Ryan Cheek Racing

It’s Wednesday, I’ve tried to write this snippet four times in the last 3 days. But, truth is, I don’t want to write this. 

This summary,

This review, 

This -“the event is over and let me tell you about it”, 

because The Event isn’t over for me. 

I continue to awake to my phone’s early morning alarm that I set in my Aloft Hotel room the first evening. At night, my thoughts visually rotate through my wardrobe to choose the right outfit for tomorrow’s planned activities. But tomorrow never comes, only Wednesday, this Wednesday, the day I have to really say good bye and write this recollection of Michelin’s Women In Drive Experience.  

Easiest place to start, what the Hell was “Michelin’s Women In Drive Experience”? #WomenInDrive

Short answer: It was a premier, invite only event to bring women from the automotive industry together to experience the company that is Michelin.

 Long answer: Prepared to read?

This was an inaugural event and took over 2 years to plan. Michelin brought together 21 women from across the US, to their US headquarters in Greenville, SC, and proceeded to give them an experience of a lifetime. The group of women, although having an automotive common interest, were quite diverse.  Drivers, writers, shifters, drifters, women who knew the difference between Louis Vuitton and Louboutin, and women who knew there’s no difference between Target and Tarjay. The women came in all shapes, sizes, ages, races, and, unquestionably, were the hottest grouping of women in the history of groupings.

The experience started with an evening reception in the Wxyz Bar in the Aloft Greenville Downtown Hotel. Already, out of my element, I carefully walked across the room trying not to trip in my 3” heels, fiercely gripping my Tarjay clutch, to an empty seat at the bar. My brain was foggy with anxiety and all I wanted was a beer. Two beers and a bit of mingling later, the group of women made our way from WYXZ to a neighboring restaurant, Sassafras Southern Bistro. The sounds of introductions, driving stories and the occasional burst of laughter filled our private room as our gourmet dinner was consumed. I was seated amongst women I had been passionately following on Instagram for years. Let it be said, I was starstruck. I took a few unnecessary restroom breaks just to regain my composure as the reality of conversing with some of these females was overwhelming. Admittedly, I could barely make eye contact with a few of the women, let alone talk with them. Luckily, alcohol lubed the vocal cords and, later, as I laid in my hotel bed, the evening’s conversations replayed through my head. 

The next morning started early with a van ride to Michelin North America’s faculty training center. The entrance hall was a mini-museum of Michelin History. I’ve never seen 20 other women so excited to rub tires, hug the icon that is Bib, and drool over automotive artifacts. These were my people! We made our way to a Smart classroom, furnished with drinks and snacks, and settled into comfortable office chairs and gathered ourselves around a few circular tables. The vail of confidence, provided by the previous night’s refreshments, had lifted, and the sober reality of interacting with the group of women was compounded by an introduction exercise. Starting from one side of the room to the other, 21 women stood up and told their story. Every single one was impressive and we all listened to each other, intently.

Our minds were quickly distracted and refocused as Michelin’s own, Johnny Valencia, literally took us to school on tires. Here’s a bit of what I learned in bullet form:

• Michelin is French. Yep, I didn’t know that.

• Michelin is the parent company for BF Goodrich and Uniroyal tires.

• #PS4S tire – This is Michelin’s new Ulta High Performance Street Summer Tire, and is an acronym for Pilot Sport 4 Super (verbatim from the French translation, in English it would be called the Pilot Super Sport 4) 

• The PS4S has a 300 Treadwear rating, but that’s at the choosing of Michelin. The tire actually lasts longer than a typical 300 TW and performs closer to a 200TW rated tire. It’s all marketing and I bought into it, as I have these on my car. I wouldn’t have wanted these tires if it had higher treadwear rating because I’d think they were less sticky/non-performance, nor if the TW were lower because I’d think the tires wouldn’t last long. 

• The PS5S is already in development. That is crazy. At this point Michelin’s only competition is itself. The previous version of the PS4S, the PSS, had been top rated for years and it was a shock to the tire industry when Michelin put out something even better!

• Corvettes only come from factory with Michelin Tires. “Aller ‘Murica!” (Aller, google says, is French for “Go”) 

• Michelin is developing “Michelin Track Connect”, a combination hardware and software system to provide a driver live tire temps and recommendations based on driving style. Within each tire, a removable small device will constantly record pressures and temps across the entire tire and then, relay the info and adjustment recommendations for quicker lap times. As the name says, it’s meant to give drivers an edge on the track and is currently being developed for the Sport Cup 2. However, many of us women agreed, this has relative applications in all aspects of driving and could be the future of tire monitoring systems.

