This cartoon is now ancient but it plus Mike’s captioning still cracks me up!

Ah, track days. They bring me such great satisfaction, an experience I’ve yearned for my whole adult life. (Warning: this post is largely car-geek masturbation.) I put on the R-compound Kumho V710s for the first time during this 2-day track weekend extravaganza at ORP (Oregon Raceway Park) September 11-12, 2010. The first day was an HPDE and the second day was open lapping. The sticky tires were much more confidence-inspiring, although Don Wentz pointed out that they will break loose more suddenly. I wiggled a bit sliding out of turn 3 a couple times but it was nothing major. Unfortunately I don’t have video of Don Clinkenbeard going off in the dirt after turn 13 right in front of me, carrying too much speed to keep it on the track but still cognizant of not scratching his freshly repainted Elise. I was sorry he had to exit, as I wanted to follow him for awhile. The camaraderie of the club was entertaining, trading gossip and good-natured ribbing around the vrooms and growls of cars running on the track. (And the squeaks from brakes, like my own Pagid Yellows that shrieked at almost every turn.) I don’t know if I can go back to street tires again, although I have got to get the Cayman’s oil ingestion/starvation issues addressed before I use them at PIR. Then, what wheels to get? Wheel width is open, no SCCA stock category autocross rules hemming me in; the fronts could run 285’s no problem, which are probably happier on a 10″ rim than a 9″ one although there’s weight to consider. The winter season is almost here, a time to tend to the car and pine for my next high-speed fix. How nice it’s all totally legal!