PDX_Article

“PDX” stands for “Performance Driving eXperience.” In that little three letter nutshell is crammed both what PDX is and also what you get when you participate. According to the manual (the official SCCA Time Trials Rules), PDX is the first level of SCCA-sanctioned Time Trials events. It is intended to be “non-competitive and based on the practice and instruction of performance driving and car handling.” Time Trials are a form of solo (non wheel-to-wheel) racing, where a single driver drives a timed, closed course, usually on a road racing track. Cars are classed using both SCCA club racing and solo rules. Fastest time wins. There are four levels, each requiring progressively more track-dedicated cars, including items such as roll bars and other equipment.

Our own Washington DC region this year kicked off a PDX program, and has held three events so far, with the fourth and final to be held on September. I had the privilege of driving in two of them, and am eagerly looking forward to the fourth.

The events are conducted on road racing courses. In our region, they were all at Summit Point this year, one on the main track and the other three on the highly technical Shenandoah Circuit. The basic idea is to school would-be Time Trialers in the art of performance driving, through seat time on the track and intensive one-on-one in-car and classroom instruction, delivered by seasoned, competition-licensed, SCCA drivers.

It is more than just a “track day.” SCCA participation log books are kept, and driving performance is scored and rated. If the driver shows satisfactory progress -- in terms of judgment, technique, attitude, reactions, courtesy, comparative lap times, and flag recognition – he or she eventually gets signed off to run solo, without an instructor riding shotgun. Eventually, drivers work up to participating in Level 2 time trials and above, provided they have the right SCCA license and a rules-compliant car for the level of the event. The PDX approach seems to be geared both toward developing and honing real-time track driving skills and etiquette, as well as weeding out chuckleheads unable or unwilling to learn to get fast safely with due regard for the other people and cars on the track.

Among my personal goals is to participate in competitive time trials competently, and PDX has provided a perfect pathway to attaining that objective. By way of background, I have been driving my getting to be rather modified 2003 Mach 1 Mustang (ask to see my build sheet) and my FFR Mark II Cobra Roadster for about 2-3 years. I started my solo racing by going to as many WDCR SCCA Garfield autocross schools as I could get into. After those, I have been driving the Cobra in local club autocrosses and in the Cumberland Airport Autocross Series. I also drive in as many open track events as I can find, using the Mach 1 as the track car. These included SVTOA two day track events at Summit Point for the last three years. Some say autocrossing and track driving are different games, and they are right.

But at my current level, I find the skills learned in one endeavor complement the other. Learning to see and drive the correct driving line, and I think the basic principles of weight transfer, throttle steering, and threshold braking (if not the exact techniques used), are applicable in both. When Ron Shurie asked for expressions of interest in instructed, SCCA-sanctioned time trial training, I jumped at the opportunity.

How is PDX event run? A dedicated cadre of SCCA volunteer organizers puts the whole show together and coordinates the activities. The field of drivers is divided into run groups, three or four, organized by level of driving experience and skill – from rank novices to instructors (who get track time on their own in exchange for generously and courageously agreeing to strap themselves into the cars of newbie track dawgs). The day begins with a driver’s meeting, where the basic rules and expectations are explained, and flag signals are reviewed. Then, while more experienced groups are on track, all but the most seasoned run groups (whose drivers have been signed off to run solo) attend twenty minute classroom instruction sessions.

Finally the preliminaries are over, and it’s your turn. Your run group is called, and you grid up. Your instructor hops in. You watch the grid worker closely, and move out when signaled, flashing a sporty “thumbs up” like you’ve seen the cool drivers do. You roll up to pit out, and wait for a break in the pack of cars until the starting flagger directs you out onto the track. And there you are: Out on a real road racing course.

Basically, you try to find and drive the optimum line for your twenty minute session. Passing is in designated areas only, and by “point by” permission of the car ahead of you.

You will find it is the fastest twenty minutes of your life. No matter how slowly you drive, it seems like the laps go by in the wink of an eye. Before you know it, you are sticking your fist in the air out the driver’s side window, signaling “pit in,” and wondering where the hell twenty minutes went.

What does it feel like to actually drive a PDX on the Shenandoah Circuit? Words fail me. First and foremost, it is a blast. About as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. There is absolutely nothing like the feeling of nailing the apex just right, rolling on the throttle as your blown V-8 roars in happiness, and feeling the lateral Gs as you unwind toward the outside edge of the track, with your instructor nodding approval at his bonehead student finally halfway getting it.

