[fleetfoot]

As someone from the Atlanta area who started doing HPDE 4 years ago, I wanted to share some of what I've learned about the organizations, tracks, and shops in our area. At this point I've driven 175 sessions over 35 days in my E92 328i and OG M2. Hopefully this guide will help some other newbies and/or more experienced drivers.

HPDE Orgs
I've now driven with four local organizations. Here are my thoughts on each.

JustTrackIt (first place)
Candidly, JTI is my favorite by a long shot. The highlights are the people, the operational efficiency, the time I get on track, and the quality of the coaching. Folks at JTI events have been the friendliest, least-snooty, and least-cliquey. I've had a ton of great conversations and made friends that I hang out with outside of track days. Everyone is willing to lend a hand/wrench or share their tent. Ride-alongs are super-easy to do. It's just a great environment to enjoy your time between sessions, and I trust my fellow drivers on track because I know many of them personally. The same people show up every month.

I've found that I consistently get the most track time with JTI too. They typically run four 25-min sessions plus a 30-min combined session at the end of the day. Over a 2-day weekend (most of their events) you'll get up to 4:20 of track time, which is usually more than people can handle. The last sessions of the day are often empty and quite enjoyable. Operations throughout the day are typically smooth and well-communicated.

The learning environment is also excellent. I ran in novice instructed for many weekends and always had great instructors, always in BMWs (E30, E46, F80). I've also had opportunities to ride along in many other E36 and E46 cars and talk with other F22, F87, and E90 owners. It's also super easy to pick up advanced drivers to ride shotgun and provide helpful pointers. I've knocked off time every single track weekend as I continue to learn and grow.

Jzilla (second)
I've driven with Jzilla a couple times, and I appreciate their community as well. Everyone seems very enthusiastic, but I had a harder time making friends there. The culture is a bit less "buttoned-up" than JTI. The best example I can give is that AMP, it seems to be de rigueur to powerslide your way through turn 6. The format is typically six 20-minute sessions, and events are usually only 1 day. These feel a bit short to me. My second day on track is usually my best for learning, so I feel like I'm missing out with Jzilla.

I had my first track day ever with Jzilla, and I wasn't super impressed with the lead-follow approach they were using exclusively at that point due to Covid. In my first session on track I got separated from my instructor and had no clue what I was doing. By the end of the day I was quite rattled and almost ended my track driving right there. I understand that they now use a hybrid approach where the first couple sessions are lead-follow instruction (to learn the line), and then the instructor rides along for the remainder of the day (to teach good driving habits). I could see that working out alright.

Now that I'm more experienced, Jzilla is my second choice if I want to go drive at a particular track like AMP. At AMP it's extra fun because they rent out the skidpad, so you can drift and practice car control until you're dizzy haha!

Chin (third)
I drove with Chin once at Barber because I'd heard they had the best instructors in the business. Oddly enough, my instructor ended up being someone I already knew from JustTrackIt and she was great! I learned a lot from her, but overall I wasn't very impressed with Chin as an organization due to the participants and the way the event was run.

I would guess that half the drivers there were in a Porsche, many of them being of the "GT" variety. I didn't find them to be as friendly in the paddock or on the track. I got passed multiple times without a point by during the second (slow) half of "happy hour", which was quite unsettling as a novice. The organizers didn't seem too concerned about this. I'm sure that as I get more experienced, this focus on the faster drivers will make Chin more appealing.

BMW CCA Peachtree Chapter (last place)
I had high hopes for my first weekend with BMW CCA, but came away pretty disappointed. First off, the logistics/organization were fairly poor. The event definitely felt more "amateur" than the professional groups above. Communications prior to the event were lacking. The week of the event I still hadn't gotten any logistical information, so I had to reach out. Coaching assignments weren't announced until the Saturday morning driver's meeting. In contrast JTI, Jzilla, and Chin coaches all reached out to me a few days before the event to help me prepare and understand my goals. BMW CCA also asked me to fill out a "medical form" including a bunch of PII info that I thought was weird, although they didn't end up collecting that paper, which was also weird. Why have me fill it out if you don't need it?

The BMW event was also extremely short on track time. There were only four 25-min sessions per day. So at best you'd get 3:20 on track (an hour less than JTI). And for this particular weekend, the Road Atlanta flaggers were extra aggressive on sound limits, so my M2 with stock exhaust+catted DP got black flagged Sunday during quiet hours. And then my instructor didn't show up for one of my sessions, so I missed that one. And then it stormed so the track was closed. For the whole weekend I ended up driving 6 sessions for a total of about 2:40 time on track. That's only 60% of what I typically get with JTI. Some of this was bad luck, but some of it is due to the way BMW CCA allocates time for racing sessions and isn't as efficient.

I primarily went to this event hoping to learn more about other BMWs, but I didn't find the folks were as friendly as JTI. The one person who was super-friendly and helpful was James Clay from Bimmerworld. I hopped into one of the classroom sessions that he led and learned a ton. I also chatted with him 1:1 later in the day. This was definitely the highlight of the weekend. He's a really cool/smart dude.

Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend driving with BMW CCA Peachtree Chapter. I've learned far more with other groups, and I've had better BMW-focused conversations with BMW drivers at JustTrackIt events.

Tracks In The Area
My approach has been to learn a new track every year or so. Here's a brief description of each in the order I learned them. I don't really have a favorite since they are all fun in their own ways.

