We started our journey to the racetrack gathering for breakfast in Allenton. When leaving after a hardy breakfast we noticed that some bird had taken a dislike or was possibly marking Keith's red Miata. I guess we will never know as the offending critter had left the scene of the crime. After a good laugh and a cleanup our journey continued. When we arrived at the track we got our touring pass and parked our cars in the touring paddock where we met up with other BMC members and Miata owners. Introductions were given all around in between the Grand Am cars screaming past us on their way to turn 1. It was at this point that I was handing out the much welcomed earplugs. We then took the tunnel to the main paddock area where we could get some coffee, look at the sky and hope it wouldn't rain (it didn't). It was now time to tour the paddock area where we could look at and talk to the drivers of all the different vintage sports cars. There was the "Heritage Race" 90-93 1.6 spec Miatas where I had a long conversation with a couple of the drivers. I then caught up with my Miata cohorts who were fondly looking at a pristine example of a 1969 "El Camino SS". Wandering the paddock area we saw examples of Lotus, Lolas, Alpha Romeos, Aston Martins, Mercedes, Volvos, Audis, Morgans, Triumphs, MGs, Shelbys, Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, Austin Healys, Jaguars, Porsches, Miatas and on and on. We saw examples of both race and street cars. My friend Carl who is not a Miata driver said (yes I have a non-Miata friend) "this is better than most car shows."

During the lunch break we drove a 5-lap tour of the racetrack. Although it is always fun to take a cruise of this great facility it was momentous for my rider as he had never been on the track and now has a better understanding of what the drivers of the race cars see, just not as fast. We did hit the triple digits heading toward turn 5 on one lap. Then it was time to park the cars, eat lunch and settle in for an afternoon of great racing. We watched the various GT classes, the feature Grand Am race, more spec sports car class racing, and last but not least the Spec Miata Heritage Race. It was now time to head home with discussions of the upcoming Mazda Fest and track days. Hope to see you all at the Holiday Mazda Ride on June 16, 2018.