I finally returned to High Plains Raceway for the first time since September 2023, back then was one of my first professional lessons as a Time Trails driver through the NASA HPDE program.
I arrived Friday afternoon for some testing and set up for the weekend and hit the track in the afternoon sessions. I found that I was MUCH more comfortable on track after training throughout the winter months and my times were a full 10 seconds faster than the last visit to HPR. As always , Friday night at the track was a bit.. active, so to speak and I had to wait for someone to tap out first before taking my old ass to bed.. It ended up being Dan Williams followed quickly by me..
Saturdays sessions went about how I had envisioned them, steady increases in confidence and pace. I was still running in the 2:14’s for most of the day and decided to skip the final session as the track temperatures were silly hot, 100F ambient and the track at 170F plus, there was no need to put the car through that when there was no chance for an improved time.
Sunday was interesting, My first session was FAST for me, only problem, I made a rookie mistake and took a point by just after turn 12 and into 13 which resulted in me driving beyond track limits and disqualifying a personal best 2:12.68! I made a few minor adjustments to the car and went out on the seconds session and ran back to back 2:13.3 and 2:13.5. There was an incident on the track which resulted in my entire second run being a Disqualification as well for “not yielding to a yellow” I am still protesting that DQ as I have video showing that I did nothing wrong.
Anyway, it was a very good weekend for me personally, I am finding a lot more confidence behind the wheel and on the track. I need to find a few more seconds at HPR to be competitive, but for my rookie season, I’m pretty happy so far!
Next track day at PMP!
