Ryan Cheek Racing

Up the hill out of turn 10b at @roadatlanta! #playallthemotorsports 

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All women's track day thanks to #AccerleratingChange. Elevation Changes were a big bragging point with the #roadatlanta veterans, and they were right to brag. I live in the mountains of North Carolina and going around track felt like the fastest backroad drive ever. Felt like home.

In car video of my 3rd session at the Accelerating Change Women's Only Track Day at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta If anything, you'll enjoy the Coyote V8 noises!

Shout out to my Instructor, Michael Lawrence. Watching these videos and seeing my improvement throughout the day is a reflection of his encouraging and straight forward instructing style. I am fortunate to have had such a great instructor!

I'm working on getting video of all four 30minute sessions uploaded and finishing up a personal recap of the entire event. 

Note: I use the term "bad driver" in regards to another car on course. I regret saying it, they're not a bad driver they just need more seat time and instruction (as do I!).

Accelerating Change: Women’s Track Day Powered by Michelin

It was a dark rainy night as I missed the turn into Gate 2 at the entrance of Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. I was on my way to the Novice Driver’s meeting held the evening prior to the Women’s Track Day Powered by Michelin. Traveling with a few friends, in separate cars, we had just made the 25 minute drive from our “Home Away” rental in heavy traffic. I was the only one to miss the turn, “smooth Ryan, very smooth”. After making a U-turn on a pitch black rural two-lane, I pulled into the iconic Road Atlanta and caught up with my buddies. Together we walked into the Michelin Tower to find we were about 30 minutes late to the meeting. I felt my face flush as we made our way to a table in the back. “Great”, I thought sarcastically, “things are going perfect.” Sitting uncomfortably in my half pulled-out chair, scared to move and create more of a distraction, I listened as the Mann continued explaining the meaning for different track flags. In front of a large crowd, Chief Driving Instructor, Scott Mann, clearly explained what each flag indicated, when they would be used, and what to do if/when we see one on track. Mann also went over how the following day would proceed, from getting cars “tech’d” to driver’s meetings to pairing drivers with instructors. Next, we heard from two-time IMSA Champion and active professional race-car driver, Christina Nielsen, followed by Michelin’s first woman test driver, Sarah Robinson, who now brings her skills and passion for driving to every day people and the next generation. As the meeting concluded, people were socializing and finishing the final preparations for tomorrow’s adventure. I was able to meet some social media friends and caught up with Sarah Robinson, who I had met at a previous Michelin event. Sarah let me know I had been assigned an awesome instructor. She called him a friend and mentioned he had a lot of racing experience and seat time at this track. Our simple talk calmed my nerves a little but I was still antsy about the next day. Tomorrow would be my 3rd time on a road course, but 1st official High Performance Driving Event (HPDE) and 1st time on track at Road Atlanta. I slept about 4hours that night.

The next morning started before the sun came up. My troop of 4 women drivers, and 2 supportive men, arrived early and set up an area to shade our gear and purses as we emptied our street cars, seemingly turning them in to track cars. It was then time to have the cars officially tech’d. The all-male crew from ACI Motorsports checked over our cars looking for any safety issues, added tape numbers to the outside door panels, and gave us the “ok” to hit the track later on. It was around 7:30am when we headed inside the Michelin Tower for our complementary breakfast and to get ready for the driver’s meeting. The driver’s meeting was a bit of a blur for me. As they went over important track flags again, my mind wondered, nostalgically thinking about racing legends that had driven the track that was just a few feet away.

At the end of the meeting, I met my instructor, Michael Lawrence. Michael, I perceived, was a little uneasy after I told him about my lack of track experience, described my high horsepower Mustang, and mentioned I had been driving Road Atlanta on Forza. He hid his uneasiness well and calmly asked me “what did I want to get out of today?”. That question stunned me, what DID I want? I knew what was expected; to drive around the track at our designated times and not hit the other cars. After a moment’s pause, I told him I wanted to learn the racing line for this track, that I wanted to take turns fast, that I wasn’t concerned with top speed on the straights, that I wanted to feel more comfortable on track with other drivers and looking for corner stations and most importantly, have a lot of fun. Those were high expectations, and looking back, I got everything I wanted and more.

