Redline Time Attack Final Round Coverage
by Justin Banner
While it's very unfortunate, a sour taste was left in the mouths of many who chose to compete in the Redline Time Attack Series in 2011. What made it far more sour was the fact that Redline had ended halfway through the season and after many teams had made the investment to become Franchise Teams. It was a sore lesson for Redline as well and a wound that will take some time to heal in the eyes of many in the North American Time Attack arena. However, what I witnessed at this round and at another round earlier in the year iss that Time Attack enthusiasts will still go where a record needs to be broken.
The drivers I spoke to at both rounds seemed to not be bothered by past events and instead focused on the track they were at. Beyond that, most drivers were comfortable and felt like Redline was on the right track even in Street Class. I bring it up specifically because it was the hot topic before the start of the 2013 season with the turbo restrictor. Again, speaking to the drivers that actually were in competition for the entire year, they were no longer bothered by the idea. Most even seemed to welcome it as the restrictor could be removed when they entered another series that didn't require it.
Another nice thing about Redline Time Attack is that they have their own High Performance Driving Event that happens between Practice and Competition rounds. It's a great way to feed drivers slowly into the world of open time attack. Usually competing in the same weekend is Extreme Speed Track Events, which also features their own brand of time attack competitions that focus on a drivetrain configuration or specific make of car. It's a great stepping stone lineup that Redline uses to breed their drivers into more hardcore competition drivers.
It's also a great way to get introduced to some really cool or sometimes very interesting choices in track cars.
No, you are not seeing things as that is a 90's Toyota Camry that was taking part in the HPDE. Sounded pretty mean, too.'
Probably at no other time will you see a Fiat 500, a Corvette, a Camaro, and a Mustang all on track at the same time except for HPDE and Track Day events, that's part of what makes coming out so fun. Again, just watching what people bring out is almost as entertaining as watching them out on track.
Unique to this weekend were the two show events that took place along with Redline Time Attack. On Saturday, fans and journalists were entertained by FT86 Nation. If you can't tell by its namesake it is a show dedicated to the Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ, and even the Toyota Corolla. On Sunday it was Mitsufest, which featured cars from Mitsubishi's lineage from the Starion to the Eclipse to the Evolution X. Both days featured a vendor's row, live DJ, and food trucks along with your typical show car crowd.
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