• Twheels! Tire and wheel in one, typically for earth mover applications, but seriously cool.

Mid-class we were divided into 2 groups, one group stayed while the other ventured off to tour US1. Michelin’s US1 is the first tire manufacturing facility Michelin built in the United States and its inner workings are still a closely guarded secret.  I was in the first group to tour US1. Before entering the complex, we had to show ID and receive a visitor’s pass. Next, we stopped in a room full of HiVis vests, radios and shoes. Yes! We had to change shoes. They seriously asked 10 women to pick from a stack of shoe boxes a temporary pair of shoes to wear touring the plant. Would you believe it only took 5 mins? Really, nobody cared what they looked like, only that the shoes fit. Again, my people! With different shoes, bright vests and a headset with receiver we walked behind our tour guide, Tator, who did kinda look like a potato. As we entered, the smell of the rubber was the first sign that you were in a tire manufacturing plant, and we were warned of it’s potency, but honestly, I liked it. We weaved around large machines, handled different rubber compounds, and attentively listened as Tator told us each component’s function. There is hardly any waste. Trimmed rubber gets re-melted and reused, and tires that do not pass inspection get broken-down and used for mulch or other shredded rubber compounds. Astonishingly, US1 produces over 25,000 tires every day, yet only produces a handful of Michelin’s tire line. Mostly their passenger vehicle and light truck division. 

The biggest take-away, was the intense quality control Michelin implements in its manufacturing. Every tire is hand inspected, by people required to complete a 60-90day training program. If, somehow, one tire slips through the expert’s hands there’s a machine just down the line that takes one last look, separating good from bad. I never saw a tire get rejected. Every 5 days (I believe) one tire from each line is dissected by engineers who use x-ray, micrometers, and precise standards to ascertain that the tire is perfect. 

 After the tour, we ate lunch at the grounds’ cafeteria and headed back to the classroom. Over the next hour, three women executives from within Michelin told us their stories. I lack the ability to describe how much these testimonies affected me. I can say they were relatable, inspiring and emotional. I cried (hopefully secretively and nobody noticed).

 After the tire school we loaded up the vans and made the trip over to LeMans Karting - SC. Whispers of excitement and uncertainty filled the transport. Some of us even fell asleep, as it had already been a big day. Upon arrival we were electronically checked in by creating a profile. A profile that we can use anytime we go back to LeMans Karting (and ya damn right I’ll be back). We were provided our own private room with snack and refreshments and, shortly after arriving, we had the entire establishment to ourselves. Soon, the news broke that we were being divided into 10 teams of 3. Each tram consisting of 2 women from the event and 1 Michelin associate and were going to compete against each other in a 90min enduro race, with a minimum of 2 driver swaps. The kicker: the teams had already been arranged!  

 Everyone got a chance to do 5 mins on track, to get a feel for the Karts and learn the layout. We then picked 1 person from each team to race in qualifying. Then, we had to plan a strategy. My team consisted of Leslie Faye Haas, Johnny Valencia (from Michelin), and me. We chose Johnny to race qualifying and he secured a 2nd place starting position. Leslie hadn’t done any performance driving, I had never Karted, and Johnny, well he knew all the staff by name and it may be safe to say Le Mans Karting may be his second home in Greenville. We formed the strategy to each do a 30min driving stint, unless, we wanted to pull out early or started dramatically dropping in placement. I would go first hoping to hold our 2nd place starting position, Leslie would drive next, and we’d throw Johnny in last and make him work to regain any placements we had lost. My first driving stint went great, I did drop to 3rd place, but held it down, even lapping a few of the other teams. Leslie, our “inexperienced” driver, did excellent putting her years of athleticism to good use. She held her own and pulled-in in 4th place after an agonizing few laps of blocking and fending off the 5th place driver. The last 30 mins of the race, Johnny drove his ass off and passed the checkered flag literally nudging the rear bumper of the 1st place team. As the dust settled and the cheers subsided the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams took to the podium. Leslie (from Greenville), Johnny (from Greenville), and me (from Asheville, only an hour away) named ourselves "the Locals" and stood proudly on the 2nd place step. I offered to time-share the 2nd place trophy with my teammates, but quickly dropped the subject as I was told I could keep it all to myself. This was the most exciting racing I’ve ever done. Wheel to wheel is in my future. 

