Racers Clinic, Part 2

by Chet Kolley

Three years ago, I completed my second POC racer’s clinic at Spring Mountain. To say that weekend was by far the most fun I’d had behind the wheel of a car or frankly any sporting event to that point in my life would be an understatement. I knew what this group of future racers were about to experience. They were going to pull together all of the driving skills they’d learned to this point, add in some wisdom from the classroom about racing – in particular racing with the POC – and demonstrate on track to themselves, to their fellow drivers, and to the Chief Driving Instructor that they had what it takes to race competitively with the POC. The goal of the racer’s clinic is to prepare drivers for ‘one of the most intense and exciting experiences of your life.’ The foundation of that preparation is to learn, understand and accept the philosophy of club racing. The POC has a renowned program to prepare and produce safe, competent, and competitive racers, and the clinic component is perhaps the biggest and most important step in the program. It takes years of preparation – PDS, Time Trials, other equivalent experiences, a substantial commitment, and it can be it bit daunting. As the group assembled for the first classroom session with Dwain Dement, our Chief Driving Instructor, and his assistants for this Clinic, long time POC racers Mike Monsalve and Duane Selby, the uniqueness of this Clinic was clear. We were at someplace new. Charleston Peak is Spring Mountain’s brand new, 18 turn, 2.76 mi, FIA Grade 3 track, and this was POC’s first event there. New classroom, new track layout, new track surface, new entry and exit procedures. Everything was new. Every Racer’s Clinic has a bit of nervousness in the air, and the newness of Charleston Peak probably added a bit to this weekend.

Fortunately, there were 3 Spring Mountain members in the class, and they helped the rest of the drivers learn the track in a lead-follow fashion. As the weekend progressed, the nervousness was quickly replaced by eagerness and big smiles all around.

Branimir Kovac pitched in with another new element to the clinic that seemed to be a big success, and that was the use of real POC video to demonstrate the concepts being discussed by Dwain, Mike, and Duane. And since forward-facing video is a requirement of the GCRs for racers, using it during the clinic seems like an idea that was overdue. Seeing real demonstrations from POC racing on the tracks we know to illustrate and emphasize specific points is invaluable from a learning and recall perspective. From talking to several racers-to-be, this class had a fairly typical mixture of paths that had brought them to the clinic. Some people joined the POC and bought cars like BSRs or Clubsports specifically to go racing, and this was the culmination of the POC training ladder. Others joined us for the PDS to learn performance driving skills and the capabilities of their cars on track, and they found the very slippery slope... No matter how they got here, they found a fabulous learning environment, skills refinement through on-track exercises, and the camaraderie that results from the fun and trust-building of the entire weekend. While future racers came here from various paths, there was certainly a favorite car in this class. More than half of the attendees will make the BSR class even more fun and competitive in the coming seasons. Imagine fields of 20+ BSRs in Orange Cup Races! We also welcome a few more Clubsports to the Red Cup Racing Group. The culmination of each Racer’s Clinic is the Clinic Cup Race at the end of the weekend that pulls together all the classroom and on-track training into a thrilling session that’s a demonstration of safe, sportsmanlike, and competitive racing. From the drop of the green to the waving of the checkered, for many it’s the most exhilarating experience imaginable. Great job to this group for successfully completing their Clinic Cup Race with new friends and competitors on a brand new track.

Congratulations and welcome to POC racing, Class of Fall 2022: Jake Stone, Kim Fowler, Brian Cooner, Diane Johnstone, David Ewles, Andy Sloane, John Connelly, Grant Murray, Austin Bowen, Mark Seiler, William Robinson, Alistair Belton, Alan Watts, Mickey Giacomazzi, Patrick McDermott, Matt Juarez, Ryder Liu, Adam Abrahms, and Satakal Khalsa.

Looking forward to seeing you on the track!

Luis Vivar

Chet Kolley

Chet Kolley