I'm not sure how we first learned about "Track Night"─events sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America that allow drivers, with a little instruction and a stress on safety, to run their street cars at speed on race tracks around the country. About the cost, Deb said, "It's cheaper than a ticket." The first one at Portland International Raceway was in April, on Friday the 13th.
We made reservations and in heavy I-5 traffic drove to PIR, parked among a range of cars belonging to other lead-foots, and Deb walked to the sign-up booth, showed her driver's license and had her helmet inspected.
Next was orientation, which mainly involved explaining flags and how the afternoon would progress.
Since cars of all sizes and potential speeds would be on the track at the same time, much of the instruction involved procedures in passing. Then back to the Veloster and the wait for the novice group to be let on the track.
Finally, the announcement: Line up. There were about 30 cars in the novice group.
The flagger sent them out one at a time. Deb's turn: she floored it and headed down the straight toward Turn 1, the start of the chicane where over the years we had watched many Indy cars come to grief.
While Deb played race car driver, I set up at Turn 12 to try to record her effort.
I managed to catch her a few times.
At the end of the 20-minute session, the checkered flag signaled everyone to return to the paddock for more orientation and to wait for the second session. There were three 20-minute sessions.
Deb loved it. She hit 95 on the front straight and managed to stay on the pavement throughout. Not everyone did. One driver in a Lotus spun into the wall.
Another slid into the grass and had to be hauled out.
Deb's ready to go again.