You will learn the meaning of “adrenaline dump” as you grab a gear and wind it out on Shenandoah’s Bridge Straight up the blind hill with absolutely no idea what’s on the other side, and of “pucker factor” as the car lifts completely off the suspension at the peak of the hill and goes into a momentary negative G state, before thumping back down on the other side. You will also learn the meaning of “a lot going on” as the crazy banked concrete Karousel at the end of the straight rushes toward you and you then try to position the car perfectly for the entry so as not to unsettle it and cause a very bad day for you and your teacher, while picking a braking point, standing on them, and attending to downshifting (with maybe some heel and toe if you are running tall gears), ALL AT ONCE!

Then comes the “kerplunk” as the car dumps off the smooth asphalt into the banked turn (hopefully you did not hang it up or pop out onto the edge and tear your oil pan) and the tires roar on the rough concrete, then the world tilts at an angle, as you modulate throttle and then exit, and set up for the combination of three tight, negatively cambered, turns ahead. These are followed by another left, then a big open sweeper where you really start getting into the throttle. Then, down the long back straight, where its wide open, and you see how fast that thing REALLY will go, while at the same time trying to look ahead and pick the braking point for the dog leg turn that is coming up all too fast.

Oh yeah. It’s quite a bit of stimulation.

Second, it is humbling. I have some friends with whom I drive that are absolute prodigies with tremendous innate talent. I am not one of them. But I guess most beginners, like me, think we’re pretty good drivers, and that we understand what it means to “drive the line,” “at the limits.” But here’s what I am finding: the more track time you get, the more variables, dimensions and levels will be revealed to you, and the more you will begin to understand things of which you didn’t even conceive before. Then, just when you really think you are “getting it,” take advantage of the opportunity to ride with your instructor, who will probably show you how far you have to go. Realizing that this stuff is way too deep to master in a few twenty minute sessions teaches you a lot about yourself, and how handle frustration, and confront and overcome your limitations.

Third, it’s an unparalleled way to learn. In the beginning, the instructors pretty much tell you where to put the car, when to turn, when to brake, when to get on the gas, help you see the cars coming up on you and wanting to pass, flags, etc. That is very helpful as you try to process the massive amounts of data being thrown at you. As you develop and learn the basics, they start breaking them down and adding details and helping with technique Later, they may sit very quietly in the car, sometimes asking you questions, like where you think your head and eyes should be, instead of just telling you how and when to move your hands and feet. Also, each has a different style. Do a few PDXs with a few different instructors and you begin to see that this truly is an expressive art form, and that, apart from basic technique, there are many paths to top of the mountain, and each must find his own style. Invariably, even when you are screwing up badly, even putting them at some risk, they find a way to be positive and encouraging.

Above all, the entire program deeply ingrains from the beginning and constantly reinforces rules, practices and principles designed to keep the track, drivers, and workers SAFE. Generally, people drive in to the event and it’s a good day when everybody drives home in the car they came in. The program also prepares drivers for competition by introducing the roles of various SCCA officials, safety stewards, corner workers, flaggers, etc.

You don’t need a race-prepped car to participate. Generally, any street legal hardtop is eligible. But an added side benefit is that you will drive with some very cool machines, and various states of modification and preparation. Also, as I have found, the people you meet, the WDCR event organizers, officials, instructors, and other drivers are truly friendly, helpful, encouraging, and fun.

But beware. This is highly, HIGHLY addictive stuff. Be warned that you that you will find your mind wandering (especially at work) back to those exhilarating, all too brief moments of flying around the track and carving the perfect line (which you really didn’t but are imagining anyway). That feeling will seep deep into your DNA and you will start thinking about joining other clubs and generally doing just about anything legal for more track time. I almost guarantee that you will start pricing R compound tires and rationalizing how they really aren’t that expensive and that the dog’s too fat anyway, and the kid isn’t really college material . . . . You will start wondering what it would be like to be an itinerant track bum, cleaning out the 401(k), building a Stage 4-worthy car, buying a trailer, and wandering the country from track to track, staying in one place just long enough to do odd jobs and pay for gas, tires and parts, blowing everyone away with your near-mystical skills, and then riding off to the next town. . . .

I can’t wait for the next PDX. The organizers say next year we may start Level 2 trials. If you’ve thought about doing this, don’t hesitate. See you there!