I think that wider line is one of the variations that the "super-high-powered-car" guys use because it allows them to make the section between 11-12 straighter and be full-throttle through it. Those guys drive the whole track differently. If you're not having trouble going full-throttle from T11 to T12, there's no reason to not be taking the tighter line.

Most "normal street cars" should benefit from more of a "momentum line", the shortest distance that allows you to maintain a smooth line.

I still get a kick out of the guys who reference things like "the right tree" and "the tower". I'm a heads-up driver, I look at the other cars on track, and I spot every corner worker station as I approach it... but I'm not taking time to look at the scenery in the middle of a tight sequence of turns!

 

Funny thing is that this guy TTs a '99 Miata! He showed me that line when I was on (crappy) street tires and the car was oversteering like mad, so maybe he felt like power:grip was more on par with a powerful car. Once the r-comps went on, the car was more planted through that section...and I should have tried to tighten it up. There's always next time!

 

I just got done watching your vid too. Like Loren, my concern are some of your lines.

Also, unless NASA has different rules than other orgs, what's up with all the passing on your right. I was always taught that on the long straights slower traffic stays right and you pass on the left, even if you need to eventually get left for the turn prep?

If you don't have one of the faster cars at your event its imperitive you monitor your mirrors and don't impede faster traffic. Unless NASA has different passing rules I'd have to say from all the right side passing you were impeding the faster traffic too often.

 

PS - After watching that vid I have to add that it looks like the surface conditions at sebring have really gone downhill in the year and a half or so since I last raced there, and it was pretty bad then too, ugh.

Thank god I hear that the blacktop in Starke is still in tip top shape.

 

passing rules are the same for almost all clubs. Car being passed stays on line and the faster cars pass off line. i.e. front straight pass on the left if you are far enough down, if you get a point by coming out of 17 then they usually stay left and you pass right. after the carousel you pass on the left because the "line" hugs the right. back straight pass on the right.

 

For DE events, passing is usually at the direction of the car being passed and can be on either side at their discretion. It is usually recommended that the slower car stay ON LINE, as LD said, and the passing car must go off-line to make the pass. Sometimes a club will specify passing on one side only if the track lends itself to that or if all of the drivers are green enough to need that level of restriction, but it's definitely not the norm.

I'm pretty sure Craig was in NASA's advanced group, which allows open passing. It's almost like a race, only more "gentlemanly". Passing happens whenever and wherever the passing driver feels it is safe. (sometimes they'll limit it to straights) It's a whole new world when you hit that level. I still remember the first time I ran CMP w/ NASA and they put me in that group... having the liberty to choose to make a safe pass in a turn was gratifying.

(of course, now I run LeMons races and make passes with 2 wheels in the grass at my discretion... even MORE gratifying!)

 

NASA FL does passing a little different than what I'm used to. Up north most clubs get to a point where it's pass anywhere with a point. NASA's HPDE3 was pass in the straights, either side, no point by required. That was weird on the turns that went from left to right or vice versa. It took me a while to get used to it because I would point guys by anywhere...especially because I was puttering down the straights trying to cool the car.

IMHO, passing anywhere with a point is far safer than straights without a point. Communication is the key to safety on track and when you don't keep people communicating (in a non-competitive event) accidents happen.

For the record, there were many point-by's by many people. I always did unless it was in the middle of a straight going 70mph.

 

The way NASA does passing in HPDE3 makes sense if you understand the progressive nature of their HPDE groups. As you progress through the groups, they're trying to get you more and more into a "full racing" environment.

To be approved for HPDE3, you have to not only demonstrate good basic car control and course reading skills, but also situational awareness. In theory, every driver on the track in a Group 3 shared_session is well aware of the traffic around them and they "know the score". The courtesy and safety are still there, it is just "unspoken", if you will.

You're coming up on turn 16 and you've watched the guy behind you reel you in for the past 3 turns and you just know he's going to make his move in the next straight (because that's what YOU would do if you were him). As the driver being passed, you don't have to DO anything other than keep driving your lap and be predictable. (which is why they teach you to stay on line... that's predictable) The passing driver has the responsibility to make his pass safely.

Nothing wrong with a point if you know you're being passed and can safely offer a point of reassurance. But, once you get into HPDE4 (or actual W2W racing), you'll find that offering up a point-by mid-turn is kinda hard to do!

So, yeah, for the less-experienced groups, point-bys are definitely the safe way to go. That communication is required at that level of driver experience. As the inexperienced drivers (or those who simply can't master "situational awareness") are weeded out at the higher levels, you'll find that communication simply gives way to awareness.

 

Perhaps PBOC is the oddball then. Last couple of events I did with them the rule was you had to wave by traffic on the left, which sucks since it requires you keep the window down and throw your hand out to signal, not to mention trying to be courteous to passer by's when you are coming up on a right turn. The plus side is they didn't have many restrictions on where you could pass assuming you dared so squeeze by the outside of a guy with one hand hanging out the window, lol.

 

you definitely did not pay attention in your classroom shared_session then. I instruct for PBOC. The rule is car being passed stays on line. I have never heard anything about waving traffic by only one direction. In fact, I can literally replay in my head Pete Magnuson yelling "Cars being passed, hold your line!" Also, EVERY group has a rule that windows must be down. It's an insurance policy thing. Even when it's raining they have to be down.