Track Day Morning
1,657 views · Published 20 January 2018 · 1:49 · Indexed 5 October 2026
Channel: Jack Olsen · 2018 · Autos & Vehicles
It's always different, but this time the perfect moment happens on the drive in. I’m awake at 5:00, a cold January morning, in the car and on my way by 5:30. I’ve been doing this so long that I’ve got the kinks worked out. There’s hot coffee within easy reach. Good heat from the exchangers down on the car’s headers. Noise canceling earbuds filter most of the engine sound, but not so much that I can’t hear how well the thing is running. I have music coming in through the earbuds, as well as an audio feed from the radar detector, which means I can plant myself in the empty left lane and enjoy watching the sun slowly rise in the hour and a quarter that it takes to get over the San Gabriels and all the way out to the oldest and fastest road course in North America. There’ll be a lot of adrenaline later, but this drive up out of the city, through the mountains and up to the high-altitude desert is a tremendously calm experience, every time I do it.
