The transistion on both the front straight and the back straight at Nashville CAN be extremely abrupt if you try and "square off" the turns. If you turn in a little earlier, however, it's not bad at all. We're running over 145 down the front straight and even racing wheel-to-wheel into T-1 (last Labor Day) I never felt I was in danger of tearing up the equipment or out of control. I know one guy broke a front spindle on an ITS (?) car, but he also waited until very late to make the transistion onto the apron (almost to NASCAR One).
I never even noticed the transistion on the back straight, but then I also turn in very early there as well. Perhaps the fast line in a less-powerful car is to stay on the concrete until the last possible moment, but I don't (or understand why anyone would want to) use that line. The left off the concrete is followed by an immediate right, so what good does it do to take a late entry? Turn in early, brake later, and maximize your entry speed rather than the mid-corner speed.
The Atlanta and Mid-South regions will be hosting a Double SARRC / Double Mid-Am (the "Music City Double Barrel Shoot-Out") on Sept 1 & 2 this year. We're hoping/expecting to have over 200 cars in attendance, so while I certainly appreciate anyone's choice to not attend (I don't like Roebling, for instance) maybe you should try some different lines during the test day before making a final decision.
Butch Kummer
Atlanta Region Competition Director
Taxi-cab Driver
Butch Kummer
Former SCCA Director of Club Racing (July 2012 - Sept 2014)
2006, 2007, 2010 SARRC GTA Champion
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