Convention #15
Memphis 2006
Road Course Track Day, Wednesday July 19.

Memphis Hot Lap
The following is offered to give SHO Convention attendees an idea of what the track is like.  Remember that the story and tips below are from people driving totally different cars from the SHO or what you may be driving.  If the story below takes it to the edge, we recommend that you NOT approach that edge till you are VERY confident of your skills and know the track.

Also note that one map we have of the track shows just 8 turns and this story has 9, and they are marked differently.  The accompanying map goes with the story.

Turns 1 & 2 - Memphis is a flat track which is relatively easy to learn. As you pull out of the pits you begin just in front of the start/finish line, about halfway down the front straight of the 2 mile course. You are going clockwise. Check your mirrors for cars already on course, then drift to the far left edge of the straight. Continue accelerating until you reach the first of 3 brake stripes. At full speed you will be at 135mph +. Apply firm, steady, hard braking before you enter turn 1. Turn in at the end of the guardrail. This is a broad sweeper that you can carry quite a bit of speed in. Gently start your turn in. I put my right tires on a crack in the pavement which has a bit of grass growing in it. Because it follows the turn, the crack is a good landmark for the first 1/3 of the turn. At the end of the crack is a yellow stripe of paint going across the track. You should begin your turn-in towards the apex about 5 yards in front of the stripe. As you tighten your turn more and more, you should be looking for a squiggly yellow paint mark right at the apex area. Gently begin to apply throttle as you approach the apex, letting the car drift towards the exit of the turn. The folks at MIMP were kind enough to add a strip of pavement on the outside edge of turn 2 to extend the exit area. If both left tires are on this and your speed is just right, you can apply full throttle by the end of the strip of new pavement. Its a great feeling. If you have too much speed, you may see what its like to fly in your car (just ask me, I know) because there is a ditch about 20 yards to the outside of the exit! Immediately upon starting the exit of turn 2, your eyes should be on the rumble strip on the inside of turn 3.

Turns 3 & 4 - After exiting turn 2, drift across the track and set the car up on the right side of the track applying full throttle. You shouldn't have to lift again until turn 4 (the esses) and you'll be approaching 110mph. Lightly kiss the rumble strip on the inside of turn 3 then train your eyes at the rumble strip on the inside entrance of turn 4. You've got to drop from about 110mph to 20mph in a very short distance, so do everything you can to slow the car down! In my opinion, throw away the beginning of the esses so you can carry speed out of it's exit. One other thing I learned on the entrance to turn 4 is to use the rumble strip to get the car slowed and turned to the right. If you hit it hard enough, it will almost snap your car around the turn, requiring far less braking than you'd otherwise need. Of course if you hit it too hard you'll use up your suspension and require an alignment and probably new hubs (after trashing the bearings). If you don't slow down enough, you will definetly be "straightening" out the esses. Once you complete the right turn entrance to the esses, you'll find yourself immediately turning back left. Hold your car in the middle of the track; there is no need to bury the throttle here. As you come around left, you'll begin to look towards the exit of the esses (another right hander). When I saw the rumble strip on the final right turn out of the esses, I would hold the steering wheel left about 1 or 2 seconds longer than you'd normally think to, then I'd dive hard right toward the inside rumble strip tagging it lightly with the right tires. By this time I'm looking at the blue 50 gallon drum toward the entrance of turn 5. If you do this, you will be carried out the exit of the esses and kiss the last rumble strip of turn 4 with the left side tires.

Turns 5 & 6 - There is a short straight between the exit of turn 4 (the esses) and the entrance of turn 5 & 6 (the 90's). You should be able to reach 90mph by the braking point in front of turn 5. You'll be exiting turn 4 on the left side of the track, but as I said earlier, aiming for a blue 50 gallon drum somewhere in the pits (ed note: that blue drum is probably long gone - we'll need to find another landmark). This will set you up to cross to the right side of the track and that's where you want to be well before turn 5. Again, you'll need hard braking before the first 90 degree turn. There are two patches of concrete here. I start braking about 5 yards in front of the first and begin my turn in at the second. If you carry too much speed into this turn then you may end up spinning through some grass and mud and have some washing to do later! Turn 5 and turn 6 are a fast pair of turns. Turn 6 leads onto the back straight so you want to maximize your speed coming out of six. As soon as you hit the apex of turn 5, the car will be pulling to the right of the very, very short straight connecting the 90's. You'll want to get the car as far over to the left as possible, then dive toward the inside rumble strip of turn 6. Regardless of how you approach this, you want to end up with the car drifting toward the left of edge of the back straight. You should be able to apply hard throttle here briefly as you prepare for the entrance to turn 7.

