How did you get started tracking your car, and get involved with performance driving dynamics in general?

When I was a kid, I used to live near a go-kart track. I didn’t have my own Kart, but my Dad worked out a deal with the track owner that allowed me to come in several times a week and do laps. Ever since then I’ve always loved going fast. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I was into Sport Compact Drag Racing back when the big shows were the NHRA Sony Explode Series, IDRC, and BOTI. But, then my car got stolen, and I called it quits for a while and focused on other priorities that I had at the time. Then one of my friends got an Evo, and I just loved it even after just riding in the passenger seat. Reading all the magazines that covered events like Redline Time Attack and seeing Evos dominate, just made it a no-brainer for me. Plus, the cars just take very well to very little modifications, and the cast iron 4G63 block is a work horse. I always had the intention of competing with the car even before I stepped foot on a track! Time Attack to me is like drag racing with turns, except it requires more balls and more driver skills. I always did alternative sports and dare devil type stuff growing up as a kid, so the adrenaline rush associated with Time Attack and High Performance Driving Events just made sense to how I’m wired.

So how many track days do you have under your belt, and how has your experience been so far?

About 25 events since August 2010. In 2011, I was the 2nd runner up overall for Modified Class for Extreme Speed’s Evo Competition, which was my very first year doing competition. I just kept showing up, even though my car wasn’t competitive at the time, and I was still very green driver wise. I got one 2nd place finish, one third, and a string of fourth and fifth place finishes. In 2012, I was 2nd runner up overall for Extreme Speed’s AWD Competition in Street Class with a three first place finishes, and three third place finishes. There were over 33 competitors in Street Class alone. I also have two first place finishes in Extreme Time Attack’s Street AWD Class, and was the 2012 Street Class Champ and Street AWD winner at Redline Time Attack’s big return at Buttonwillow in November 2012. So far in 2013, I have one first place finish at Round 2 of the 2013 XS AWD Comp at Buttonwillow, and one 2nd place finish at Round 4 at Chuckwalla. For RLTA 2013, I have three 2nd place finishes in RLTA’s Street AWD Class so far.

What was your scariest moment at the track?

At Buttonwillow I went off at about 105 MPH right at the exit of the esses at an angle which I was pretty much parralel with the track. The car tail whipped hard in the dirt and I fought to hard to keep the car under control and keep it straight. I shot back across the track toward the inside wall just before Sunset and the pit entrance. As the car was back on the pavement I was waiting to feel the car take a set, I then eased on the brakes when I got back on track and stopped the car from going toward the wall. That was probably the closest call I have had.

What is your biggest pet peeve when you go to the track?

People not giving point by’s, or hitting traffic when I’m trying to put in a hot lap.

If you could recommend any one thing about tracking driving, what would it be?

Start in a lower hp car, and with mid grade performance street tires. It teaches you to scrap for every bit of speed, and be smooth, versus just blasting between corners. I tracked for over a year with less than 300 whp, which in the AWD Turbo world, is not a whole lot of power. If you already have a high hp car, ask your tuner to tune a specific track map in which the hp and boost is dialed down. If a relatively low hp AWD Turbo Car still proves too much for you to develop as a driver, go with an even lower hp car like a Miata, which has a very low cost of ownership with Mazda Motorsports providing wholesale prices on parts. It will teach you good momentum dynamics in a way that is much harder to learn in a high hp car. If you think you can handle the “power”, are your lap times telling you otherwise? You might actually go just as fast, or faster with less power. Watch lots of in car video of the tracks you are about to visit. Read books about performance driving and set-up, and practice techniques like heel toe, left foot braking, trail braking, etc whenever you can, and when it’s safe. Get a lap timer with data acquisition. Talk to people with a good driving track record and lots of experience. Get at least one good instructor and or mentor. A good class for would-be AWD new comer’s is Extreme Speed’s AWD Enthusiast Class.

Any parting words for the track heads out there?

Drive fast, drive safe. There are people that love you back at your house.

In episode 1.5 of this column, let’s dig in a little bit and look into what it takes to get involved in TA racing. I have to be honest with you, until last November at Buttonwillow raceway, I was really naive to this thing they call Time Attack. After purchasing my car, a 2006 Subaru STI, I decided it was time to go to the track. After searching around for a track day, I decided to attend an event at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, with Extreme Speed Track Events. When we arrived to the track, wouldn’t you know it, the preliminary round of Redline Time Attack was taking place. With the competitive nature that I have, I was getting in on this.

