Our “fearless” Road Captain Gary has come up with a “new” road trip with actual Track Time on Salem Speedway. Gary submitted the following…
Now before you tune out…lots of folks have asked me numerous times if we could have an event at a track like the one down at the Corvette factory. Yes we can, but the cost is HUGE ($$$ pp) and the restrictions are many.
Here’s the deal. Yesterday I drove up to the new and rebuilt Salem Speedway (IN) and met with the two head guys, the Director of Operations, and the owner.. They would LOVE to have a bunch of Mustangs come visit…AND DRIVE! Relax…ease ‘er back…we aren’t going racing!Their weekends are PACKED with events, so if we want a private visit and have the track all to ourselves, we have to do a Friday late afternoon/early evening. I need folks to give me feedback so we can get on their schedule and reserve the track…June 5th or June 19th…the most votes wins…vote early…I need names. 15 is the max we can have on the track at this point.DETAILS: We would have 1 hour on the track by ourselves with me leading. A “lead and follow” with a max speed of 50 mph…MAXIMUM! They have given me permission to use the 1 hour as I want…and after a couple hours of discussion and assurances that we will NOT “horse” around, they say have fun and be safe…real safe, they gave us the track. If we get 15 cars, the cost is LESS THAN $20/car!!The plan as it stands right now, is to meet and drive up to the speedway (approx 1 hr NW of Louisville), get to the track between 6:30-7:00 pm, and have our 1 hr of track time from 7:30-8:30. We have to be done before sunset…if they turn on the track lights, add $600 to the cost of $200. There are two parts of the track, the 1/2 mile of the 33 degree banked oval…and the infield curvy portion of the track. We would do a bunch of laps up on the banked part of the oval at SLOW speeds (35 mph) and after several laps of slow…eventually pick up the speed not to exceed 50. Once everyone is comfortable (using radios, yes…bring radios), we will slow it down and include the oval with a portion of the infield track…like a mini-road race course…at SLOW speeds…and again, eventually pick up the pace so everyone is comfortable. Lots of “mini” rules we will discuss with those signing up.If the weather is lousy, and we inform them early in the day…no charge!! They are so easy to work with!!Because they trust us, there will be no required safety inspection of all cars, except I will insist your tires are good and have the proper tire pressures before we get there. No helmets required, but seat belts are. Passengers are allowed to ride also! If this works out, it is my plan to do the same thing for our Pony Trail just before our show in October, with lunch at Huber’s Starlight Cafe.Friday June 5th of June 19th?? I am starting a list.Gary OstbergRoad Captain540-940-7716