pdisme
03-04-2007, 08:37 PM
Figured I'd put together a list of car clubs I know about with a brief description, average costs, pros/cons, etc. Anyone with info to add please do, I'll edit this post if your add/edit is related to one of the clubs here:
Chin Motorsports - http://www.chinmotorsports.com/
Offers novice through advanced track day drivers education, no racing and more time on the track per day than any other club so you're not pressed to get all your sessions in. I've used them personally and they have great formats, reasonable pricing, great instructors but tend to run out of novice spots quickly, i.e. within a day or two of a new event opening there will already be a waiting list, so get on their mailing list and try to get a spot as soon as a track day opens. Most of their track days are in the southeast with particular focus on Sebring but they do have some that run up into Ohio, New York and Virginia as well. Single days tend to cost around $270, if you're novice you're required to have an instructor which will put you up around $350. They do require an annual $50 membership. With Chin, as a novice, you'll tend to get up to three hours of on-track time per day. Their formats tend to just have two run groups, novice/provisional solo/new solo and then advanced solo/instructor drivers, so you may have some better drivers riding your bumper a bit, just point them by and they'll be off on their way and you can drive at the pace you're comfortable with.
2008 event calendar: http://www.chinmotorsports.com/events/calendar_2008.asp
PBOC - http://www.pbocflorida.com/
Previously just for Porsche & BMW owners a long time ago, this is now a competitive driving club offering actual races with points as well as traditional drivers education for novice to advanced solo drivers. Their drivers education events seem to be in the $250/day range or often $400 for a weekend and that includes the instructor. They do require an annual $60 membership. Their focus is also mostly southeast at Sebring and Homestead but includes the fantastic Barber Motorsports Park and sometimes Road Atlanta, but not in 2007/08. I had the pleasure of driving Barber with them in March '07, they have a lot less track time than Chin, just over an hour Saturday and 1.5 hours Sunday, but the cost is less and there are less cars on the track with you because they typically have three or four run groups so as you move up, you move into a new group and if you're just starting, there won't be people on the track with dramatically higher skill levels than you. So it's up to you, as a novice they're probably fine because you don't want to get fatigued and not realize it, but as you advance I think you'll find using them for HPDE days becomes annoying with the very small amount of driving time, meaning you better make use of your three sessions because that's all you've got.
2008 event calendar: http://www.pbocflorida.com/calendar_of_events_2008.pdf
NASA Southeast - http://nasa-southeast.com/
Part of a much larger entity, this is the southeast NASA but most of their track days are going to be more east coast than southeast and include Road Atlanta, Carolina Motorsports Park, Rockingham, Roebling Road and Barber.
Membership is $40/year. Typical events are in the $280 range and I think that might include instructor but not positive as I haven't attended one of their events yet.
2008 event calendar: http://www.nasa-southeast.com/schedule.jsp
NASA Florida - http://drivenasafl.com/
Part of a much larger entity, this is the Florida NASA chapter covering Sebring and Homestead.
Membership is $40/year. Typical events are in the $280 range and includes instructors for those who need it. From what I've seen on their site, track time is limited as they typically have four run groups AND two sprint races so for $250 or so you're only scheduled for a maximum of 100 minutes of on track time. I did my first even with them as a racer in Oct. 2008 and have to say their racing portion was great; it was very well organized, they ensure that their racers have a lot of experience and are courteous so the slower drivers were very well aware of the faster ones and there were no incidents the entire weekend. We got a very respectable amount of track time with a 20 qualifying, 30 minute race and 40 minute race both weekend days; there's even an award ceremony at the end of the day for the racers to add to the fun.
2008 event calendar: (on their home page)
SAFE Motorsports - http://www.safemotorsports.com/
Another southeastern motorsports group, they tend to run five or less events per year at mostly Florida tracks. They have good pricing and track time but, as I found out, if not enough people sign up, they may pull the event out from under you. I was registered for an August '08 event and an April '09 and both were canceled, costing me money in support and transport services for my race car that had already been scheduled. Requests sent to see if the drivers who did signed up may be willing to increase what they pay to cover the event costs were not responded to. I have heard good things about their events with regard to track time, but I wouldn't recommend counting on their events to occur, so those of you with dedicated track cars that may require more preparation than just hopping in and going to the track may want to think twice about trying them.
2008 Schedule: http://www.safemotorsports.com/schedule.htm
F.A.R.A. (Formula & Automotive Racing Association) - http://www.farausa.com
FARA runs racing events out of Homestead Speedway south of Miami; they have a variety of events in 2008 including car shows, drifting, bikini contests. :) I'm currently planning on doing the December '08 event at Homestead with two other drivers so we are hoping for the best and I'll let you know how it goes.
Florida Gold Coast Region PCA (Porsche Club of America) - http://www.goldcoastregion.org/
Florida group primarily for Porsche owners but as far as I know they allow other marques to participate in their track days. They appear to have four run groups so I'm not sure how much track time you typically receive and don't know much about them so any contributions are welcome. $42/year annual dues are required to do the DE events. They have a limited number of events.
2008 Schedule: (On their home page)
Florida Suncoast Region PCA (Porsche Club of America) - http://sfl.pca.org/
Description is pretty much identical to the above Gold Coast Region PCA.
