Shadeux receives his Christmas present!

We were just at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. We were here almost three years ago because of the purchase of our 2016 Corvette. Chevrolet offers a Spring Mountain 2 day school to new Corvette owners for a big discount and we went in January of 2016. It was my first time on a track, and I had a blast!

So, my wife received an email from Spring Mountain before 2019 Christmas and soon I was booked for their 3 day level one school! (My wife is awesome!) The first day was the usual car control exercises, the second day was six track sessions of following an instructor, and the third day we were cut loose and allowed to go at our own pace with passing allowed if asked for. 

I am now comfortable with getting on a track and not trashing me or the car. Hopefully this year I will get the Miata completed for some local track experiences and continue the fun!

The SMMR facility. They plan to add 9 more miles of track.

The configuration I was running.

The first day. It's 40 degrees and the wind is blowing 20-30mph.

Dinner at local Mexican place. It was good!

Next day. It's 28 degrees and the wind is steady at 20 mph. Most of the Corvettes have been started and are idling to warm up.

I haz helmet.

Action shot from my wife.

Last day. The facility also hosts the Cadillac V driving school. It's about 30 degrees and the wind is now down to 10 mph steady. You can see the 

the exhaust vapor from idling to warm up the cars.

My best stats. I had a better session after this, but I forgot to record it. Rats.

.75 G in braking. 

1.25 G in corner. I'm on the throttle with 95 degrees of steering. Big meats don't fail me now!

I was easily over 120 mph here on the lap I didn't record.  I'm already off the throttle and not near the corner yet.

A lot of fun and the instructors are really cool, helpful, and supportive. 

Thanks for reading!

That looks awesome! Were you running base/Z51 Stingrays? 

You drive the same car you have at home, so in my case a manual Stingray with Z51. 

Nice looking facility that I've somehow never heard of. Fun looking track layout too!

Cool track! Already 6.1 miles long course and they're looking to add 9 more miles of track?! Sweeeet.

I don't think the design is finalized, but I read it could be 16+ miles when it's done, which might be the longest? In some category?

The main thing the new track will have is a 6000+ foot straight, because runway!

Sounds like a great time.

I have been running the Lotus Cup series for the last 8 years. We go through Spring Mountain few times a year. Great track. Of course Pahrump has other "activities" it is famous for.

Shadeux said:

I don't think the design is finalized, but I read it could be 16+ miles when it's done, which might be the longest? In some category?

The main thing the new track will have is a 6000+ foot straight, because runway!

From my understanding they want it to be something like the Nurburgring of the US; however, in their current location they are lacking lots of terrain elevation and trees haha. It is still a beautiful facility. If you actually drive up into the spring mountains it can be up to 60 degrees cooler in the summer than the Strip in Vegas. It also has huge bristlecone pines, lots of great hiking, and a mountainview restaurant that serves okay food but always has camo manufacturer prototype cars in the parking lot.