to make it easier for latecomers. Lets face it … not everyone can leave work early.
- Subway has offered to sponsor lunches on those event days where Castrol’s concessions are not open. Please thank your fellow Track Junkies Peter Spencer and Paul Sarlis for making this great offer and looking after the logistics.
- We’re going to coordinated point-by passing in the red (advanced) run group. This means a roll bar and 5-point harnesses and SA helmet and HANS device are no longer mandatory to test-and-tune with the big boys (you still need lots of experience and situational awareness, and you must be comfortable giving a point-by everywhere on the track and running two-wide through all the corners).
- Going to point-by passing in red group allows us to welcome open wheel racecars test-and-tune at our events. Yes, you read it correctly … we’re going to welcome open wheel cars this year. So bring out your Van Diemen, your Formula Ford, your Tatus, your Thunder Roadster … all are welcome.
- Going to point-by passing in the red group also gives us some additional instruction capacity. Instruction will still be provided primarily in the green run group, but allowing instructors without roll bars to move up to red means we can also provide instruction in the yellow run group. This should allow us to provide instruction to more new people at each event, and alleviate the shortage of instructors we had this season.
- Instructors … if you are working (meaning you are assigned a student), your fees will be waived entirely. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, and helping new people find their way into this great sport.
- Our first year was tough financially, so this year we’ve made the decision not to run if we have fewer than 20 participants registered for an event. What this means is that if you look at the registration list a week before one of our events and see only 15 people registered, you can help us by reaching out to your track friends and getting them to commit. Of course you have to register to see the list … so thank you for committing.
Introducing the Castrol On-Track Experience:
This year Castrol Raceway will be stepping up its advertising and awareness of the road course, now that the full track is operational and much of the landscaping will be completed. As part of this awareness campaign, Track Junkies is partnering with Castrol Raceway to offer something called “On-Track Experience”, where drivers who have never been to a track can come out and run a few laps behind the Southside Mitsubishi pace car. If you are wondering how On-Track Experience compares to open lapping, running behind a pace car means slightly slower speeds than drivers experience at our regular events, no passing, and 5 laps per session (then get into line again if you wish). On-Track Experience is intended to be a stepping-stone to solo lapping, which we hope will generate some additional interest for all organizations that rent the road course.
This is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in getting on track but perhaps is still a bit intimidated by the prospect of solo lapping. Tentative dates for On-Track Experience are May 7, May 21, June 11, and July 9 (all are Wednesday evenings). The cost will be $99 for the evening.
Gifting Someone A Day At The Track:
You may know that the MotorsportReg system does not allow for gifting someone a day at the track … but we have a solution. We are working with Castrol Raceway to use their ticketing system. By December 1st, in plenty of time for Christmas giving, the Castrol Tix website will list Track Junkies gift options.
