I had a great first time at Road Atlanta last weekend, July 12 & 13, 2025. Saturday seemed like I had all kinds of things go wrong, including a nail in my tire, and I capped off the day by running off track coming out of 10b.

This happened right after my best lap of the day, and I got on the throttle a little too hard and the back end came loose. I felt like I could have possibly saved it, but it was right by the bridge, and I didn’t want to risk potentially hitting the concrete if I failed to keep it on track. I went ahead and let the car rotate and tried to take it away from the wall. I ended up in the gravel, and that resulted in a fun experience of pulling 30-40 pounds of rocks from all underneath the car. Ultimately there was no harm, and Sunday turned out to be a better day all around.

nice save.

Do you know what you did wrong?(Not that I know but am just curious for my own learning)

And do you have a torsen diff?

Smart move, don't fight it to try save a lap, saved it the cleanest way you can think in the moment and kept it in one piece. 2 thumbs up.
The number of people who think they can save it only to make it far worse is astounding.

biggsy said:

Do you know what you did wrong?(Not that I know but am just curious for my own learning)

And do you have a torsen diff?

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Coming out of turn 10b I got on the throttle too hard too early and the rear came lose. Yes, I have the Torsen differential.

krisk said:

Coming out of turn 10b I got on the throttle too hard too early and the rear came lose. Yes, I have the Torsen differential.

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You definitely said that in your original post. My apologies.my brain hasn’t started working for the week.

krisk said:

I had a great first time at Road Atlanta last weekend, July 12 & 13, 2025. Saturday seemed like I had all kinds of things go wrong, including a nail in my tire, and I capped off the day by running off track coming out of 10b.

This happened right after my best lap of the day, and I got on the throttle a little too hard and the back end came loose. I felt like I could have possibly saved it, but it was right by the bridge, and I didn’t want to risk potentially hitting the concrete if I failed to keep it on track. I went ahead and let the car rotate and tried to take it away from the wall. I ended up in the gravel, and that resulted in a fun experience of pulling 30-40 pounds of rocks from all underneath the car. Ultimately there was no harm, and Sunday turned out to be a better day all around.

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bet that woke you up! def a nice save!

Thank you for sharing that video. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind. What are you using to record the video?

On the prior turn, right at the beginning of the video:
What is your speed coming down the hill into 10a before you start braking? And about how far out do you start braking (they have those white signs off to the right)?

Junkyard Dog said:

Thank you for sharing that video. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind. What are you using to record the video?

On the prior turn, right at the beginning of the video:
What is your speed coming down the hill into 10a before you start braking? And about how far out do you start braking (they have those white signs off to the right)?

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I am using a Garmin Catalyst for recording. Normally you would have the telemetry data showing on the video, but I had to use the raw footage of the spin because I couldn’t export it with telemetry since it wasn’t a full lap.

On the straight I was getting up to anywhere between 140-144 depending on how well I did with turn 7. I was braking between the Motul sign and the brake zone marker on the right. Keep in mind I am still very new to track driving and this was my first time at Road Atlanta, so while I’m happy to share my experiences and what I do, understand I’m certainly not the best source of guidance on what you should be doing.

Here’s a video of my best lap at Road Atlanta.

Thank you for sharing that! I have a lot to learn and watching videos like yours helps.

From my one track day there (talk about inexperience, lol) I can see you have higher speeds than me on many areas of the track, especially your exit speed on turn 12. I found that turn to be very intimidating (high speed, downhill, following that blind cresting of the hill at turn 11 . . . )

I will look into the Garmin catalyst. The video quality appears pretty good. I think seeing my own video to analyze later instead of relying on my memory would help. Is the "telemetry data" gathered by the Garmin Catalyst or is that something you add on using another device?

UPDATE: Ah, I see it provides some immediate coaching while you are driving. Neat.

Junkyard Dog said:

Thank you for sharing that! I have a lot to learn and watching videos like yours helps.

From my one track day there (talk about inexperience, lol) I can see you have higher speeds than me on many areas of the track, especially your exit speed on turn 12. I found that turn to be very intimidating (high speed, downhill, following that blind cresting of the hill at turn 11 . . . )

I will look into the Garmin catalyst. The video quality appears pretty good. I think seeing my own video to analyze later instead of relying on my memory would help. Is the "telemetry data" gathered by the Garmin Catalyst or is that something you add on using another device?

UPDATE: Ah, I see it provides some immediate coaching while you are driving. Neat.

