We are excited to announce our 2015 Track Junkies lapping event schedule, as well as some changes to the Track Junkies program that we hope will make our events even more enjoyable and popular.

Special Events with Ross Bentley

We are very pleased to announce that Ross Bentley will be coming to Edmonton for a couple of special events to kick off our 2015 season …

• Friday, April 24 – Instructor Clinic. Open to all WCMA, NASCC, BMW AADS, and of course Track Junkies instructors and instructor candidates.
• Saturday, April 25 – Advanced Driver Clinic. Open to all solo-qualified drivers.
• Detailed information on these events is »here
• We thank WCMA and BMW AADS for financial contributions that significantly reduced the price of the Instructor Clinic.

NEW FOR 2015: TIME ATTACK run groups

You may already know that CSCC did not request any 2015 dates for their Solo1 program. To fill the gap, we will be offering at least one competitive Time Attack run group at each open lapping event, with AMB timing transponders available for rent. Participants can accumulate points throughout the season and qualify for prizes and/or trophies at the end of the season.  Time Attack run groups will use RED (Advanced) group passing protocols.  This does require a minor adjustment to our schedule … but thankfully Castrol Raceway is allowing us to run one extra hour per day so we can fit in this additional run group.

Here are our 2015 open lapping dates:

• Friday, May 8 from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (precedes WMCA race license school)
  (For clarification, a race license is NOT required for any Track Junkies events)
• Friday, May 29 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Tuesday, June 9 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Sunday, June 21 (Father’s Day) from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Friday, June 26 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• CANADA DAY Wednesday, July 1 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Friday, July 31 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Sunday, August 16 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Friday, August 28 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• LABOUR DAY Monday, September 7 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Friday, September 11 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• THANKSGIVING Monday, October 12 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Registration is already open at trackjunkies.motorsportreg.com for our entire season of lapping events.

Subway is back for 2015!

Subway has again offered to sponsor lunches at our Track Junkies open lapping events.  Please thank your fellow Track Junkies Peter Spencer and Paul Sarlis for making this great offer.

Castrol On-Track Experience is returning for 2015

In concert with  Southside Mitsubishi , Track Junkies is again partnering with Castrol Raceway to offer “On-Track Experience”, where drivers can come out and run a few laps behind the Southside Mitsubishi pace car.  This is a great opportunity for anyone who has never been on track, or who may be a bit intimidated by the prospect of solo lapping, to experience the track in a lower-intensity event format.  Dates for On-Track Experience are May 13, May 27, June 10, June 24, and July 8 (all are Wednesday evenings). The cost will be $99 for the evening.

As a corporate sponsor of Track Junkies lapping events, we are excited to announce the 2014 Track Junkies lapping event schedule, as well as some changes to the Track Junkies program that we hope will make our events even more enjoyable and popular.

 Here are the 2014 dates:

• Friday, May 2 from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM (precedes WMCA race license school)
  (For clarification, a race license is NOT required for any Track Junkies events)
• Sunday, May 11 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Friday, May 23 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Wednesday, June 4 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Friday, June 13 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Wednesday, June 18 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Tuesday, July 1 (Canada Day) from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Friday, July 11 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Wednesday, July 30 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Tuesday, August 12 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Friday, August 22 from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Wednesday, August 27 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Friday, September 12 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (precedes NASCC race weekend)
• Saturday, September 20 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

For evening events Track Junkies still offers 2+ hours of scheduled seat time, and for daytime events nearly 3 hours of scheduled seat time … a great value, that is about to get better.

Registration is already open at trackjunkies.motorsportreg.com for the entire season of lapping events.

Here are the main changes to the 2014 program:

• Rates are going down … $295 for full day events and afternoon-evening events; $195 for evening-only events; and $100 for instruction. All include GST.
• Annual memberships are no longer part of the program or rate structure.  That means no up-front membership fee, just a lower overall track rate for everyone.
• You’ll notice the schedule includes several Fridays from 1-9, rather than 9-4.  This opens up the evening before race weekends for those who are travelling, or cannot take a full day off work to practice. Also a great excuse for anyone who wants to sneak out early on Fridays!
• There will be a second drivers meeting at 5:40 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday evening events, and at 5:15PM on the Friday afternoon/evening events, to make it easier for latecomers.  Lets face it … not everyone can leave work early.
• Subway has offered to sponsor lunches on those event days where Castrol’s concessions are not open.  Please thank your fellow Track Junkies Peter Spencer and Paul Sarlis for making this great offer and looking after the logistics.
• Coordinated point-by passing in the red (advanced) run group.  This means a roll bar and 5-point harnesses and SA helmet and HANS device are no longer mandatory to test-and-tune with the big boys (you still need lots of experience and situational awareness, and you must be comfortable giving a point-by everywhere on the track and running two-wide through all the corners).
• Going to point-by passing in red group allows Track Junkies to welcome open wheel racecars test-and-tune at our events.  Yes, you read it correctly … welcome open wheel cars. So bring out your Van Diemen, your Formula Ford, your Tatus, your Thunder Roadster … all are welcome.
• Going to point-by passing in the red group also adds some instruction capacity.  Instruction will still be provided primarily in the green run group, but allowing instructors without roll bars to move up to red means we can also provide instruction in the yellow run group.  This should allow us to provide instruction to more new people at each event, and alleviate the shortage of instructors we had this season.
• Instructors … if you are working (meaning you are assigned a student), your fees will be waived entirely. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, and helping new people find their way into this great sport.
• Our first year was tough financially, so this year events will run only when 20 or more participants are registered for an event.  What this means is that if you look at the registration list a week before one of our events and see only 15 people registered, you can help us by reaching out to your track friends and getting them to commit. Of course you have to register to see the list … so thank you for committing.

