There was an interesting moment when a Z06 in the session before us blew his engine on turn (6) and dumped all his oil onto the braking zone which is the area right before the turn where you are supposed to finish all of your braking (in a straight line) prior to entering the turn. My car was first on the grid and while we waited for (20) minutes as they mopped up the mess I got a little nervous when it became apparent to me that I would be the first car through the oil slick. My instructor said to “go right through it” so I would know what I was dealing with on the next lap. Great advice and as expected I took that braking zone a bit slower than normal. My car has been hitting about 110mph on the short straight into that braking zone but I started braking sooner and slowed it down a bit more and when I came upon that area I just saw what appeared to be baby power all over the track. As I entered the slick all I could see was a HUGE white cloud in all three mirrors and then I was in the turn, car stuck like glue and all was well. It was funny speaking later to the guy (Mark) who was right behind me as he recalled watching my car disappear into a white cloud having no idea what was on the other side. Better him than me I suppose.

My instructor was Steve Amos and he gave me high grades for control, aggression, speed, awareness and that I was the fastest car/driver in my run group. On the last day I had an issue with my brakes that forced me out for the rest of the day and required new rotors and pads on the front. Thank goodness for my bumper to bumper warranty and that the dealer I bought from understands that my car was made for the track and actually appreciates that I drop the hammer from time to time. Plans are to use racing fluid and racing pads for any future events and hone my braking skills to prolong my brakes.

The next event is July 11-12 and Eagles Canyon and I’m pumped about this one as I already know the track pretty well. My 2nd and 3rd track days took place here and my goal is to get solo status with Drivers Edge so I can do the Texas Motor Speedway night driving event on August 8th. (2) of my (4) tracks days have been solo so I hope and expect to get cleared for this and future events as a solo driver soon.

Here is my buddy Karl tearing it up in his Supercharged Cobra (my wife says it sounds like a mosquito)

Here are a few

1. Fire the unions
Unions are counter productive, they increase costs and cause disruption at every turn. If I could have run GM the first thing I would have done is tell the unions to take a hike and then offer fair paying jobs to their “members”. They claim to have fiercely loyal members but will the union offer them jobs? Hell no they won’t because all they do it leech and suck the life out of any industry they can. The concept and proposed benefits of union membership make sense on paper but it always seems to fail and nobody is happy with the end result. Their response.. my very own concrete shoes.

2. Stop making big, stupid cars
How about really committing to innovation for a change? Commit to alternative fuel sources, build with lighter materials, streamline operations, hire top notch designers and more importantly stop making crap.  Nobody wants a crappy car yet we keep buying them so again we are not helping. Why do all (OK, most) GM cars look so bland and Italian and German cars looks so nice? Can’t we learn anything from them instead of wallowing around in a sea of V8 monster trucks and 3 ton SUV’s?

3. Just start over again or do something else
Maybe GM is beyond repair. Just because they are huge doesn’t grant them a license to exist forever. Maybe the brand should be dissolved and just start over again with smarter, younger, more motivated people at the helm.  Complacency is cancer for business and GM looks like a giant tumor that has become so rotten that it can’t be saved. They could also just (my choice) lock the doors and say good bye. They would soon be forgotten just like Studebaker, Hudson Motor Car Company, The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company or DeLorean Motor Company. How bad could that be?

After thinking about this it occurred to me that GM does do a few things right (see below)

And they still employ an awful lot of good, committed people so maybe they can turn it around. Just image a day when you could walk into a GM dealership and fully expect to be dazzled by the selection, design, engineering and culture of the brand. When I step into a Porsche dealership I’m confident that I’ll see beautiful cars whose performance and relative gas mileage are both stellar. When I walk into a GM dealership I can rest assured that with the exception of a few select models, the lineup will be uninspiring, dated and just plain boring. Maybe comparing a Porsche dealership to GM is not a fair fight, or is it?

A well equipped 2009 Hummer H2 is around $74,000 (from hummer.com)
6.2liter, 393hp, curb weight 6,613lbs, 0-60 in 8 sec, 10-12mpg average

A well equipped 2009 Porsche Cayenne GTS is around $72,000 (from porsche.com)
4.8 liter, 405hp, curb weight 4,762lbs, 0-60 in 5.6 sec, 13-18mpg average

So the Porsche has a smaller engine, more horse power, nearly 2,000 pounds lighter, WAY faster, gets better gas mileage and costs less (also looks better and fits in your garage) and has a HUGE advantage in resell value. So how is it that the Der Germans can make a better, faster, lighter, cheaper, greener, more valuable car yet pay their employees more than we do? See 1, 2, 3 above.

I’m obviously no economist or even qualified to speak intelligently about this but dropping “national pride” from the equation, why would you choose the GM over a higher quality, faster, greener, better looking and cheaper car? Anyone?

Almost forgot, GM is selling Hummer to some Chinese suckers so we finally we get to outsource some of our crap to them.