Nelson Ledges Fun Day interest?

NYSpeed Automotive
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For those of you not familiar, Nelson Ledges Road Course has many open to the public track days throughout the year. The cost is $140 per driver and the track is about 3 hours from Buffalo. It’s a pretty forgiving course in terms of runoff but it is a little bumpy. I went last year and can say despite the track map looking rather simple it’s a pretty challenging course because of the higher speeds for several of the corners compared to say Dunnville or TMP.

The event I attended they broke into A and B groups, with A being well track prepped cars with experienced drives and B being everything else. I ran in B with my stock road tire equipped GTO and though I was passing a lot of people I never found the traffic restricting. There are two straights where passing is allowed so you’re never behind someone for long. There were 6 official 20 minute sessions the day I went but I missed one because I had to run out for gas. There was also a final session where A and B mixed because so many people had gotten their fill but I found 5 20 minute sessions to be enough for me. What I’m saying is you’ll get a lot of seat time for your $140.

Here’s their schedule for Fun Days this year:

FunDay
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Friday, May 03, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Friday, July 05, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013

Contact Information:
Kerrie Bartzi
(440) 548-8551
kerrielane@aol.com


Admission:$140.00 per Driver.

If you’ve never done any sort of track driving this probably isn’t the event for you. There is limited instruction available compared to some of the HPDE schools at places like Watkins Glen. I did their abbreviated Nelson School that they offer at the Fun Days since I had never run there and it was just you following the instructor for a lap then him following you for a lap and about 20 minutes of classroom time with some hints about different lines. Maybe it would have been more involved had the 2 of us in the school not been to other track days but I didn’t get the feeling these were set up for a lot of hands on coaching.

They had no issues with taking a passenger as long as they had an approved helmet and had signed off on the waiver. There was no fee for bringing a spectator/passenger.

Some in car footage for those who want to see what the track is like:

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Even though I’m planning on the Glen this month, I don’t think it’s going to give me the speeds I’m looking for. I may be interested. Drive sounds manageable but wish it were shorter.

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It’s mostly highway so it goes by quick, and at that time of morning there is almost no traffic. Plus you get to watch your gps change over from night to day mode right before your eyes. Yeah, now I’m reaching on the positives.

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I have to suggest making arrangements to stay overnight the night before if its financially possible. Getting up early, making a 3+ hour drive, then trying to concentrate all day on your and other peoples driving can be difficult for many. We stay the night before and the drive home is less than amazing.

Just food for thought. Nelson ledges is a ton faster than tmp-- a lot of fun. The safety is very relaxed, sometimes a little too much. The track is very easy on brakes unlike Tmp, so those worried about wear and tear would prefer nelson over Tmp.

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I’m up at 6am M-F anyway, so getting up 30 minutes earlier to be on the road by 6 isn’t a huge deal. About 20 minutes after leaving Nelson though the adrenaline of the day wears off and the ride home starts to suck. Bringing a friend helps because you’ve got someone to talk to on the way back.

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This looks sweet. Any history with guys crashing into eachother, or is that not a big concern at this track?

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Lapping days are pretty strict on keeping out the assclowns, plus the cost of a day of lapping ($130 for the track, plus I burn a set of race pads and a full tank of gas just on the track in one day) keeps out the majority of the street racer type idiots. You’re only allowed to pass on the two straights and only after the car in front gives you the signal to pass so it’s not like you’re door to door racing your street car.

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Ok, so you’re looking at $100 in gas to get there and back, another $75 in gas at the track, $230 in race pads, and $130 for the track… So its easily a $500-600 day. Yeah that will keep a bunch of people out.

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I would love to try something like this one day, just don’t think my car is really cut out for it though…

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I wouldn’t mind taking the 335 out to see how it feels on the track. May 12th is a little early for me, though.

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Once I trust my E30 enough for the drive out there I want to get in on a few days. It’s time for me to expand beyond just going to the glen because it’s close.

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Interedte

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Nelson is the most forgiving track on pads, you should be able to get 10 - 15 track days out of RACE pads there.

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Can it happen? Absolutely, but as it was said, they go to lengths to do their best to prevent it from happening.

The people that are there take their track days very seriously-- you dont need to worry about ricers being idiots. CSCS at TMP on the other hand is a ricer convention and you most likely will get killed.

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I run EBC Yellow’s on the GTO and there was about 1/4 pad left after 1 day, so not enough to bother saving them for another event.

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Oh god. You need to switch pads or add more lightness. Dtc-60s on my sti had 50% life left after 4 or 5 Tmp days and 1 nelson, and we all know how tough Tmp is on brakes.

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I knew EBC Yellows were going to be bad, but I would have guessed you could get at least 3-4 Nelson days out of them.

I’d have to find my scrap piece of paper but I measured (free “Italian” mystery prototypes) pads before and after the 2009 Lamest Day IIRC .490" starting, .250" ending… 24 hours straight + practice… although we use less braking zones. 10 hours of Gingerman (Dunnville level of braking) took them down to ~.050"

The Carbotech RP-2 wear even slower than that but are very finicky with bedding and deposit build-up. I never did a proper bed in on XP10s and did not have that issue, but I have read of one person complain about the XP10 depositing. So play it safe and do the bed in procedure if you go with Carbotech.

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My hawk ht10 have seven track events on them and are getting pretty thin now. They maybe have one event left on them but it is pushing it. I have destroyed a hunch of rotors though. They have fantastic fade resistance on my setup. Nelson is a fantastic track for a fun day. You don’t need track pads to go to a event like this. Just ease up on the brakes a bit and don’t power into the and stand on the brakes at the last second. Or run better tires so you don’t have to slow down so much into corners. Just some thoughts.

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I’m interested in any/all track days. Nelson is one of my favorite tracks and it very easy on brakes. I’ll be doing a few of the fun Friday’s this year. I like the fact that you don’t have to pre-register, so if you find out Thursday that it’s going to snow you can bail.

230 in pads for one day is excessive. Remember Jay’s car is probably one of the hardest on brakes in existence (weight, lack of cooling, rotor size ect…). Most people, even newbs should get at least 10-15 track days at Nelson with a set of non EBC pads.

I’m also with Stuie, I prefer to go down the night before. 3 hours there + 3 hours back + track time is a bit much for me.

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I really think I need to experiment with something other than the yellows. Looking at the Carbotech XP10’s right now. That and some brake ducting to get some air on the back side of the rotor.