JG Pasterjak
Tech Editor & Production Manager
8/12/25 1:16 p.m.
As much of a competition junkie as I am, I gotta say that Track Night has done an amazing job at selling the "fun with cars" aspect of track culture. It's just such a remarkably egoless event, which is a tough environment to create when your main draw is fast cars on famous tracks.
Daytona makes things even more interesting. To some extent I think the track is a bit of a limiter on the posturing, because it can be a little intimidating if you haven't been there before. I definitely saw a bit of that in the first session, where there were probably more than a few people with lots of track experience but no Daytona experience. Everything went great through the first half of the first lap, then all of a sudden they were out there on the back straight in a 400+ hp car going faster than they ever had in their lives and things got very real.
I don't want to give all the credit to certain tracks taking people out of their comfort zone, though, because the TNiA culture definitely puts people into a major comfort zone and I think that's a lot of its appeal and its success.
So, yeah, driving onto the trailer at a TNiA—or driving your car out of the paddock and home—is kind of the ultimate win at a TNiA event, and that feels very much by design and successful execution of a great concept.
Tom1200
UltimaDork
8/12/25 3:42 p.m.
There is something to be said for laid back track events.
In reply to Tom1200 :
I couldn't agree more. It's so easy to get caught up in going as fast as possible that you forget that going fast is supposed to be fun.
(Of course, this is coming from someone who's not super competitive in autocross...yet. 
)
I showed up to my last race weekend and wasn't able to run the car at all due to a glitch that prevented me from uploading code to the car (I had to tune it to get it running right, and the computer kept disconnecting from the ECU while uploading). I bricked the stupid thing in the paddock, right there behind the trailer. So we just hung out and watched my friends race all weekend. Fun, less-intense, relaxing. 10/10, would do it again.
This was my last track day, best part was I street drove to the track so I had to bum a spot on a friend's trailer 🤣
In reply to Austin Cannon :
What happened?
My last race we had major engine issues(subaru!) and we discussed giving the car a viking funeral. Other than not wanting to oil down the track for others we decided it was easier to limp the car onto the trailer rather than push it onto the trailer.
In reply to buzzboy :
Nothing makes trailer ramps steeper than a blown engine.
A few weeks ago I headed up to Mosport to watch my Dad on track with PCA for the day. Typically I'm there with BMW CCA as an instructor so staying on top of the schedule, being available for my student and getting my own track time in makes for a very busy weekend. It was nice to just hang out for the day, catch up with a few people I hadn't seen in a while, caught some different views around the track and got to know Karl the marshal at pitout for the day while watching cars go into T1. Lots of fun and I never went out on track.
This past weekend I got to experience Circuit Mont Tremblant for the first time. Wow, what a track set in the Laurentian Mountains with views of the ski hill going down the front straight every lap before scaring yourself through T1 to T4. The best part on a hot weekend though is that the paddock backs right onto a small lake with a swimming dock for our use. Jump out of the car, throw on your trunks and a minute later you're bobbing around the lake still able to see the cars going through T14 and hearing them around all the track (all the expensive cottages on the lake don't seem to enjoy the sounds as much, too bad).
