THSCC Forums

This past weekend was my first visit to CMP. A number of THSCC people were there with the combination of the NASA CMC drivers, made it pretty comfortable. I was pretty paranoid running in HPDE-3 on a track that I had never seen.

Overall it was a great weekend. The weather on Sunday more than made up for the rain on Saturday. The second session Saturday was dry though. The rain probably helped to learn that track. On Sunday it was sunny, warm and very fast.

CMP is a cool track. You have to practice everything, condensing braking points, looking ahead, reduce turning, quicker on the gas....to get around there fast. I was running in the 1:57's and might have dipped into the 56's for the second session on Sunday. I feel pretty confident that the Camaro is capable of 1:55. The top qualifying time for the Camaro-Mustang Challenge car was a 1:54 with the next two fastest in the 55's.

I really don't see what people do not like about that track. Yes, the straights are a little short and they do lead to heavy braking zones, but that is a blast. Almost every turn sets you up for a another little straight. It is hard on the brakes if you are pushing it. I compressed my braking zone into 11 to the two marker. Surprised a hell of a lot people doing that.

I am looking forward to going back there with THSCC. Might look to run some NASA-SE events down there.

A special thanks to Mitch, Jeff and Larry for diagnosing an overheating issue on the Camaro. And thanks to Jeff for allowing me to pull it under his trailer awning so we could work on it Saturday evening in the rain. A trailer awning really comes in handy.

The NASA after event parties are awesome. Free food and beer and then the kegs are dropped off at the CMC pit area. It is great to drive a redneck car. Find the Camaros and Mustangs....find the free beer.

Video from the last Sunday session.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Jim I find it interesting that you and I are leading parallel lives this year, going in the opposite directions. You're an autocross guy turning into a track guy. I'm a long time track guy trying to become an autocrosser



That's VERY late in something as big as a Camaro. I could do that in the old Integra for maybe five laps in a row, and then the brakes just heat soaked. Of course being a big, fast, heavy Civic with Civic brakes didn't help matters a lot.

I like CMP a lot too and I think you'll eventually really come to love it if you start racing door to door there. Lots of places to pass, lots of places to manage traffic.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Yes, I found the irony pretty interesting. We both probably are moving because of the same reasons though



A benefit of taking a car built for racing to the track. The brakes are awesome on that thing. I did have to replace a set of rotors and pads for the last session Sunday. Nothing like beading in pads during that last session.



Of the tracks I have run at, the "Kink" is one of the highest pucker factor turns. The "Carousel" (Hope, Faith and Charity) is one of the toughest for me to master. On Saturday I forgot all of my AX experience on 11,12,13 and 14.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

YAY!!! Another CMP convert!!

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Stacy King
Midlife Crisis Participant

I have to get down to CMP and try this track. I was supposed to go a few weeks back but had to bail on it. I want to form my own opinion even though I hear more negative than positive about it.

The negatives I hear are typically hard on brakes and tires. Bring spare pads and rotors. Expect to burn up a set of front pads if you're aggressive. The track tends to have a lot of grit/sand on it. Do they actually sweep and clean that track or just wait for the wind and the drivers to clean it?

The other thing I hear depends on what your background is. The people who came from autocross to road racing like it more. It's like a really big autocross course. The guys that are road racers only thing it is too small and tight and has poor flow. At least that is what I've gotten from them.

Another dig. The track has basic facilities, kinda like Roebling. The hotels and restaurants in the area aren't much to speak of. I think people do VIR and get spoiled.

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http://www.greywinds.com

They must not have been very good autocross drivers. I could count on my one hand how many times I have had to late apex a cone over the past eight years. At CMP, almost every single turn is a stupid late apex. Only turn 13 is a normally late apex.

At least to me, the track is very technical. There are a lot of different lines that you can try. You blow one turn though, you will pay for it in the next 3 or 4. In that sense, yes it is autocross like

The Thunder standing starts are down right scary. The start line is about 30 yards before turn 1. Three wide through there was really common.

The facilities are better than Roebling. No they are not on par with VIR. Kershaw itself is pretty much a dump. But if you need gas, parts, food; it is only 5 minutes away.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Sounds like VIR. What corners are NOT a late apex?

I'm looking forward to doing CMP with THSCC/TZC this year myself.

I still love me some VIR though. I've put together a little speadsheet to track my mileage. I've currently driven over 2,300 miles on the various configurations there. I'll bet Ron and some others have like 10K or more at VIR.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)