What to know before your first time on track

That first time the grid worker waves you out on track can be an anxious moment. The day before, you were just a normal person, and today, you’re rolling your car out onto an honest-to-goodness race track, where you’ll be going faster than you probably ever have in your life.

Yeah, it can be a little intimidating.

There was definitely a "wait, what have I gotten myself into" moment when the grid worker waved me on track that first time.

Once I was on track, though, I was totally fine because it just felt like driving ... but faster.

Colin Wood said:
There was definitely a "wait, what have I gotten myself into" moment when the grid worker waved me on track that first time.

Once I was on track, though, I was totally fine because it just felt like driving ... but faster.

So one thing that definitely sets people at ease on track is when they realize that while track traffic moves fast, it all moves in the same direction in mostly predictable patterns. If someone is not in the right place on track, or going the wrong direction, it's a bug, not a feature like on the street. So it becomes easier to identify hazards instead of just assuming EVERYTHING is a hazard like out on US-1.

You can't win a track day, but you sure can lose one.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Very true. My first track day with my old car club was a bit scary because some of the other cars were hauling around track. But once I started treating it like I was on I-4 and it felt natural haha.

My first track day was on two wheels! So no instructor. I was already a fairly competent ride, but not super fast. You started the day with a lead/follow session with multiple instructors breaking up the run groups then.......................go have fun in the rest of your sessions.

So when I did my first track day in a NA Miata, about 5 years later, I already knew the track and was turning slower laps.