Thompson Speedway Member Day - 4/29/15

by Sterling V

Some days are truly better than others. Today was special. At the invitation of brother Attilio, a few of us lucky souls got to venture up to Thompson, Connecticut for a bit of fun doing circles around their Speedway road course today. I had been planning to go for some time, as I'm a bit of a "track [woman-of-the-night]", in family-friendly parlance. At the last minute I convinced Christian to make the trip with me and to bring at least one of his siblings along as well. With his brother-in-law, a car nut who makes me look quite tame, in town from California, I was sure it would be him, but instead I met Steve from Boston, his other brother, at the track. And Steve was a phenomenal guy.

Christian and I set off after our morning kid-obligations were met and some of the winter grime was off the lovely 911 Targa. What's great about these member-day invitations is that there is no particular rush to get there, unlike the club race days where stuff has to happen like clockwork or some volunteer will be miffed at you. On member days, the staff is there for us and it is truly unique. Attilio is a blessed soul for allowing us unwashed heathens to sully his little slice of heaven. Unfortunately, Attilio was working the morning and would attend later. Sadly we'd exchange headlight flashes later as he was arriving and we were departing around 2:30pm to once again fetch the kids from busses and FASRI. We can't thank you enough, Attilio!! Hope you had a blast!!

On arrival, we got our act together in the pit garage, got tech inspected, and got briefed on the basics of track info: flags, pit speeds, "in-a-spin-two-feet-in" etc. And we got to head out for a lead-follow parade lap to get to know the track a bit. Having enjoyed a few days here last year, it was a nice refresher. For anyone who wants to get to be decent on a racetrack, I highly recommend writing down notes after you go out while it's fresh in your mind. It's amazing how much came back to me and just how quickly based on the notes I jotted last year. You'd be surprised. 

Christian is a man who probably has worked more in his 30ish years than many would in 60ish years, so seeing him get to spend some good time enjoying the amazing little blue gift from his wife today was rather priceless. He is a humble man who has little to be humble about. He's good people for sure. And so, it turns out, is his brother! Steve is working hard to create some unique value up in Boston and seeing him out on track for the first time today brought back all of the crazy emotions that happen the first time. You're scared as hell. And excited as all get out. And nervous. And worried. So many things to overcome, but overcome he did and he got out there in a car he'd not even seen before today and put down some laps! Congrats on a job well done, Steve! 

Courage is an easy word to say, but having been through the fear/uncertainty/doubt that inevitably grips your soul when you contemplate taking a car out on a racetrack, I must say that it takes a bit of a deep dive to go find that strength the first time. Once you're over that, it becomes far more easy, but it really is an experience that changes you. These machines are intoxicating and what they can really do is astounding. Then what you can learn to do with them becomes astounding. Why else are we alive, but to find this out?