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First Ever Vintage Days DE

Sterling Vernon
Drivers Education

NER held the first ever Vintage Days DE event on Memorial Day, May 28, 2018. We saw a great turnout of cars from as far back as 1955 up through the early 2000’s – an almost 50-year spread! Participants got a chance to experience a track day that reminded track chair, John Dunkle, of what DE’s used to be like 20 years ago. Our three run groups – “not very fast”, “a little faster”, and “vintage race” – all saw boatloads of track time. In the afternoon instructed and non-instructed run groups were combined for maximum flexibility. 

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Sights like this have become more rare in the DE paddock. Now they are back.

We saw a really great turnout from our friends in the autocross side of NER. Many Boxsters and early 911’s that usually navigate a cone course were banking through the turns of Thompson Speedway and zooming through the historic oval. 

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Jim brought his beautiful 911 all the way up from North Carolina for this event. So glad you could make it, Jim!

One participant, Jim, drove all the way up from North Carolina with his 911 just to participate in this event! Jim raced in the late 60’s and early 70’s before settling down to a married life. And now he’s got the chance to pick back up right where he left off. And he seemed to like having that option quite a bit.

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Morning tech line looked a bit different that we’re used to!

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The Turtle Racing Team could be our “not as fast” mascot!

Our Vintage Days Chief Instructor, Penn Young, led some interesting educational sessions comparing Porsche cars old to new to explain the differences that have been added over time – and what it means to the driving experience on the road and on the track. When you see the empirical differences between the ratio of tire size front-to-rear between an SC and a 991 – you start to better understand how each car wants to behave at speed – and how there are strong similarities, but also some huge differences. With so much rich history behind Porsche (the 70th birthday is nearly here!), this was a great chance to reflect on that history in a very tangible way.

The smiles on everyone’s face seemed to sum up the day. Many thanks to all who attended – hope to see you at our second Vintage Days DE at Palmer Motorsports Park on June 16! Interested in attending a Vintage Days DE event for free this year? Just get two friends to sign up and pay for a Vintage Days DE event, email John Dunkle, and you’ll get an event of your choice on the house!