The Vintage Automobile Racing Association has announced the schedule for it’s annual High Performance Driving School called VARA-U. It is held at the beginning of every race season as an opportunity to either get your provisional vintage racing license or enjoy a weekend of track-based instruction. Some drivers come every year for a fun and affordable weekend, [...]

VARA, the Vintage Automobile Racing Assocation, has added a new class to its vintage racing format. Seeking to expand their reach, they now have a ‘Club Racer’ class for modern race cars. Some club members had a modern race car they wanted to bring along as well, and some late model racers wanted to come [...]

Trail braking is an advanced driving technique that all racers must eventually master, like ‘driving the line’ and ‘heel-n-toe shifting’. Trail braking is when the brakes are continued to be applied beyond the corner turn-in point and gradually released up to the point of apex, as opposed to the normally taught practice of releasing the brakes before starting the turn-in. This [...]

The concept of karma is strong in sports, especially racing – it is the theory of moral cause and effect. In other words “what comes around, goes around”. Help a guy out in the pits, and he may be the guy who next time passes you clean when he could have spun you out. Same thing [...]

An important part of driving your car on a racetrack is passing the required technical safety inspection prior to getting access to the track. While the level of scrutiny will vary by organization, the goals are the same: minimize the possibility of injury to the driver due to a mechanical malfunction, and ensuring that required safety equipment is properly installed. A [...]

The ABCs of performance driving: Acceleration, Braking, and Cornering. As the 2009 season comes to a close, preparation for 2010 begins. For veteran drivers and car owners, it’s a couple months to rebuild a motor, replace the wheel bearings, or get a fresh coat of paint on. For those who’ve been on the sidelines, it’s [...]

I’ve received a few emails saying “you’re not really racing on the cheap”. They were referring to a couple of expensive, quality components I’m using in my current project, like the Wilwood brake system. I certainly understand the remarks, these aren’t “cheap parts”. But after racing for several years and helping out with a couple [...]

In club racing we are not doing this for a living, we are amateurs. However this doesn’t mean that we don’t take our sport very seriously. Every racer in the pits has their own reason for being there, and it’s fun being an amateur philosopher trying to figure out what makes your competitors tick. Some [...]