CVR’s second half of the DE season started with some absolutely spectacular great weather – a little hot, but great nonetheless, for driving on track. 

At the Monday morning driver’s meeting, I was surprised with an award from Todd Pajonas, for showcasing my exemplary skills of ‘what not to do on track’.  (For those who don’t know, my oil plug was not in properly on my 944, and I put a lot of oil down, to my dismay and for all the other drivers, as well, at an event in May, at LRP).  Todd made up the Oil Consumption award with an empty oil container and a drain plug, mounted to a plaque.  Leave it to Todd to find the humor in it, but also make a good point on driver on-track awareness. Todd’s presentation reminded us all that DE should be fun, but at the same time, safe.  It was all in good fun and everyone had a good laugh.  The humor set the tone for a perfect event.  Thank you, Todd – I mounted the trophy in my trailer as a reminder: right tighty, lefty loosey. 

CVR was at Watkins Glen at the end of June, with two days in a row of perfect weather and tons of track time.  On Monday night, we held a dinner buffet at the Harbor Hotel for the drivers and their guests.  After dinner but before dessert, everyone got a chance to select a shirt from the “extras” that we’ve accumulated over the years.  There were long-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts, sweatshirts, and even a couple of jackets, all in a variety of colors with different CVR DE logos. The dinner is a highlight of our WGI events.  It’s nice to sit and talk with your track friends and maybe trash-talk just a little, with lots of laughs.

Seamus Brown took some photos at WGI, when his group was off track.  Seamus is always willing to give up some of his free time to take pics and when he offers, we accept! The drivers love receiving pictures of their car on track (for free!).  Some of his photos are included in this article.

The CVR LRP event on July 14th was no different weather-wise.  We had perfect weather (if you like it hot and humid) and no precipitation.  On the morning of the event, the weather forecast called for a 60% chance of rain in Lakeville.  I even told the drivers in the morning meeting that they were lucky to get the chance to drive in the wet because not everyone gets a rainy track day.  Well, we got one spritz of rain for what seemed like 15 seconds in the afternoon and that was it. There were parts of the state that got dumped on, all the while we were at Lime Rock, dry as a bone.  We live near New Fairfield – they got 4.6 inches in a couple of hours, NYC subways got flooded, the Taconic was under water, but LRP was dry.  Our DE drivers were lucky that it didn’t rain in Lakeville’s tiny corner of the state.  I’m not saying that driving in the rain isn’t fun, it’s just more fun when it’s dry.  Driving in the rain is a great learning tool – things slow down and you learn to feel the car a whole lot more.

All of the July DE drivers received a nice shirt sponsored by Salvio Motorworks.  Andrew Salvio is one of our DE drivers and is the owner of Salvio Motorworks, located in New Britain, CT.  They perform service on Porsches and other European makes, from an oil change to an engine rebuild. When it’s time to get your car teched for a DE, Andrew does it at no cost.  Thanks again to Salvio Motorworks for sponsoring our July shirt giveaway.   So many drivers wore their brand new shirt that day, because they soaked through their first shirt with sweat, due to the heat and humidity.

We had a first for the CVR DE program with an electric car, and not just any electric car.  Sam brought his Taycan Turbo S and the car did not disappoint – it drove as well on track as any new combustion engine Porsche could. The other drivers commented on how fast the car left them behind when Sam “hit the gas”.  Haha, I know, no gas.  The balance in and out of the corners was amazing and the acceleration was in a league of its own – just crazy seat of the pants, pin you in the seat speed. I’m not saying that I’m going out to buy an electric car today, but it was very impressive.  Sam did need to go up the hill to the Midway, in between sessions, to utilize the Lime Rock Park charging system.  Thanks to Sam for ‘breaking the ice’ with an electric car at a CVR DE. So, for all you Taycan owners, yes, you can (and should) do a track day with your Taycan. We also had a father/son (Josh and Ben) sharing a Panamera. We’ve had Panamera’s on track in the past, so this wasn’t a first, but they are not seen on track that often.

Thanks to CVR Club Photographer Jim McKay for coming to the July DE, to take pics of our drivers on track.  We appreciate the time that our club photographers donate to the DE program because the DE team doesn’t have the time to go to different sections of the track to take photos.  Sure, you can go take a pic from the hill with your phone, but the photographers come with the ‘real cameras’ and their pics are so much better.   And unless you are super talented, it’s difficult to take a pic of yourself, in your car, driving on track, from the sidelines.

Now, to totally switch lanes ~ As our 2025 season goes on, we, along with many other DE programs, find it difficult to at least break even by season’s end, with all of the track fees being very expensive.  With the cost of track rental facilities going up each year, we have had to pass on the price increase to our participants.  Our program has run at a loss for the past several years, even with the fee increase to the drivers, with this year being no different.  There are other programs out there that let the instructors drive for free, but that instructor-savings-cost gets passed on to the students and solo drivers.  PCA has a rule that says you have to pay to play, so our instructors all pay to drive, but get a discount, since without them, we can’t have a DE program.

One option we have is to cut down on the number of track days we take for each season, but it will hurt further growth in the future, as when you give up a track day, it’s difficult to get it back since many of the tracks are running their own private clubs and take a lot of days for themselves.  Or, with the case of Watkins Glen, NASCAR has the right to take whatever dates they want (and they do).

Most agree that DE is a great social part of any PCA region, along with being a stepping stone for those drivers that want to go into club racing or even some level of professional racing.  Besides the fun social part of DE, driving on the track is a learning experience that you just can’t practice on the local streets or highways.

Many DE drivers have made some lifelong friends because of PCA programs.  Susan and I have been to weddings, bbq’s, birthday parties for friends and the friend’s kids, Christmas plays, dinner parties, and just general hang out and have fun days, all with friends that we’ve met through the CVR DE program. 

We (the DE committee) work very hard to put on great DE events, including walking beginners through what it takes to participate in their first DE, and then on their progress as they become solo and advanced drivers.  Once a driver is in the advanced group, they have some great options:  staying in the advanced group, joining the CVR DE instructor program, going over to club racing or even going pro or semi-pro.  The DE program is a vital part of PCA and the sustainability of the club racing program.

I could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the idea – the CVR DE program is great, but losing money is not financially good for any club, especially a not-for-profit club.  It’s sad that DE could become less important within the club because of the financial losses. 

I decided to reach out to a friend of mine who is also a friend of CVR.  He agreed to help us financially, to keep our DE days on the schedule for the future, so he offered to make a monetary contribution to the CVR DE program for 2025.  My friend is John Goetz and he started out with the CVR DE program 25 years ago and worked his way up from a green rungroup driver to a PCA instructor and PCA club racer, and has run in the IMSA Carrera Cup series for roughly the last 10 years.  John took this year off from the Carrera Cup series but can still be seen at many PCA club races, where this year he stood at the top of the podium at Watkins Glen, winning with his 992 Cup Car.

I want to thank John, on behalf of everyone involved in the CVR DE program, for his support and contribution to the CVR DE program.  John is on the same page as us, that PCA offers the opportunity to all ages of drivers (18+) to get behind the wheel and learn how to drive their car at speed, either driving at their local DE or excelling to the level of professional racing. I cannot thank John enough for his generosity, so when you see him in the pits next time (look for car #287 at a DE), please say “hi” to him and thank him for his generosity and for being as passionate about our sport as we are.  THANK YOU, JOHN!

If you haven’t been to a CVR DE yet this year, or ever, there are still a couple more opportunities for you to get on track and see what all of the fun is about.  Register on ClubRegistration.net and experience what we all know is so much fun.

See you at the track.

Dave