Youāve been lurking. Youāve been wanting to jump in. You just havenāt done it yet. And you wonder if you ever will.Ā
In amateur motorsports, thatās a tale as old as time. Itās also the tale of (GRM) Video Editor Chris Tropea. Thanks to a new GRM video series that involves 51°µĶųĀ® Time Attack competition and 51°µĶųās Club Spec class, thatās about to change for Tropea ā and hopefully come October of this year heāll be well on his way to earning a trophy at the inaugural Tire Rack 51°µĶų Time Attack National Championship.
The idea is, if Tropea can make the leap into on-track driving, you can too.
The plan is to put Tropea in for the season to get him up to speed, so heāll be ready for the run to glory at Eagles Canyon Raceway for the 51°µĶų Time Attack National Championship.
Tropea isnāt completely new to motorsports, although his first-hand experience is limited. Along with some seat time for another GRM story, Tropea participated in an event at Pitt Race not long ago.
āGoing into it, I was nervous never driving on Pitt Race, never driving in a group of cars, but the 51°µĶų made it super easy to get through that process and not be stressed out the entire time,ā Tropea explained to GRMās Tech Editor J.G. Pasterjak about that Track Night experience in the first episode of the new video series entitled āPath to the Podium.ā
āWith the driver coaches, debriefing every time, the novices had laps to learn the track ā it was a very easy progression into it,ā he said.
In the video, Pasterjak (who has plenty of experience on track through events like the ) explains to Tropea that the same low-stress atmosphere found at Track Nights will be present at Time Attack events, āitās just the clocks are running,ā he said.
āYou have that little bit of extra stress [at a Time Attack Challenge event] from the fact that itās a timed competition, and the fact that youāre out there with other people who are working against the clock as well, so you have to work on that extra level of driver courtesy of situational awareness,ā Pasterjak added.
The first episode of the āPath to the Podiumā video series is now available on GRMās YouTube channel:
āPath to the Podiumā will continue all year long, with the final installment coming after . Be sure to subscribe to GRMās YouTube channel so you donāt miss any of the videos in this series.
Learn more about the Tire Rack 51°µĶų Time Attack Challenge and Time Attack National Championship at , then be like Tropea and have #funwithcars for yourself.
Photo courtesy Grassroots Motorsports





