Lane's SCA - 2005 SPC Rally (6)

On Friday, July 29, club members, guests, and spectators gathered for open lapping at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois.

When most people hear the phrase "country club", they automatically think of that the perks of membership are golf, tennis, a sauna, etc. Well, that is not the case here. This country club has one heck of an outstanding race track.

A tour of the garage area in the main clubhouse showed that when the country club's members enjoy the track, they do it with some nice hardware.

I think that's a Lamborghini Gallardo on the right. Oh, they cost lots.

Our day on the course was considered a 'Driver's School' - a learning event where we were able to push the limits of our cars and improve our driving ability. Lap times during the event are not recorded, and the cars are not actually competing against each other. The more experienced drivers were available to act as instructors throughout the day for anyone who wanted one.

The club's SCCA Improved Touring race car.

Today's event would also serve as a practice session for any SCCA drivers who wanted some valuable pre-race practice time. A race would be held on this track on Saturday and Sunday.

At the left you can see the Saturn Performance Club's very own SCCA Improved Touring race car being prepped to utilize this day as a practice session. While the sponsors of race cars usually show their support by writing out a check, we've chosen to do so differently. The car was originally built by club member volunteers, and it is raced with club members serving as the pit crew. You can read more about this unique effort and its results HERE.

Other SCCA racers joining us to use this day as a practice event included Bryan H in an Acura NSX that meant business, and Rich N in his Formula Vee. Rich's Formula Vee is rather unique - it's operated by hand controls. You can read more about Rich and his team MSR Racing on his website.