2 replies to this topic

[Lee Thomas]

I had the pleasure of racing at High Plains Raceway this past weekend and wanted to share with this community how awesome the track is for SM.

 

I was hesitant to go at first.  It's out in the boondocks, the hotel choices nearby are...scant and I didn't know any locals other than Danial Williams. Also, with the NASA Champs and SCCA Runoffs around the corner, I didn't want to break my car doing something stupid at a track I didn't know (I guess I prefer to save my stupidity for tracks I know).

 

All that thinking changed when we got out there.  The track is really fun, well thought out and safe.  Lots of elevation changes, blind turn-ins, fast sweepers and just really good linked turns.  It requires everything to go fast...setup and motor.  I think VVT's may have an advantage given the slightly higher torque but the NA's out there looked pretty strong too.  Bring a well sorted car!

 

They use light boards instead of flags which takes a little getting used to but after a few sessions I actually found it easier to see in most cases.  I think they need to be brighter and bigger.

 

The local racers were super nice and showed us a lot of hospitality and gratitude for making the journey out there (we had five X-Factor drivers, all from Texas).

 

I hope everyone takes the opportunity to make it out to High Plains Raceway. Stay in Denver near the airport.  It takes about 45 mins to drive there and you'll have lots of amenities that you won't find near the track.  Also, bring your own food.  Track food has lots of room for improvement although I'm sure folks are grateful there is something to eat out there.

 

Thank you to the NASA Rocky Mountain Region and Dan Williams for putting on an amazing event...5 races!  No one was complaining about seat time this weekend, thats for sure.  Everything was like clockwork.  Well organized from beginning to end. 

 

A big shout-out to all the local SM competitors for making it a really fun and challenging event.  We'll be back!

 

We got to see a tornado and didn't get charged extra for the "entertainment".

 

 tornado_at_hpr.jpg   52.4KB   0 downloads

 

Photo credit to Justin "tornado-boy" Crick who decided to take an extra lap after seeing the tornado because I guess he paid for the track time so wasn't interested in letting Mother Nature get in his way.

 

 

[Tom Hampton]

Maybe Justin was hoping for a tailwind.

[dogdish]

Lee,

 

One of the SM locals in Denver.  We enjoyed having you all.  Nice to have some new cars out there.  I think we had 35 SM's.

 

Your comments are spot on, great track, but way out there.  Dan and the gang put on a great event and keeping things on time.

 

Bill

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