Introducing the Castrol On-Track Experience:

This year Castrol Raceway will be stepping up its advertising and awareness of the road course, now that the full track is operational and much of the landscaping will be completed.  As part of this awareness campaign, Track Junkies is partnering with Castrol Raceway to offer something called “On-Track Experience”, where drivers who have never been to a track can come out and run a few laps behind the Southside Mitsubishi pace car.  If you are wondering how On-Track Experience compares to open lapping, running behind a pace car means slightly slower speeds than drivers experience at our regular events, no passing, and 5 laps per session (then get into line again if you wish). On-Track Experience is intended to be a stepping-stone to solo lapping, which we hope will generate some additional interest for all organizations that rent the road course.

This is a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in getting on track but perhaps is still a bit intimidated by the prospect of solo lapping.  Tentative dates for On-Track Experience are May 7, May 21, June 11, and July 9 (all are Wednesday evenings). The cost will be $99 for the evening.

Gifting Someone A Day At The Track:

You may know that the MotorsportReg system does not allow for gifting someone a day at the track … but we have a solution.  Partnering with Castrol gives Track Junkies access to Castrol’s ticketing system.  The Castrol Tix website  lists several Track Junkies gift options.

Its time to start planning for the new Castrol Raceway road course that opens in May!

I’m sure you’ve heard that the road course at Castrol Raceway is 80% paved, and they are on schedule to open the short 1.3 km track in May and the full 2.7 km track by August. What you may not know is that you can get on the new track with a new track group called Track Junkies.

Track Junkies has secured 12 dates at Castrol for recreational lapping in 2013.  They have a combination of Wednesday evenings and Fridays (one Saturday), with some early-season events on the 1.3km track and later-season events on the full track. And they have booked the track for the Friday before every NASCC race weekend for 2013.

All the details about the group, event formats, and rates are on our website at www.trackjunkies.ca but the highlights are:

• Twelve (12) open lapping events booked at Castrol Raceway for the 2013 season, with a couple more in the works
• Run groups with different passing protocols, ranging from passing on the straights only for more conservative drivers all the way up to open passing anywhere for the most seasoned Track Junkies
• Friday events offer up to 2.5 hours of scheduled track time per run group (Wednesday evenings offer 1.0 hours minimum per run group)
• Agreement with NASCC to manage their open lapping sessions on race weekends (4 race weekends, so 8 additional days at 1.0 hours per day of scheduled track time)
• Track booked for the Friday before each NASCC weekend, which provides four 3-day weekends on the track this season (up to 4.5 hours of potential track time over the weekend) … great for anyone travelling a long distance!
• Track booked the Friday before the tentative Chump Car weekend.
• Instruction available … if you are new to track driving Track Junkies can help you get started, or to help experienced drivers learn the line before an upcoming race.
• Annual memberships are available, with benefits that include: early registration for events, discounted fees at all events (including the 3-day NASCC weekends), and the ability to book into multiple run groups on Fridays and Wednesday evenings Track Junkies lapping events.
• Using MotorsportReg as the event registration system … very, very easy to use.

When you look at the event calendar, you’ll note several evening events in the early season, but come August it will be full day events on the full 2.7 km track.  The last 1.5 hours of the day will be open track … so up to 2.5 hours of track time of Fridays.  And of course if paving is complete earlier than August we will move all our events up to the FULL 2.7 Km track!

Annual Memberships (access to early booking, discounted fees, and booking into multiple run groups at the same event) are limited to 40 members.  The reason for this low membership cap is that the short track will have a capacity constraint, and we do not want to take so many members that the track is too busy (or worse, that annual members cannot all attend).

So … if you are interested, you can sign up for Annual Membership starting today at trackjunkies.motorsportreg.com. (registration for the first event will opens April 18 for members and the week after the car show on April 26 for non-members).

Feel free to share this information with other track enthusiasts, and we’ll see you at the track soon.

Track Junkies is sponsored by Eurasia Automotive.