Sweetwater Brown Ale

Brewed in Georgia, bought and drunk at Juke's Joint in concourse D at Atlanta airport. On my way home after the last day of the Skip Barber race car class.

As before the day alternated between time spent learning techniques and safety from Don and his team, then putting the learning’s into practice on the race track driving the cars.  The first class this morning was on passing followed by an exercise driving fast into the 90 degree left turn at the end of the back straight with cones simulating a car on the right side. The idea was to show the braking needed to pass a car on the inside at a sharp turn, and the extra braking and car control needed to turn the car when the radius of the turn was made smaller (remember 15GR=MPH^2).  Another adrenalin inducing moment the first few times, but practice and comments received at the stop box improved speed and competence around the corners.

Next was a was a short class on double file and single file starts and restarts, then we were on the track again. Two double file rolling starts and one single file start behind a pace car followed by track laps and comments at the stop box.  The excitement of starting in a pack increases the adrenalin surge, as one must now look out for the cars around, drive in a predictable line AND remember to change gear when the RPM hits the rev limiter.  Ask me how I learned this!

After lunch and a short discussion on passing etiquette we were back on the track for track laps with passing allowed on the three straight parts of the course. Three sessions with increasing speeds until we were allowed unlimited revs and speed on the third session. Maximum speed I attained was 104 mph on the long straight, but there were others faster than I – I have an in-car video to prove both the 104 mph and the cars passing me at the beginning of the back straight.

We all graduated from the class and are now eligible to continue our quest towards obtaining an SCCA license to drive in a race.  This class allows us to obtain a regional SCCA license to compete in local and regional races.  Further classes to build more skills are required to obtain a national SCCA license.

This was an amazing experience.  The Skip Barber instructors are professional and competent.  Their knowledge and guidance helped build confidence and competence.  While I now know not to quit my day job and pursue the career of a professional race car driver, I enjoyed the experience so much that I will be back to take additional classes to improve my track management, cornering and braking techniques to gain increased speed, and one day next year I will enter my first race in a Skip Barber MX-5.  The dream lives on – in modified form.