The Turn 6–7 complex at Road Atlanta not only makes for a huge grin factor, it’s also the most crucial...
It was 25 years ago that I started my racing career at what is now known as New Hampshire Motor...
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...
Homestead–Miami Speedway is a fun and fast track. It’s definitely one of the best oval/road course combos out there. In...
Turn 17 at Sebring, which ends the back straight—and “begins” the front straight—could actually be called the “World’s Biggest Hairpin.”...
Mid-Ohio is a very rhythmic, undulating and momentum rewarding circuit that requires countless laps to understand the subtleties of the track and where to extract its speed. There are two corners that stand out as “critical” when trying to translate your effort behind the wheel into speed on the time...
Turn 7 at the newly opened New Jersey Motorsports Park Lightning course is as pivotal as it is exciting. It...
If anyone is looking for another “favorite track,” I would suggest you strap your car on a trailer and take...
Having raced at “Mid-O” in karts and cars since 1964, the track’s site picture is indelibly scribed on the inside of my skull, where, naturally, there’s little else to get in the way. I grew up (ok, that’s an exaggeration) in Mansfield, Ohio. In 1958 my parents, Doris and John,...
One of the “old school” low-grip/high-fun tracks, Moroso Motorsports Park, is a car control circuit, rewarding smoothness and sensitivity. The...
Ah, Road America. Four miles of medium- and high-speed corners nestled in the woods of Wisconsin. The type of racetrack...
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is one of America’s most technical and challenging circuits, as most corners involve both radius and elevation changes. Only two of its 14 turns (Turn 1 and the Keyhole) stand alone; the rest are in combinations or sequences. Turns 7-8-9, also known as “Madness,” are...
Considering the résumés of the people who have raced here, I am both humbled and honored to be writing about...
Turn One of Daytona’s Rolex 24 road course configuration is fast and hairy, because you’ve just spent a whole bunch...
Okay, it’s my turn in the barrel. Asked to “do a corner” for VR, I took a look at the previous Hot Laps. Let’s see, there was the Lefthander at Lime Rock…Road America’s Turn 1… Laguna’s 11… the Bus Stop at the Glen… Mid-Ohio, VIR—even Le Mans, for pity sakes!...
Racer or wannabe, everyone knows Watkins Glen’s full course is one of the world’s truly elite tracks. Besides its storied...
Nelson Ledges is a fun, fast and reasonably flat racetrack in northeast Ohio, originally raced as a dirt road course...
Lime Rock’s “Lefthander” and Turn Four represent difficult challenges at one of the most demanding racetracks in North America. Mastering these Esses will, in great measure, determine good lap times at one of the most challenging tracks you will ever drive. In racing, there are three types of corners: Most...
When asked by my good friend Rick Roso to write a piece on how “to do” one of my favorite...
Considering the resumes of the people who have raced here, I am both humbled and honored to be writing about...
Close by the heart of Northern California’s wine country, and with tons of elevation changes to thrill and challenge a driver, how could Sears Point Raceway not be one of the best tracks in North America? OK, I know it’s now called Infineon Raceway, but I ran my very first...
Although not as famous as its corner mates—the Corkscrew and the Andretti Hairpin—Turn 9 at Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca is...
The historic Le Mans 24-Hour racing circuit, made up of country roads with constructed racetrack sections, has always been a...
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...
When I was asked to write about a corner or series of corners, Road Atlanta instantly came to mind. I...
My first trip to Roebling Road (nee, Savannah-Effingham Raceway) was in the early 1960s to watch my Dad, Charlie, run...
Brands Hatch, on the southern outskirts of London, is a classic Grand Prix circuit in the mold of Spa-Francorchamps, Watkins Glen and Mosport. Which is to say, it’s a true driver’s track. Turn one at Brands is without question one of the great corners in motorsports. This right-hander’s full name...
With the European Grand Prix season upon us, few circuits command as much respect as the notorious Nürburgring. While the new...
Built in 1969, Road Atlanta epitomizes the saying, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” While modern-day track designers...
Lime Rock Park’s Big Bend really is a big bend and represents a significant chunk of the total lap time at Lime Rock. Because of its unique shape—and length—no other corner at Northwest Connecticut’s famous circuit offers so much potential for improving lap times as does Big Bend. While it’s...
