how many Summit Point'ers do we have here?
 

how many ppl on this board race or have raced at Summit Point. More specifically in the MARRS series, but if anything else, you can say so also. i know theres Crack Monkey and (cant remember user name) Mike who races ITS i believe? and my dad of course.

anyone else????

I've done friday at the track a few times, and I'm sure I'll be there this spring :)

"CrispyRX7" (aka Chris) is up there more than I am... I don't know of any other forum members.

Brian

I ran the Jefferson Circuit. Burned up all the brake pads and warped all the rotors. Welcome to racing they said.
But it was fun!

Haha well btw how do you keep from warping rotors when you going auto X, just get some good cross slotted and drilled ones? And how much do brake vents really help?

the best way is to drive around and do a few minutes of slow driving WITHOUT braking at all if possible to cool the rotors. if thats not possible to do, then a set of cross-drilled or slotted rotors might help. another thing.... right after youve finished a session and the rotors and pads are hot, if you stop the car and park it... ROLL IT once in a while a few inches or so to expose the part of the rotor which was under the hot pad to help it cool evenly. also, it helps a little bit to have a set of rims which are more "open" than other rims (5 or 6 spoke). in roadracing, rotors tend to crack more when using the diamond wheels as opposed to panasports because when you come off the track and park, the diamonds hold the heat in.

people have different opinions on brake ducting systems. one theory supports them in that they DO help alot in keeping the rotors cool on the track, which is true..... however, the ducting systems that you can purchase usually attach to the backside of the caliper bracket, forcing ALL the air directly on the rear half of the rotor. now some say this is worse, because one side of the rotor will be alot cooler the the other. which is true? i honestly dont know. hope that helps a little tho.

Off topic...
Cross drilled or slotted rotors will not help with cooling. The more metal there is, the more heat the rotor can take.

they do when it comes to cracking, thats what i meant. their purpose is when the rotors expand and contract, they do it in the "slots" or holes, and not outward.

ok im sorry i got off topic, but it is MY topic lol, so......

ANYONE ELSE THAT HAS RACED OR RACES AT SUMMIT POINT?

I'm a "wannabe".... hehe... DC area autocrosser here...

Dan

summit point
 

I've done friday at the track last year with an 85GSL-se, and I am scheduled opening day with an 88TII. It beats any roller-coaster ride I've ever been on. To truely enjoy the experience you better be able to walk away both financially and emotionally if you do happen to loose it in a turn or grenade the motor.

I'll second that Andrew...

I took my Acura RSX there... I wasn't too worried about it crashing.. after all, it's just an Acura RSX.. there are a tens of thousands just like it.

When I took my single turbo 3rd gen there I was a lot more worried! Especially since I saw two other 3rd gens have off track excursions resulting in a lot of body damage earlier in the day! :(

Brian

yeah i would be a little weary of taking a street car out there and going balls to the wall. its a lot different with a race car. a little bumping is ENCOURAGED and if you hit someone and dent a fender..... hammer it back out, good as new lol.

Ha, I didn't even notice. Sorry. :D

lol thats ok i was just jokin

Always late to the party :)
I don't race but am up at SP quite often. I instruct a bit for BSR. I do the FATTs, primarily in my "street" car. Other than that there is a contingent of about 1/2 dozen who track (but not race) up at SP every chance we get :) I do have a friend up in Baltimore who ran/runs(?) Spec7 - Bill Stuart.
Regards,
Crispy

I ran there at one of the MADS events back in 99. Fun track. Now I am out on the west coast so I doubt I'll be back to Summit Point.

-Max

I've run two NASA HPDE events there. One on the Jefferson and one on the big track (does it have a real name?). I've also done 3 solo events on the Jefferson. I can't wait to see the new circuit.

No wtw racing - yet ;)

yep bill stuart races with my dad in specrx7... red 77? right?

i forgot all about the new circuit, whens that supposed to be complete? and how long is it? i dont think its as long as the main track which is 2 miles, but i could be wrong

Just got back from my first track day at VIR..... Yup, I'm hooked...

Dan

my dad has some excellent in-car vids from VIR, including some passes and a spin lol

Shanandoah circuit is scheduled to be open end of July.
First FATT on that track is supposed to be August 1st.
Was at SP this weekend, things look to be moving along quite well...with the exception of the 2 feet of snow everywhere.

