Video of Ben Weber – there, see how much fun you missed.

When it comes to track time, there are two ways to view a gray, wet, rainy day – a pessimist might see it as a bad day and choose to stay home; an optomist as a chance to learn how to control a car at high speed under difficult conditions. The fifty or so folks who showed up for the first GWS driving event of 2009, clearly fell into the optomist group. Neither the weather nor the standing (and sometimes flowing) water on the track could dampen the desire to get in some track time.

The day provided a perfect opportunity for drivers to learn the wet line around Summit Point's 2.1 mile main circuit, and learn the students did. From the effort to find a (relatively) water-free place to unpack, change tires, and prepare for tech, to the difficulty of applying tech stickers and car numbers to rain-covered windows, all participants pitched in to make sure the classroom session started on time. Chief Instructor Tom Newman, a GWS regular, got things off to a good start with a clear presentation on procedures, track behavior, flags, and the rules of the event.

Despite a brief delay to get an exception to the windows down rules because of the steady, moderate rain, track sessions started at close to the scheduled time, with instructors out first to help them get ready to help the students.

Let's just say the track was a bit slippery in places, and lots of dirvers got to test their recovery skills. One or two unfortunates got up close and personal with tire walls (one in turn nine, the other in turn five), but the off-course excursions were at slow speed and the damage was limited to mud (lots of mud) and sheet metal damage. One of the tire-wall victimes took a short drive home, washed mud off and came back to run the rest of his sessions – suffice it to say he was a little more cautious, but by the end of the day was circling the course with more confidence – enough confidence that he's ready for another HPDE.

Two run sessions were delayed while the wrecker went out to pull cars out of a tire wall, but by the end of the day, everyone got at least four twenty-minute sessions. And, despite the weather, you could see from the happy faces that this was a successful event. A tip of the (figurative) GWS hat to Driving Events Chair Joe Wozney for setting this all and to the instructors who took on the challenge of teaching students how to go fast safely in the rain. Our thanks also to the folks at Summit Point Motorsports Park for all the work they did to make the day possible.

Lesson for those of you who stayed home – rain or shine, we run and it's even more fun (and a bigger opportunity) to learn when it's raining, so be sure to watch for the 2010 event schedule and come out and brush off a winter's worth of cobwebs with us at Summit Point. And don't be shy about registering for this year's driving events scheduled for June, July, and September.