Turns 7, 8 & 9 - The final turns are probably the hairiest for the inexperienced simply because of the concrete walls. But they are not that difficult if you respect them. I think you can also treat them as one big sweeper which leads to the front straight. I use the gates to the pit area as my landmarks for the entrance to turn 7. I begin braking at the start of the second gate and start my turn in at the end of the second gate. Of course the car should be on the far left of the track. As I begin my braking, I'm looking at the white barrel where the flagger stands on the inside of turn 7 as my apex. I'll never forget working corner 7 and watching Reese Cox (ed's note: this was at the Memphis '96 Event - Reese is now a pro racer driving a C5 Corvette racecar in Speed Channels GT World Challenge!) come within inches of the inside corner of the wall. That is the key to this group of turns. You can almost immediately start to apply light but gentle throttle here. The car will begin to drift towards the outside wall and that is sort of intimidating at first, but if you peg turn 7's apex just right, you are 100% in control of how close you get to the outside wall of turn 8/9. You simply control it with how much throttle you apply. As the car settles into the drift of 8/9, you should be looking for the apex of turn 9. It will be the very inside corner leading onto the 60' area of the dragstrip that begins the front straight. Peg this apex and you should be under full throttle drifting towards the outside wall of the beginning of the front straight. Once you straighten her out, its pedal to the metal & rowing through the gears until you start it all over again at the end of the straight. Don't forget to check your instruments, watch for flags at the start/finish and breath while going down the front straight, and have fun! Ken Rahaim

Sage Words from a First Timer
Memphis was my first attempt at road racing and it was a great but humbling experience. I quickly learned that I was no where near as good a driver as I thought I was. While I may be King of the on-ramp I'm just a subject on a road course. In the midst of my first 360 (on my very first lap) I just hoped that the guy behind me was a better driver than I was.

Having now gained respect for the track I adopted the philosophy of slow and steady, and I'll improve gradually. A few more times on the track and I'll give Roger a call and ask for little Al's seat (ed's note: John wrote this in 1997. John has since graduated to the experienced group. As for little Al, well, he's no longer driving for Roger). John Griswold

One Driver's Journal
Day One - I came to Memphis for the Road Racing and I wasn't going to let a little rain spoil the fun (ed's note: Neil wrote this about the Memphis '97 event). I was in the Instructor group so we got to go out first on the first day. The rain has just about stopped but the track is still very wet and there is standing water in some of the turns. Since it is so wet I decide to stay on my GSC's. The first lap I take it slow as I submarine through the puddles on track. As I come onto the straight (the dragstrip) I try to give it a little gas, WHOA!, it is like driving on ice. Sure enough on the next lap around I see that a red WS6 has spun coming on to the straight and has hit the wall. "This is an ominous start," I think to myself as I drive by. I finish the session learning the track and picking up my speed greatly as the track starts to dry.

Now I get to be an instructor. This is my first time doing in car instruction on a road course. For those of you who had me I hope I did you some good, I tried to emulate the instructors I had at Summit Point. As the sessions progress the track nearly dries up except turns 5 and 6 (The 90's) are still damp. In one of the sessions I am on the track and pass John Kelchen in his white Firehawk who has spun off course ( as usual ;-). He is getting back on course and will be behind me. John is a great driver in a strong car (290hp rear wheel) but I am determined to try and stay in front of him, or at least make him earn his pass He closes up on me on the end of the front straight and through the turns I seem to be holding him at a constant distance. As we go into turns 5 and 6 I am pushing hard and on the exit of turn 6 I get into some slick stuff and the car drifts to the outside; too much this time. I get two wheels off into the grass and I back out of the gas. I signal to let John go by and get back on the track. Oh well, that ended up being the only time I got passed this weekend.

Day Two - The day starts out dry so I will run the R1's. I now have full confidence and the laps are getting real fast. In one session I am slowly chasing down Ken Rahaim and we pass a white WS6. On the next lap around, just as I am really starting to close in ;), we come upon the aftermath of the wreck. The white WS6 has hit the wall after coming out of turn 6. Looking at the video, he did the same thing I did coming out of 6 except he never got out of the gas and let the car go off into the grass. The rear of his car slid on the grass, the car made a sharp right, and he went straight into the wall. Luckily no one was hurt but there was heavy damage to the car. I am sure that this made the rest of the drivers think twice about what they were doing, but the event must go on.

On one of the next sessions I give Jeff Creech a ride and run some of my fastest laps, I think. On the last session of the day we run in a steady rain. The R1's do suprisingly well as long as I don't hit the standing water (which covered most of the front straight where I might as well have had balloons for tires). Nonetheless, it was a great experience and all I can say for the next national event is MORE TRACK TIME!! Neil Schoenberg

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