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I like the Catalyst. My instructor at Barber had one and let me ride along with him to see how it worked so I could see if I liked it before purchasing. The biggest selling points to me are the feedback while driving and the fact it just works. Video quality is decent; it is HD. I would like to have 4k video for viewing on a computer, but it is certainly adequate with HD. Exporting with telemetry is easy, but you do have to either connect it to a computer or load the SD card in another device to access the video.

Regarding the driving, I have found it is just a matter of getting time behind the wheel on track. Some people take longer than others to get comfortable, but it’s best to progress at a pace you’re comfortable with. I have to consciously hold back a little because I tend to get a little aggressive, as demonstrated by my spin. That said, places like turn 12 at RA are not where you want to push it to the limits. The results could be catastrophic. I enjoyed Road Atlanta, but it was definitely a little intimidating at first. I’ll be back there the weekend after Thanksgiving with Chin, and I’m looking forward to it.

Was there when a guy went straight off in 1 at full speed in a BRZ. Did not end well for his car. He was ok. Apparent brake failure.

PatrickStapler said:

Was there when a guy went straight off in 1 at full speed in a BRZ. Did not end well for his car. He was ok. Apparent brake failure.

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Of the tracks I’ve been to so far, Road Atlanta is definitely the one with the least margin for error.

krisk said:

Of the tracks I’ve been to so far, Road Atlanta is definitely the one with the least margin for error.

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Totally right. Road Atlanta and Mosport are the fastest tracks in North America, gotta have your big boy pants on for them. These are not tracks to take lightly. They are not good tracks to learn on, tight, twisty and technical is the place to start IMHO.

Yep…10a and 12 will get your attention quickly. Not to mention the fact that 11 looks like you are going to launch into outer space…right before what seems like a 40 foot drop into a damn concrete wall in 12.

JDee said:

tight, twisty and technical is the place to start IMHO

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That's why I like to promote autocross as a tool for developing car control. You can learn what being on the edge of adhesion feels like at relatively low speeds, learn how weight transfer changes handling balance, and if things go wrong the risk of damage is extremely small. Plus, having to learn a new and different course each day and having a limited number of runs means you learn to get "on it" quickly, even with cold tires.

There are the oft-cited downsides of limited seat time and having to shag cones. I counter the seat time argument by saying that local events typically provide more runs than the 3 per day you get at National events (5-7 is more common) and it forces you to build skills in course-reading and driving "by feel" rather than "by memory". Working a corner station gives you a close-up view of how the "hot shoes" take that part of the course, and how it's different from the slower drivers. Also thinking of the day as "a gearhead social event with some driving" instead of "a little driving and a bunch of standing around" you'll enjoy it much more.

JDee said:

Totally right. Road Atlanta and Mosport are the fastest tracks in North America, gotta have your big boy pants on for them. These are not tracks to take lightly. They are not good tracks to learn on, tight, twisty and technical is the place to start IMHO.

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As somebody who had his first HPDE Track Day with an instructor at Road Atlanta, I have to disagree (about Road Atlanta, I do not know about, nor have I heard of, "Mosport"). I thought Michelin Road Atlanta was a great track on which to learn, and I look forward eagerly to getting back there, even though turn 12 is intimidating for all of the reasons listed above.

As PatrickStapler said above, 10a will get your attention, yes, but it also allowed me to discover just how good the brakes are on my Dark Horse, in a way the other turns did not reveal. It was a huge confidence builder as I started going deeper and later each lap.

I was thrilled and learned a lot - and look forward to learning more.

Dave_W said:

I counter the seat time argument by saying that local events typically provide more runs than the 3 per day you get at National events (5-7 is more common)

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I cannot comment on all of the organizations, but "Just Track It" for Novice class at Road Atlanta, I had 5 runs of 25-30 minutes each plus two classroom sessions. It was a lot of seat time (that is roughly two and a half hours of pushing my car on track at Road Atlanta in one day).

Do you get to run the autocross for 2.5 hours in a day?

Autocross seat time is measured in minutes not hours. It is a different type of event. Just Track It runs a good event. Most track day organizers give 2-3 hours seat time with 3-4 different run groups. You get less seat time with someone like NASA, since they have to schedule in the various races. The upside with NASA is both the classroom and in car instruction is generally very good.

krisk said:

Coming out of turn 10b I got on the throttle too hard too early and the rear came lose. Yes, I have the Torsen differential.

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Nice save. It didn't look like you accelerated too hard out of 10b??? I also drive Road Atlanta and just got a 2015 Mustang GT one month ago. Did you ever have any problems coming out of turn 5? I am afraid my wheels may brake loose on that turn. Any insights are appreciated.