 Dinner was catered at the Karting venue and it was after 11pm when we arrived back at the hotel. 

 The next morning, we headed to the Michelin Laurens Proving Grounds; Michelin’s huge, private testing facility. I drove Hank, my Mustang. Upon arrival we, again, had class time. We learned the importance of tire pressure, contact patch, and worn tires. All of which we'd be hands on testing throughout the rest of the day. We were then divided into small groups and shuttled off to different areas of the grounds. On the way I could see Mustangs lined up on a autocross track, so I got very excited, little did I know my first activity would be hot laps in a GT350R wearing PS4S tires. I have never ridden in a GT350R and it’s very different from my Mustang GT 5.0 PP. I could write an entirely different essay on the GT350R vs my Mustang, but I was supposed to be concentrating on the tires. So, the tires…They were able to put down the R’s 526hp, 429 lb-ft of torque smoothly and quickly. The tire provided audible feedback during the 100mph - 9:30 steering angle - sweeping left turn, and never did I feel the car slip or bobble. 

 Our next activity, we arrived to find 2 Ford Focuses (Foci?), a front wheel drive vehicle, each with 2 new tires. One car had new tires on the front, the other car had new tires on the rear. We drove them at 45-55mph around a wet concrete oval. In the car with 2 new tires on the rear, you could feel the front of the car hydroplane and push/unsteer to the outside of the oval, but a gentle release of the throttle held the car planted. Next car, with 2 new tires on the front was completely different. As soon as you felt the car hydroplane, it was over and you were spinning out. For the average driver, and even above average driver, this could not be controlled. ALWAYS PUT NEW TIRES ON THE REAR , doesn’t matter if the vehicle is front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive. 

 Next, we simulated wet braking and measured braking distances. We were in Hyundai Santa Fe’s, one with Michelin Premier LTX tires that had been buffed down to half tread (half-worn) and the other Santa Fe had brand new Bridgestone H/L Alenza Plus. We were required to reach 45mph, re-engage cruise control, drive into an aisleway of cones and water, and wait for a verbal command to stop. When told “now” we had to stand, and I mean STAND, on the brakes. My personal testing alone showed the half-worn Michelins stopped over 15 feet sooner than the brand new Bridgestones.

 Next, we autocrossed V6 Automatic Convertible Mustangs. One on PS4S’s, the other on a leading competitor. I was frustrated with the automatic gearbox, but the PS4S did better, by far. I really wanted to run my Mustang (that has PS4S's) through the course, and offered to let my group drive, but something about liability and insurance and red tape……

 Lunch was catered by Panera Bread, and I think that was the best turkey sandwich I had ever eaten. The day's activities had me starved! 

 Our last activity compared a Chrysler Minivan on it’s OE (Original Equipment, aka from factory) Michelin Tires, vs an F30 BMW 328i on the cheapest OE fitment tires. The course was a large wet oval with a few chicanes, a decreasing radius turn and an increasing radius turn. You know the Minivan won, but it was very scary to feel how awful the BMW handled on crap tires. Car magazines, car reviewers need to put more emphasis on what tires the car has when it is being reviewed. Granted, not all cars come OE with Michelins. (But they should)

 After two days of in class learning, a tour through the manufacturing facility, and behind the wheel testing, my longtime opinion was cast into fact: Michelin makes the best tires in the industry. 

 The final evening of the event was hosted by a Greenville landmark, Halls Chophouse Greenville. I have eaten at some fancy places (or so I thought) but never in my life have I been so in awe of the wait staff. Of course, the food was delicious and the drinks were top shelf, but the human element of this restaurant was exquisite. 

 I’m not sure what time we made our way from the Chophouse back to our Hotel, but from there, a few of us hung out at the WXYZ lounge and stayed until closing. That was socially epic for me!

The next morning, I had a glorious hangover, but didn’t rush home so I could spend a few more moments with the ladies that hadn’t left for the airport. I know I wasn’t much in the way of company, but I was happy to have those scrambled eggs and watch you girls geek out over popcorn and jerky. 

Most of all, the friendships and bonds that were forged over these few days will last a lifetime. To be a part of this inaugural event was humbling and positively self-affirming at the same time. I cannot say thank you enough to Michelin and for all the hard work put in by Lisa Rouby, Johnny Valencia, Oscar Pereda, Mike Lewis and others.  You’ve changed my life for the better.

Not all the pictures are my own, I wish I had more to share!