When asked by my good friend Rick Roso to write a piece on how “to do” one of my favorite...
Any racer will tell you that even the slightest rumor of a new racecourse will garner more than a passing...
Nelson Ledges is a fun, fast and reasonably flat racetrack in northeast Ohio, originally raced as a dirt road course in 1961. Thousands have raced here in one of America’s more unusual “cult” races—The Longest Day, a 24-hour endurance event for amateur racers of production-based SCCA showroom stocks. The organizers...
It was 25 years ago that I started my racing career at what is now known as New Hampshire Motor...
Having raced at “Mid-O” in karts and cars since 1964, the track’s site picture is indelibly scribed on the inside...
Turn 5 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca may not be one of the first corners that everyone talks about when discussing this track, but it’s certainly one of those corners that has more going on than it first appears. And it can be a major player in the course of...
I’ve always liked Blackhawk Farms Raceway, a track not everybody knows about. It’s in Illinois, right on the border with...
Racer or wannabe, everyone knows Watkins Glen’s full course is one of the world’s truly elite tracks. Besides its storied...
Of all the race tracks that I have driven and raced on in North America, Road America is up there as one of the best (yes, I know, that’s not a news flash). I grew up in Plymouth, 5 miles from the track’s gate. I’ve been going to this track...
What started as an April Fool’s joke on a long defunct track, ended up becoming an interesting insight into fear...
Turn 7 at the newly opened New Jersey Motorsports Park Lightning course is as pivotal as it is exciting. It...
Considering the résumés of the people who have raced here, I am both humbled and honored to be writing about this world-renowned and historic facility. I have had great fun and success racing Formula Fords at this very fast and challenging track. One of the things that I think makes...
The Turn 6–7 complex at Road Atlanta not only makes for a huge grin factor, it’s also the most crucial...
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is one of America’s most technical and challenging circuits, as most corners involve both radius...
Homestead–Miami Speedway is a fun and fast track. It’s definitely one of the best oval/road course combos out there. In my mind, it’s second only to Daytona’s 24-hour course—especially if your group is running the so-called “Grand-Am” configuration, which utilizes the NASCAR 3 and 4 bankings. For the track’s Grand-Am...
Virginia International Raceway, also known as VIR, set to the east of Danville, Virginia, is one of the finest racetracks...
From May 27 to July 3, Lime Rock Park underwent a major transformation. Not only was the original 7-turn configuration...
Justly famous for corners such as the Corkscrew and Andretti (a.k.a. Turn 2), plain-named Turn Six is actually one of the more important corners at this world-famous track. As you’ll remember from “Racecar Driving 101,” good lap times are based on straightaway speeds. Straightaway speeds are based on corner exit...
My first trip to Roebling Road (nee, Savannah-Effingham Raceway) was in the early 1960s to watch my Dad, Charlie, run...
Somewhere, just west of nowhere, sits one of Max Balchowsky’s masterpieces. Although it has been over a decade since Reagan...
Summit Point’s main circuit was repaved last fall, which enhances an already wonderful track. The Chute through the Carousel is arguably the most challenging—and misunderstood—segment of Bill Scott’s original (there are now three) racetrack. At Skip Barber, one of our primary goals is to use data from our computer cars...
On paper, Lime Rock Park seems to be an easy track to learn. There are only seven corners and the...
If anyone is looking for another “favorite track,” I would suggest you strap your car on a trailer and take...
One of the “old school” low-grip/high-fun tracks, Moroso Motorsports Park, is a car control circuit, rewarding smoothness and sensitivity. The state of the art—for 1963—layout and paving (all the shell and coral is exposed as the tar has long since been bleached away) makes for an interesting combo of high...
Built in 1969, Road Atlanta epitomizes the saying, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” While modern-day track designers...
When asked to describe one of my favorite sections of racetracks in Australia, very quickly I thought of Winton Motor...
Although not as famous as its corner mates—the Corkscrew and the Andretti Hairpin—Turn 9 at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca is one of the most exciting corners in the country. Its combination of on-camber, off-camber, decreasing radius, elevation change and limited visibility make it one of the most technical corners I...
When we think of Southern California’s Willow Springs Raceway, what often first comes to mind is a fast corner such...
Turn One of Daytona’s Rolex 24 road course configuration is fast and hairy, because you’ve just spent a whole bunch...
While every turn has technical challenges, there are very few corners anywhere that require equal measures of skill, perfection and testicular fortitude as the “Downhill” at Lime Rock Park. A major misconception about the Downhill is that it’s, well, downhill. The fact is, while the approach is steeply downhill, the...