My first session on track started at 9:15am. Prior to entering the track, my instructor went over his very simple hand signals for turn left, turn right, slow down and speed up. I started the session very slow while my instructor used hand gestures and verbal communication to guide me around track. Thirty minutes later, at the end of the first session, I felt I knew the layout of the track and had a vague grasp of the racing line. I had passed some cars, and I had been passed by some cars, but I was focusing on my performance, not comparing my performance to those who may be more or less experienced than me. After each session, groups were supposed to head back into the Michelin tower for group talks and group education. My instructor, and I, stayed in the car for a few minutes and discussed the session. He gave positive feedback about things I had gotten right and also gave suggestions to work on during the next session. 

My second session started at 10:45. As we staged in pit lane, my instructor reminded me the first 2 laps would be under yellow flag and we discussed what we both wanted to accomplish during the session. Heavily focused on driving the racing line, my instructor was very thorough with explaining where my car should be, where my turn in & track out points were, and when to be on the brakes and off the brakes. Quicker speeds seemed to come naturally after I got the racing line correct. With the quicker speeds meant my downshifts needed to be smoother and finished before the turn. The fine art of heel-toe is what needed to be happening, but not knowing the technique, I worked on getting my braking finished early then blipping the throttle as I downshifted into 3rd. I never quite managed to get the hang of it by the time the checkered flag signaled the end of the session. My instructor gave me some complements as we drove into pit lane and we both agreed it was a good session. I knew I had a much better understanding of the racing line, but I was I little bummed about the downshifting. We spent the next few minutes discussing how to improve the downshifting, covered my good points and ideas to make the next session even better. 

Lunch time. Lunch was complementary at the Paddock Grill. Founders of Accelerating Change, Christina Nielsen and Mariana Small, stood before the group a told us a little about themselves. Christina Nielsen is the first female driver to win a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series title and continues to race professionally. Mariana Small is the president of the Porsche Car Club of America Los Angelas chapter, with a worldly education and a background in marketing. They also gave us very encouraging words to carry with us the rest of the day. Lunch took a little time to order, but arrived promptly and was yummy. My nerves were a little frazzled as my body started to feel tired and I grew more mentally frustrated about my downshifting. I had to give myself a mental pep talk and remind myself why I was at the track (because it’s what I think about everyday of my life), and remember all the good things I had accomplished so far that day (learned the racing line, increased speeds, looked for corner workers & flags, and got more comfortable passing and being passed).

As my instructor and I climbed into my car for the third driving session, a plan was made to stay in 4th gear for most of the track and work on a smooth downshift from 5th to 4th gear (instead of 3rd) going into turn 10a. The session went better than expected. I was driving the racing line, really nailing most of my turn in and track outs, and even managed to get the hang of downshifting prior to entering corner 10a. The 30 minutes flew by and left me smiling. My instructor said he was really impressed, complementing my smooth inputs and getting downshifting just right a few times. We spent the next hour between sessions sitting in my car and talking about everything racing. Before we knew it, it was time to head back out on track. 

My fourth and final session of the day went amazingly. I put together all the information I learned throughout the day and rocked out some fast laps. I started to hear the tires approaching their limit on a few corners and the brakes started to show signs of heating up. At the end of the session, I exited track onto pit road feeling very accomplished. A few moments later I was talking to Christina and an entourage of cameras. My instructor laid on some pretty great complements and without delay I was crying. I don’t like to get emotional, but everything in that moment felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. It was a moment I will never forget and a special thank you to Christina who may, or may not, have also teared up so I didn’t feel so dumb.

The sun was starting to lower on the horizon as everyone gathered for a group photo. We crowded next to track and piled in around a couple of beautiful Porsches.  Those minutes were filled with smiles and laughter between shutter clicks, along with a great sense on camaraderie. The energy and good vibes filled the Michelin Tower as we grabbed light hors d’oeuvres and took our seats for a final group meeting. Rounds of applause and motivational commentary was followed by raffle drawings and goodie bags. Michelin, Porsche, and The Driving Club at Road Atlanta contributed some great prizes. I won a sweet Michelin shirt, as did a couple of my buds. One of my friends won a private driving instruction day provided by The Driving Club!  

The day was officially over and can only be described as a success. Accelerating Change did an excellent job creating a high quality high performance driving event focused on women. The blending of a woman created event, female only drivers, a mostly male driving instructor group, and all male tech team, proved that women want to be on track and men involved in motorsports want women there too.