Hey everyone,

Just thought I would share my experiences that I had over at HPR on Friday July 17th.

My friend Chris and I decided on Wednesday to see how things look over at HPR at one of their Friday Lapping Day events. So on Friday afternoon, we zipped on over to the track, which is about 17 miles east of Byers, just off of the intersection of CO-36 and I-70.

When we got there, right after entering the facilities, we knew something special was going on. Right there was the Boulder Nissan truck, and parked outside of it was their Nissan GT-R.



Futher in was a small group of Corvettes, a larger fleet of Mazda Miata's, a Chrysler 300C, and a whole flock of Porsche's. There was also a scattered amount of Subaru cars, a very gutted Toyota Supra, and an equally gutted, but considerably nicer looking older Honda Civic hatchback.

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Plus, there was some full on race cars, just for extra eye candy factor.



So one of the great things about a Lapping Day at HPR is that they will either set you back either $90 or $100 for a half day (8am through 12pm or 1pm through 5pm), or a full day will run you $150 or $160. If you pay in advance, its the lower price, or the higher price if you pay at the office the day of the event.

The only real restriction for cars is that the driver and passenger (if you decide to carry one) must wear a helmet on the track. Doesn't matter if its motorcycle or car specific helmet, nor does it matter if its a Full, Full Facial, or an Open Face helmet. Just needs to protect your noggin, should you have a mishap. That, and convertibles must have roll protection for the drivers head. Doesn't matter if its factory installed, or an aftermarket part.

So my friend Chris, his girlfriend Danielle, and myself arrived around 2pm, and got to wander through the pit areas and look at all the eye candy, and get a look at the action on the track, before we decided to invest in snaking our way around the track in our two cars.

Being our first times out on HPR, we chose to go in the "slow" group, which starts at the top of the hour, as apposed to the "fast" group, which starts at the bottom half of the hour. Once you choose which group to run in, you have 30 minutes to wind your way around the track at whatever pace you feel comfortable with. For us, it took that whole first session to get comfortable with the layout of the track, and to experiment with what gears are best suited for which turns, the best lines to approach the turns at in our cars, and figure out which of the braking markers (orange cones) best suits our driving style.

Following around the "slow" group cars wound up being trickier than we thought, at first.
When you get out there, and the slow group consists of anything from fully prepped Mazda Miata's, to bone stock Porsche GT3's, it can be a bit hard to keep up with someone long enough to figure out which way the track goes, and which lines work best for certain types of cars.




Once we got comfortable however, things became much easier, and the limiting factor became your driving personality, and your car. I can't stress this enough. Everyone who was out on the track was a great sport, and was very respectful of everyone else out on the track. There wasn't even one moment where I thought someone was going to attempt something stupid, nor unsafe. That is always a great feeling to know that everyone just wants to have fun, and no ego trips are taking place on the track.

This is my friend Chris in his white VW GTI in a group of 3 other cars going through the last couple turns before the start/finish line.
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Getting passed by an Evo IX
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The track is wide, smooth, technical in several spots, and has a huge amount of runoff in every corner to allow safe corrections in the dirt. There are some huge elevation changes in the northern section of the track, which tests your cars mid range pull quite effectively, which is something my '98 Boxster with its 2.5 liter flat 6 is definitely lacking in the 3k to 4k range. Second gear was my friend in those locations.

Did I mention that the track was a blast?
Oh, heck yeah!

Nothing beats being able to practice at your own pace, every single entry and exit combination that you can think of to every corner, at whatever pace you desire. By the time you are done, you have not only a better understanding of the track, but a much better understanding of your car, a greater appreciation for its abilities, and for your driving skills.

I'm looking forward to my next chance at HPR.
Next car lapping day is scheduled for July 31st, and then on August 14th.

High Plains Raceway | Your Colorado Performance Driving and Racing Future
High Plains Raceway | Your Colorado Performance Driving and Racing Future

If anyone wants to go, let me know, and I will be more than happy to join in, and meet up with you.

BC.