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Thursday, July 10, 2008   

 My first Open Track event: Nelson Ledges in 1980.  
 

May 1980. Yes, you saw that right - 1980. With the Corvette Cleveland club at Nelson Ledges. I was in college at the time, had already been autocrossing my Mustang for a few months, and heard there was a "way" to get on a race track. I was already working grid and a couple of other specialties with the SCCA, so I was already familiar with Nelson Ledges - at least the parts I had worked on.

But how do you drive in a track event? No idea at all. When we walked the course and we talked about "diving thru the turn" we obviously didn't talk about corner entry, apex, or exit. We didn't know what to inflate the tires to (but we did know not to inflate them to the high-40s autocross setting!). Camber in the  front suspension was a big mystery, just starting to unfold, and camber in the turns wasn't even thought of. This was pure beginner time.

But this humble event (Nelson ledges is a small course and we didn't even hit 100 MPH) started a hobby that a has lasted for 28 years, across multiple states and countries.

Unfortunately, no pictures remain of that event. But here is a picture from an event 2 years later at Nelson Ledges:

Note the old timing tower (since replaced)... and the generally ramshackle appearance of the place. And that was the attraction. This was and still is a "club track" - low budget, but fun times and good racing. On a low budget - camping is the norm and there aren't any fancy hotels to be had! 

No discussion of Nelson Ledges can be had without mentioning their classic 24-hour endurance event. I was there during the glory years of 1982 and 1983, when factory teams raced in the event. Ford competed in the events with their Mustang SVO prototypes:


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