Oh yeah one more thing...new track *is* going to be more than 2 miles long in it's longest configuration.
Thye will be setting it up to run multiple [read] more than 4 different circuits some that can be run simultaneously.

Crispy

the new circuit(s) are not gonna be for any sanctioned racing tho (scca, nasa). summit makes ALOT of money off police training with Don Barrack whos a BSR (bill scott racing) instructor. despite him only have one eye (yes, true), he gets in those land yacht caprices and fires machine guns while doing a controlled skid 180. this is jefferson circuit im talkin about. and they also wet the track and do practice high speed skids to train for chases and stuff. pretty cool stuff.

I've been in Summit Point a couple of times with the BMW driving school. Both tracks are fun. A bit far though.

BTDT, with MSCW a long, long time ago and Schattenbaum PCA. Don't run there anymore as I think it is unsafe and 1509 miles from home. Bill needs to get his safety up to par with current standards. That can go to another thread, though.

I would love to take the FC up to Summit Point, but not sure if the brakes as is could take the beating. I took my Protege up there for a few hot laps during Hyper Fest last summer, and the brakes were cooked after only 1 lap around the big track, mad fading rest of the way...

it was fun though... definitely would want to do again :)

just last season they did a few things. they added many new tire walls all around and widened the area coming down the chute (turn 4). however..... the only thing ive seen that they need to do something about is the chute, as there is a BUTT END of a concrete wall off to the left. im not sure if they fixed it yet or not, if not it needs to be. other than that, whats unsafe about summit?

oh, and they made all those changes because the superbike drivers complained..... could you imaging scraping knees on the ground on one of those crotch rockets around summit? thats NUTS.

I'd have to agree, the Point has come a long way in the past couple years. The new widened area down the chute, larger gravel traps and even improved facilities (for those who like to shower after a long hot day at the track).
BTW - NASA has the Shanandoah circuit on its HPDE schedule for July 19-20 (it says subject to change :( )

i didnt even mention the off-track facilities. the new bathrooms are sweet! your right Rxmidget. also, the new bridge. that old bridge was a POS everytime you went over it, it made a terrible noise from the boards. the new one is wider i believe (still not enuf for 2 cars), plus it has that traffic light hanging over the track. oh, and the reconstructed flagstation over start/finish.

one complaint and im sure im not alone on this.... by about mid summer, standing at the tower looking down toward turn 1, the WEEDS are insanely out of control. you cant see anything. but yes, summit has improved greatly. i CANT WAIT till marrs 1, i love racing season and watchin my dad race and working on the car and just the people. its like a little community on marrs weekends. cant even put it into words.

MADS '99 with MSCW.

It's actually the gravel traps that scare me. The only time I ran there an instructor in an Eagle Talon went off and the front of his car dug right into the gravel trap causing him to flip over multiple times, destroying the car. The driver and passenger got a helicopter ride to Inova Fairfax but were ok for the most part. I've heard of several other incidents like this and many have complained that the gravel traps make the track more dangerous for street cars than the it would be without them.

I much prefer VIR with it's ample runoff space and well designed, safer track layout.

whats crazy is when people take street cars to a FATT and run them full out with no cage. there was an incident a year or 2 ago a guy flipped him bimmer with no cage and the roof collapsed down to the head rests on the seat. i would never run with no cage.

I agree about th egravel traps. they are not well maintained and many cars flip in them. Really, during Bill's medical problems the track wasn't maintained well. Hoefully that will change now. Really, SP is a 'club' track and not in the rank of tracks like WGI, VIR or Road Atlanta. We deserve good safe places to run.

well if you drive in straight on the car will not flip. if you try to turn before it and go in sideways, your done. thats the same for all gravel traps. you have to accept that your going to go in, go STRAIGHT in, THEN turn. cuz if you go in sideways, you will flip for sure.

That is the trick.
I'd rather pick gravel out of the car for a few days then skim arcoss grass and into a tire/dirt wall.

exactly. they are supposed to be deep to serve their purpose.

ANY time you go off track you should go off straight. (duh). That why we instructor's say "Both feet in!"

Gravel traps are not really safe when they are not maintained properly. These days we are seeing many tracks going back to pavement in place of gravel.

Best solution is to stay on track of course... :-)

I'll be up at Summit Point on May 23 for a FATT session, anyone else gonna be there then? I'll be in the black Integra Type R, my brother will be there as well in his Jetta VR6.