Atlanta Motorsports Park (AMP)
AMP is very tight and technical. Even the straightaway isn't very straight, so there's not really much time to relax on this track. There are also a bunch of blind turns. This might not be my first recommendation for a beginner. This track will chew up your front right tire if you don't have enough camber. I really enjoy AMP now. The paddock is pretty good, although I wish they opened up the bridge for spectators.
Fuel consumption: 32 gallons
Track fuel cost: +$2
My Days: 9
Best time: 1:37.6

AMP also has some other amenities that are really great:
-Discovery Parts has good stuff onsite
-the skidpad is great for learning car control
-the karts are really fun for practicing wheel-to-wheel racing (particularly the 4-10 hour enduros)
-they offer a 1 day car control clinic that is excellent; includes ~6 hours of driving time on your choice of skidpad, autox, or open track

Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is very flowy and probably the track I'd recommend learning on. The only downside for beginners is the high speeds on the back straight, but you can just lift. The walls are a bit tight in some areas, but I haven't witnessed any big crashes in novice. This event usually draws more people and I feel like the paddock really facilitates meeting folks.
Typical fuel consumption: 50 gallons
Track fuel cost: +$2
My Days: 15
Best time: 1:43.2

Barber Motorsports Park
Barber is also a hard track to learn, but really fun as you start to get comfortable with it. The way you drive over the curbs is very unusual. There's lots of runoff in most area, so crashes are often low-damage. I feel like this is a great track for practicing all your skills in one place.
Fuel consumption: 55 gallons
Track fuel cost: +$1
My Days: 7
Best time: 1:46.0

Roebling Road Raceway
Roebling is probably underrated. It's fairly simple with a flowy set of 9 turns plus one very long straight. I hit my fastest top speed of ~145mph here. The driving style is very different than the other tracks since it's mostly about smooth inputs, driving at the limit of grip, and throttle steering. I've got 4 days here and still feel like a total noob, but I'm learning. I went out with an instructor on my last day and he helped me shave off 2 seconds just by telling me I should be using more throttle to balance the car through the turns. It's exhilarating when it happens!
Fuel consumption: 38 gallons
Track fuel cost: None, bring a fuel can
My Days: 4
Best time: 1:23.7

Local Shops
I do most maintenance myself, but will outsource work for larger jobs or if I can't figure something out. Here's what I've experienced:

Bavarian Repair, Woodstock
This is my go-to repair shop. They do good work at a fair price. Todd, the shop owner, races some and has good judgement in my experience.

Gran Turismo East, Chamblee
This is my go-to tire/alignment shop. They will dial in whatever alignment you want considering how you're driving the car. Keiran and Gabe are both very knowledgeable and I trust their judgement. They prep lots of local HPDE cars. Prices are slightly steep, but it's good value.

Discount Tire, Austell
For simple tire mounting I go here, because it's close. They do the basics well and never scratch my wheels.

Harrison Motorsport, Alpharetta
I've used them a few times over the years. The first time was a mess. The latest time was good, but a bit overpriced. I don't feel like I get good value here, but sometimes it's the best option.

Technica Motorsport, Atlanta
This used to be my go-to shop, but then Tyler their best mechanic left and things went downhill. I experienced multiple instances of shoddy work, and wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Although I did see that they may have gotten sold (or just moved) recently, so maybe things have gotten better. Probably not.

United BMW
When I first got my M2, I had some warranty work done here. They did a good job for a dealer, but I'd still choose an indy.

Global Imports BMW and BMW South Atlanta
I used them a bunch over the years for work on my 328i and they almost always disappointed. Absolutely wouldn't recommend.


A Few Random Technical Thoughts

1. Get a hybrid HANS. I know it's expensive, but your neck is probably the thing most at risk on track.
2. Consider using a Schroth QuickFitPro. There's lots of debate on this one, so read up and make your own decision. Being held tight in my seat makes a world of difference in how well I'm able to control my car.
3. I still get track insurance every time. OnTrackInsurance seems to be the best for buying multi-day and getting coverage for cleanup costs.
4. I started driving on the track in my 328i, which was a good learning tool. Heel/toe makes braking zones much more complicated though. I'd recommend a car with auto revmatch for your first track day
5. I started with older all-season tires which weren't very confidence inspiring. I'd recommend using a good set of newish summer tires like Michelin PS4S. I saw little to no tire wear as a novice, other than the front shoulders, which wore heavily with stock camber settings. Once I added camber plates, my tires barely wore at all. I run Hankook RS4 now, which aren't much faster but wear even less.
6. ATE200 brake fluid worked great for me, even at Road Atlanta in the middle of the summer. It seems to last a couple years, whereas the RBF600 I use now needs to be fully flushed annually due to degradation. Pick whatever seems right to you. Don't forget to flush your clutch too.
7. I blew through Hawk HPS 5.0 pads in just a couple days at Road Atlanta as a novice. Get something better for the track, and be prepared to live with the noise on the street. I wouldn't recommend swapping to street pads between events as this can lead to poor pad/rotor mating. I run PFC-08 pads now.
8. The M2 can have fuel starvation issues after a series of right hand turns, which became apparent to me at Roebling. Generally you won't want to go below 1/4 tank, and at Roebling probably not less than 1/3 tank. There are fuel pumps that can solve this problem, but I just keep the tank fairly full.
9. The OG M2 is heavily affected by heat (even with an intercooler and DP). It seems happiest when temps are under 55 degrees. Over 90 degrees timing is getting pulled and power on the straights is limited. There are lots of threads about how to solve this problem with $$$. Or just get an M2C, which solves this problem with more airflow and its air to water intercooler.

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to try to help!