M Track Days AT The Indianapolis Motor Speedway

On Saturday August 26th, I had an opportunity of a lifetime – a half day BMW M School class at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).  Prior to this class, I had never been the world famous “Brickyard.”  But I’ve both driven at as well as photographed races at some of the world’s most famous tracks including Laguna Seca, Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the Nurburgring in Germany.  I’ve also had previous driving instruction at both the BMW Performance Center in Greenville South Carolina and the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta Georgia (PECA).  So I was no stranger around a race track.

I went with one of my buddies, who is also a BMW enthusiast.  He’s done the full BMW M School in the past.  The half day M Track Days experience is intended to be a teaser of sorts to what you would experience in a full one or two day M School class.  Quite honestly, it’s an incredible value that you shouldn’t pass up if it’s available in your area.  M School Isn’t it cheap because you’re using BMWs cars instead of your own as well as their tires, brakes, and gas.

We opted for the afternoon session, And started our day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum at the track:

Inside the museum is a collection of race cars and memorabilia celebrating the illustrious of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After spending the morning in the museum we then headed over to the BMW Performance Center at IMS.  A few short years ago BMW entered into an agreement with IMS for a BMW Performance Center to be hosted at Indy.  Word on the street is that BMW is pulling out of that agreement and that this will be the last year BMW will host events at IMS.  Very unfortunate.  But I was happy as both a driving enthusiast and a BMW fan to be able to experience it one last time.

Having taken courses from both BMW and Porsche I have to admit that I prefer the approach that Porsche takes in their classes.  My BMW class, they put you in a car (usually with another student passenger) With an instructor driver leading the group on the track with sort of a “monkey see, monkey do” approach.  There will be a radio in the car so that the instructor can speak to the group and as you follow the instructor he can give some limited instruction or correction.  But for the most part, you’re just following the instructor car and trying to Copy the line that he takes through every corner and apex on the track.  Porsche on the other hand puts an instructor with you in the car.  It’s a much more personalized experience that fits my style of learning much better.  Not to say that you don’t have fun in a BMW class – you certainly do.  I just tend to think I learned more at the class that I took at PECA.  The track experience did start with a brief classroom overview:

Then it was off to the track:

We went out two different times on the track and had two different instructor drivers.  The first time we went out was in M4’s and the second time was in M3’s.  I believe we did about eight laps, each outing, usually increasing speed and difficulty with each lap.

I had my fellow student in the vehicle take a few shots of the speedo on the straightaways:

The first session was a nice warm-up for the second session in the M3’s where we were pushed much harder:

Driving this hard… breaking this hard… going in and out of terms this hard.  It’s exhausting.  I was quite fatigued after the two back-to-back sessions.   My back was killing me for days after.  Apparently, I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.

In between sessions BMW had some examples of their latest offerings you could take out for a test drive.  I chose this Z4:

My retirement goal in a few years is to have a convertible in the garage to tool around with and this vehicle could definitely be a top contender.

After the track sessions, we head over to a parking lot where they had some different drills and mini races set up.  If you’ve ever done a BMW Performance Center delivery or track event, you’ll recognize some of the drills.  It’s mainly an opportunity to get folks behind the wheel of different models of BMWs.  It seems as though we drove, practically every car that BMW produces, including several of their electric models.

We wrapped up the day with a nice dinner at the BMW Performance Center.  Let me say again that this was a fantastic experience that was a far greater value than the price of admission ($500).  The opportunity to drive a speed on IMS elevated the experience by an order of magnitude.  There’s an aura of history and greatness at that track that’s palpable.  Thanks BMW!