Anyone familiar with this event? From what I was told, it’s a private event sponsored by Marlboro where they get professional drivers to take you for a ride around the track. My friend Mike won an invite to this and is letting me go as the guest. His little info packet said they have a Panoz, something or other and a Mustang. At first I thought we were going to be driving the cars, but I guess it’s more like a carnival ride with us sitting shot gun. Sounds like a good time, but would be better if we got to beat on the cars for a bit. Also, I think they said the track is closed the entire week of the event.
SleeperGTP did this last year.
Hopefully he’ll chime in whether it was cool or not.
Or use teh ‘Search’
http://pittspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28114&highlight=marlboro
Ya, me and my buddy went last year. It is worth it IMO. They start off with hooking you up with a bookbag full of stuff, then u sit and have snacks while u wait for youir turn on the track where you will ride shotty with pro drivers for 5 laps in a panoz GTS. Youl hit about 130-140 or so on the track, then when your done u hit up the drifting part of it in the 6cyl rustangs for 5 laps as well. All in all it’s cool, then afterwards they take you into their makeshift building for all u can eat food and hook u up with some more stuff. Go for it man, it is free and fun as hell.
Sounds like a good time to me 
Any day at the track > *
I got the invite as well, so I will be there!!!
I got my invite in the mail today…I will be on vacation during that week so if someone else wants it hit me up so i can take it out of the garbage
Consider it hit; I’ll take it.
In the package it says the person it’s assigned to has to be the one to show up. They made it apparent they will be checking IDs. But worth a shot??
i’m sure you would be ok
How do you get a legit invite in the first place? I’d love to ride shotgun just to see the lines a pro takes. I’d learn more from that than I would from an instructor telling me.
You will get decent instruction at a BeaveRun lapping day. BTW - I am an instructor there from time-to-time.
A few years back, I got invited to a private event at BeaveRun that was hosted by Bobby Rahal Automotive Group. This was supposed to be an event for good/wealthy customers of Rahal but a woman I know was dating a Rahal sales rep and they got me an invitation since they know that I race. They had Mercedes, AMGs, Jags, Volvo’s and Austin Martin’s. We got to run them on the autcross pad, kart track and North track. We had the option to drive with one of their drivers as passengers or ride with their drivers.
They had pro drivers (including Graham Rahal) and for most of the drivers this was the first time they ever saw the track. The first car that I took out was one of those full-sized, V8 supercharged Jags (XJR?). I jumped in, a pro driver jumped in the passenger seat and the sales guy jumped in the back. By about turn 4 my pro driver was yelling at me that I was going too fast and my line was terrible. I looked in the mirror and the sales guy mouthed “ignore him and go for it”. I did and also provided a narrative of what I was doing and why.
I then started arguing with the pro driver that the line he was suggesting was not the fast way around the track. The argument continued until we pitted in. I asked him how many times he had run the track and he said that today was the first time he ever saw it. I suggested that he try my line and see what he thought. He just got pissed off at the mere suggestion. Later in the day, it was the driver taking passengers. He rolled up to a bunch of us in an AMG and motioned for me to get in the car. The guy at the front of the line got in (it wasn’t my turn) and he was pissed. Eventually, I got a ride with the guy and he said that my line was pretty good. He was trying to scare me during the ride (yeah, right) and it was then that I told him that I was a track instructor.
There is no doubt that that guy is a better driver than me. However, just because you’re a pro driver doesn’t necessarily mean that you instantly know the fast line around a track.
I say all of this to tell you that the people with the most seat time at BeaverRun aren’t pros - they are the track instructors. If you have used the track instructors and believe that they aren’t teaching you the best line for your car, try different lines and see what works for you.
…I run a very unconventional line through the exit of turn 5 through the entrance to turn 7 and I actually brake for 9. People think it is goofy but I happen to hold the class lap record with that “goofy” line…
^off the soap box yet? 
U need to show your ID and the id of the person u invited so it won’t work…
Yeah, man, please, with all due respect, understand that you may not be dealing with someone who has never driven before, either. I’ve been through open laps before and raced karts growing up; my father was an instructor at Watkins Glen when I was young. I didn’t say anything was wrong with instruction. What I said was, in effect, “I would learn more by riding shotgun with a pro”. Meaning… I learn more by example than by instruction. I just want to “feel” the line and mode of braking/acceleration in a car with someone who I know drives better and possibly different than me regardless of what track it is done at. I’m not doing it to better my own lap times at BeaveRun. So I could care less about seat time there.
Nothing more; nothing less. The key is exactly what you’d said… “The guy probably was a better driver than me”… who wouldn’t want the opportunity to ride shotgun in that situation, and get free grub out of it, too?
EDIT: Trying to edit written word so it doesn’t come off as offensive is tough. So I’ll ammend by saying my tone for this post is totally non-confrontational and simply informative.
I didn’t realize my post was seen as confrontational. If it reads that way, sorry. The only point I was tryig to make is a “pro” will not necessarily ensure a demonstration of the perfect line if he’s a noob the track. …and your point is correct - in a ridealong, the g-forces that you experience are quite educational and tell you about as much as the line itself.
…and just a minor point - yeah the guy was a better “technical” driver than me but if he didn’t adjust his line I could clean his clock. Fast driver + poor line = slow lap times. Average driver + good line = better lap times.
Lastly, I could have done what 99% of Internet posters do and just said:
“A pro driver won’t necessarly show you the fast line.”
With no explanation about why I would say that. If you search the posts that I do on this and other forums, you will find that when I provide input on a thread, I provide the input and I attempt to explain why I am saying what I am saying.
NP. No one ever reads a written post in the manner the poster may have intended. We all need an “intent” and a “tone” button for posts.
I’ve done numerous instructor laps and love that experience, even though sometimes I don’t agree with their suggested line in an AWD car. Other than riding with my dad when young (when I really didn’t “take in” what he was doing), I’ve never ridden shotgun with someone who can make the car dance like a pro can. That will be fun. And free. With food. Got my invite; time to start smoking cigarettes (fine print says “limited to recipients who are smokers”)…
It specifically says in the documentation packet that the guest does not need to be a smoker. It never made mention of the person who actually got the thing. But I’m sure they won’t make you smoke a cig to get in…