However, it wasn’t quite as easy as just signing up and racing. I went to sign up and they started asking me questions about how many track days I had done, what’s my fastest time on this track, what car do I have, and what mods does it have? To make a long story short, they didn’t want some guy they knew nothing about, going on the track, trying to go as fast as he could without any experience. As much as this irritated me, I guess I understood. They were very accommodating though, and gave me the option of riding with an instructor to evaluate my skills. This is where I met my new friend, Martin Choi. I was told that if I could do a certain lap time with Martin in the car, (huge disadvantage BTW…….HAHAHA, sorry Martin), that I could compete. Lucky for me, I was in, despite the extra load in the car….whew!!! I have to respect their concern for safety, for sure. One of the unique aspects of TA is getting to push your car to the limits, and usually not having to worry about running into other cars. In the wrong hands though, this could give a false sense of security.

To get involved in TA, I recommend coming out to the track for an open track day, HPDE(high performance driving event) first. Typically, there will be instructors on hand and many people that are willing to help out and lead you in the right direction. It really doesn’t matter at first what car you have, either. A bone-stock Honda civic can provide you with a lot of fun, and is a great way to gain experience and car control. In the end, this is a much better way to get your feet wet then building a 500WHP street monster and deciding to take it on the track. Way to many times we see this and it can really limit your learning curve. Another disadvantage to starting off with a highly modded car is when it comes time to enter your first TA event. One wrong mod, and guess what?, Your competing in the modified class. Gaining experience and speed on the track is really done best in small, progressive steps.

My advice is to get a few track days under your belt on various tracks and take advantage of the instruction that is available. Pick the brains of people that have been doing this for a long time and save yourself a lot of time and money. I know from experience. If I would have asked more questions at the track, I would have spent my money more wisely on the correct things the first time around. There is a wealth of knowledge out there, so use it to your advantage.

This is going to wrap up episode 1.5 . This was a starter on the first steps to helping people get into TA and helping them understand more about what it is. As we keep digging in, we’ll discuss more about actual TA racing and what’s going on at the local events. Also, stayed tuned in for our ” Inside the Mind Of ” column. Here, we’re going to bring you interviews with people that are influential, not only on the West Coast TA scene, but the industry in general. Our first interviews coming up will be with Paul Leung from YimiSport Tuning, and the man, the myth, the legend, Robert Fuller, the owner of Robispec. We will also be sitting down with one the most well know track couples on the West Coast track scene, Scott VanderHeide and Kerryann De La Boost. We will be ” Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty ” and start dissecting the inner workings on local race cars and street/track cars that you will regularly see at the track.

I have met some really great people this season at the track and have made some new friends. It’s definitely an extended family.  Remember, the street is not a race track, so get to the track and see what it’s all about. You will not regret it. Fair warning though, you may get addicted. It’s very easy to do!!!!

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Craig Peyron and I’m a self employed, business owner from central California. I grew up racing motorcycles from the age of 4 and have raced just about anything with 2 wheels since then. I raced motorcycles for many many years not only because I enjoyed it but it was just what I knew. I have always had an interest and fascination with race cars but motorcycles where just more convenient.

Last year, 2012, it was finally time for a change. In November I purchased an 06 Subaru and I had every intention of just driving it on the street and doing a few track days here and there. Fate had other plans for me though. Low and behold, at my first track day with the Subaru, 2 major events took place. Event number 1) This just happened to be the re-introduction of REDLINE Time Attack. Event number 2) I met 3 key people that day that probably got the ball rolling for what was about to happen next. Mark Jager, Ken Kasitz and Martin Choi. Mark and Ken happen to be the tech guys that day and just so happen to be Subie dudes as well. We instantly had something to talk about and I instantly had questions about going faster and I hadn’t even been on the track yet. Next up was my driving instructor, Martin Choi. We went for a few rides that day and he definitely had influence on getting me up to speed before the day was over. Anybody that knows me very well already knows where this story is going. Wouldn’t you know it, I’ve been competing all year in 3 different Time Attack series.

What is time attack you ask? For those of you that don’t know, let me explain. TA ( time attack) is a form of racing where it is just you against the clock. There are many different classes based on car types and level of mods but we’ll save those details for a future article. In a nut shell, you are trying to go as fast as you can in a certain amount of time.
This website has been built to keep people informed about what’s going on in the US TA scene and also about cool car related stuff in general at times. I have been fortunate enough to become friends with the group that started this page. They are a group of not only TA enthusiast but car enthusiast as well. Them along with myself are going to do our best to keep the page followers informed on what’s new and exciting in this crazy world that is called Time Attack and also on different things that make it easier for others to get involved in this sport. Chasing the fastest lap time is not only quite addicting but it’s also a relatively easy way to get your feet wet in road racing competition.

We have been very busy with Redline Time Attack, Extreme Time Attack and Extreme All Wheel Drive competition. These are 3 different so cal series that between the 3, has something for almost everybody. We will keep you up to date on the latest info and highlights from the different events throughout the season, driver bios, car builds and many more fun articles to read.

That’s it for now. remember though, the street is not a race track. Come out to any of the track event that are available no matter what your skill level is. It’s much safer and you can really learn the limits of your car. In the mean time, stay tuned in to Attack the Track for all the latest.

Rally continues to be awesome.