Summit Point Main – 2020

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By Jamie Kavalieros

Summit Point – a lot of firsts The July 18th-19th Summit Point Driver School and Club Race was our first track event of the season. It is usually our third event. Many of the attendees were unaware that it almost didn’t happen. The problem was two-fold. West Virginia COVID cases were on the rise and we feared New Jersey would add WV to the list of states for 14-day quarantine. Luckily, WV was not added. The second obstacle hit us on the Monday before the event.

WV announced a ban on all group gatherings over 25 people. Somehow Summit Point was allowed to get special permission for track events. This was partly due to the amount of acres Summit Point encompasses and assurances that we would not congregate in any one area more than 25 people and individuals would remain in their paddock stall when not on track. This news came on the Tuesday before the event. We did not do in-car instruction at Summit. BMW CCA National guidelines would not allow instructors in student cars. Instead we did a Lead/Follow format of instruction, another first for us. We only had 2 student groups instead of the usual 3. Unfortunately, we did not allow any never-been-to-the-track students or even newish beginner students. Not more than 2 students were paired with an instructor and did follow-the-leader instruction. We added some new drills and exercises for the students to sharpen their skills.

Instructors are usually allowed to take passengers for rides. This was also not allowed unless it was a cohabitant of the instructor. I believe there were only 3 passengers out all weekend.

This was also the first Northeast region BMW CCA Club Race. It was apparent the racers were eager to get on track. The racer turnout for this event was at the maximum amount for this size track. The event was also designated a North American Challenge Race. This designation meant there would be 4 races. Three of the races would award 150% points and 1 at regular points.

The last first was my son. He was the only first-time student and the only student who had in-car instruction. The instructor was me, his father and cohabitant.

We still have one event on the calendar. The Shenandoah Driver School at Summit Point event, October 3-4. We will more than likely run the same lead/follow student format as the Summit Point July event.

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