Record Your Track Days

Published: November 26, 2013

Regardless of if you are a novice or an experienced driver, you should keep a record of your track days. This will help you with run group promotion, and later with maintenance schedules and figuring out how long car parts last in track usage.

Run Group Promotion

Most organizations loosely require a certain number of days in each run group before you are moved into the next run group. Especially if you drive with different organizations, it is on you to keep accurate count of the number of days you spend in each run group.

A simple list of events you have done is often enough to at least start a productive conversation as to which run group you should be in.

You should also keep track of the number of track days you have done at each track you have been to. Some organizations require a certain number of track days at the particular track to be in a certain group or drive solo.

Self-Evaluation

As you gain experience, you will be able to gauge your own ability level at a particular track based on how many days you have spent driving it. For example, if you have 10 track days total but only 2 track days at a particular track, you may decide to request an instructor when you visit that particular track but not when you are at a track you are more familiar with. Having an accurate record of how many days you have driven at each track will help you make a decision in this regard.

Self-Promotion

If you find that you are not being moved up in a particular organization as fast as you would like, you can compare your actual experience across all organizations with the formal requirements in the organization you have trouble with. If you exceed the formal requirements, you might consider promoting yourself.

Time Trials, Racing, Instructing

Track day records are not just for instructed drivers. Many organizations require a certain amount of experience to compete in time trials, wheel to wheel racing or competition school, or to become an instructor.

Maintenance

Maintenance schedules and service life of race car parts are primarily determined by "track hours". If you make it a habit to record your events, you will be well on your way to keep track of when you need to change consumables on your track car.

If the number of hours driven is too much to keep track of, the number of track days driven is the next best alternative.

Tagged: novice, intermediate