Las Vegas Motor Speedway

May 15-16 , 2004

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Recently, I purchased a new 2003 BMW M5 sedan.  This car rocks: 400 hp, comfort, style and of course, hauls ass.  But, all that power is not useful if you do not know how to control it.  So, Kathleen and I decided that we would take high performance driving school to insure that we don't kill ourselves.  We signed up for the "Sin City" Chapter of the BMW Car Club's High Performance Driver's Education class at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  LVMS is a big, big place with at least 4 separate tracks.  We were not on the biggest track, but the second biggest.  This is a technical track with tight turns and exact timing required to "make the line".  The photos below are from the 2 track days.  It was hot, and there was not a whit of shade anywhere.  The good news is that high clouds developed around noon on Saturday sparing us from the cruel desert sun.  Our car was 43B for myself and 44D for Kathleen.  Quite appropriate.  But actually, this was a little liberal as she is really a 38D.

The Photos

Kathleen with instructor (Jenny) on the main straight away.  Note the heat shimmering.

Turn 3.  Note the NASCAR sign in the background.

Note the heat rising off the asphalt.  This is the backstretch.

Tight turns.

Kathleen chasing a Subaru WRX.

The Porsche bringing up the rear of the D group.

The front straight away.  I was getting speeds of 105+ on every lap.

I was 43B and Kathleen was 44D.

Hot is a black helmet in a black car in the Vegas sun.

Note the stands in the background.  That is "the Bullring" track at LVMS.

One fine ride.

Considering the upcoming run.

Working the bugs out.

An older BMW in fine condition.

The pit area with tons of hot asphalt.

Kathleen fishing for a drink in the 100 degree heat. The red Dinan M5 in the background belongs to a Delta pilot from San Diego.

While not dense clouds, they saved us from frying alive in the sun.  Note the signs around the "real" track in the background.

This was a great set of track days, albeit a little hot.  The LVMS is a good track and sufficiently challenging for nearly every driving level.  I would do it again and likely will.

Personal contact info: bcaid "at" san "dot" rr "dot" com  Read the email address and form it yourself. Link not included due to spam email address harvesters.

All photos and narrative text Copyright (c) Bill Caid 1977 to 2004
All rights reserved.

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