2008 Schedule: http://sfl.pca.org/calendar.htm
I'll split this up by region once we have more.
Chin Motorsports - http://www.chinmotorsports.com/
Offers novice through advanced track day drivers education, no racing and more time on the track per day than any other club so you're not pressed to get all your sessions in. I've used them personally and they have great formats, reasonable pricing, great instructors but tend to run out of novice spots quickly, i.e. within a day or two of a new event opening there will already be a waiting list, so get on their mailing list and try to get a spot as soon as a track day opens. Most of their track days are in the southeast with particular focus on Sebring but they do have some that run up into Ohio, New York and Virginia as well. Single days tend to cost around $270, if you're novice you're required to have an instructor which will put you up around $350. They do require an annual $50 membership. With Chin, as a novice, you'll tend to get up to three hours of on-track time per day. Their formats tend to just have two run groups, novice/provisional solo/new solo and then advanced solo/instructor drivers, so you may have some better drivers riding your bumper a bit, just point them by and they'll be off on their way and you can drive at the pace you're comfortable with.
2008 event calendar: http://www.chinmotorsports.com/events/calendar_2008.asp
PBOC - http://www.pbocflorida.com/
Previously just for Porsche & BMW owners a long time ago, this is now a competitive driving club offering actual races with points as well as traditional drivers education for novice to advanced solo drivers. Their drivers education events seem to be in the $250/day range or often $400 for a weekend and that includes the instructor. They do require an annual $60 membership. Their focus is also mostly southeast at Sebring and Homestead but includes the fantastic Barber Motorsports Park and sometimes Road Atlanta, but not in 2007/08. I had the pleasure of driving Barber with them in March '07, they have a lot less track time than Chin, just over an hour Saturday and 1.5 hours Sunday, but the cost is less and there are less cars on the track with you because they typically have three or four run groups so as you move up, you move into a new group and if you're just starting, there won't be people on the track with dramatically higher skill levels than you. So it's up to you, as a novice they're probably fine because you don't want to get fatigued and not realize it, but as you advance I think you'll find using them for HPDE days becomes annoying with the very small amount of driving time, meaning you better make use of your three sessions because that's all you've got.
2008 event calendar: http://www.pbocflorida.com/calendar_of_events_2008.pdf
NASA Southeast - http://nasa-southeast.com/
Part of a much larger entity, this is the southeast NASA but most of their track days are going to be more east coast than southeast and include Road Atlanta, Carolina Motorsports Park, Rockingham, Roebling Road and Barber.
Membership is $40/year. Typical events are in the $280 range and I think that might include instructor but not positive as I haven't attended one of their events yet.
2008 event calendar: http://www.nasa-southeast.com/schedule.jsp
NASA Florida - http://drivenasafl.com/
Part of a much larger entity, this is the Florida NASA chapter covering Sebring and Homestead.
Membership is $40/year. Typical events are in the $280 range and includes instructors for those who need it. From what I've seen on their site, track time is limited as they typically have four run groups AND two sprint races so for $250 or so you're only scheduled for a maximum of 100 minutes of on track time. I did my first even with them as a racer in Oct. 2008 and have to say their racing portion was great; it was very well organized, they ensure that their racers have a lot of experience and are courteous so the slower drivers were very well aware of the faster ones and there were no incidents the entire weekend. We got a very respectable amount of track time with a 20 qualifying, 30 minute race and 40 minute race both weekend days; there's even an award ceremony at the end of the day for the racers to add to the fun.
2008 event calendar: (on their home page)
SAFE Motorsports - http://www.safemotorsports.com/
Another southeastern motorsports group, they tend to run five or less events per year at mostly Florida tracks. They have good pricing and track time but, as I found out, if not enough people sign up, they may pull the event out from under you. I was registered for an August '08 event and an April '09 and both were canceled, costing me money in support and transport services for my race car that had already been scheduled. Requests sent to see if the drivers who did signed up may be willing to increase what they pay to cover the event costs were not responded to. I have heard good things about their events with regard to track time, but I wouldn't recommend counting on their events to occur, so those of you with dedicated track cars that may require more preparation than just hopping in and going to the track may want to think twice about trying them.
2008 Schedule: http://www.safemotorsports.com/schedule.htm
F.A.R.A. (Formula & Automotive Racing Association) - http://www.farausa.com
FARA runs racing events out of Homestead Speedway south of Miami; they have a variety of events in 2008 including car shows, drifting, bikini contests. :) I'm currently planning on doing the December '08 event at Homestead with two other drivers so we are hoping for the best and I'll let you know how it goes.
Florida Gold Coast Region PCA (Porsche Club of America) - http://www.goldcoastregion.org/
Florida group primarily for Porsche owners but as far as I know they allow other marques to participate in their track days. They appear to have four run groups so I'm not sure how much track time you typically receive and don't know much about them so any contributions are welcome. $42/year annual dues are required to do the DE events. They have a limited number of events.
2008 Schedule: (On their home page)
Florida Suncoast Region PCA (Porsche Club of America) - http://sfl.pca.org/
Description is pretty much identical to the above Gold Coast Region PCA.
2008 Schedule: http://sfl.pca.org/calendar.htm
I'll split this up by region once we have more.