ClubFR is a Midwest / Chicago based club that has been hosting drift days since 2003. Lately all of the events have been held at USA International Raceway (USAIR)
The track is about a 275 miles away from us, and staying true to driving to and from events I loaded up the car and Melissa loaded up her Jeep and we headed out. It was a beautiful drive with all of the trees changing colors.
A few stops and a few hours later we arrived at the track. It was nice to get there with enough time to hang out and setup the tent while it was still light out.
It has been a few years since I have driven this track. The last time I was there as a driver was about 4 years ago. It had also been quite a while since I have drifted anything, so I started at square one. The beginner course, which was in the parking lot with two cones. The goal here is to do some donuts and figure eights to get a feel for sliding and transitioning the car.
After a few runs in the parking lot, I was feeling more confident in sliding the car around. It was time to move over to the intermediate course. The course is super fun; it has a few sharp corners and some long sweepers.
I took a short brake before lunch to watch the advanced track, and there where not many people over there, so it seemed like a good time to give it a shot! This side of the track has a bit more risk with some concrete walls, and some deep ruts on outside edges. There is a ton of elevation change too, so much so that is has been nicknamed " the roller-coaster of love". It took a few laps to get the rhythm down. The lack of other drivers there gave me the opportunity to hot-lap until my drivers side rear tire blew out.
After some lunch with the family and letting the car cool off, I swapped to a fresh pair of tires.
I drove through most of the afternoon sessions, however my clutch was starting to get over heated. I still needed to drive this car over 4 hours back home, so it was time to pack up and head out!
On our way home we ended up running into a bit of rain, luckily we were at a gas station and I was able to put a pair of tires on Melissa's roof. A few hours later we where home safe and sound!
Overall, the event was amazing. Phill and Simba with Club FR always run great events! Pat and Ann the track managers at USAIR always provide an excellent facility for us to use. I will definitely be back for some more drifting next season. The Miata is fully setup for being a HPDE track day car and I was blown away at how well it did with nothing but a change of tires. Now the car will need its grippy Falken 615's thrown back on for one last track day next week. USAir - https://www.usairmotorsportsraceway.com/ ClubFR - https://www.clubfr.net/
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