Tire Rack Street Survival program at the Saratoga Automobile Museum

April 23, 2023

Rain. Cold. Ideal conditions to coach 21 upstate New York teenagers through a Tire Rack Street Survival program at the Saratoga Automobile Museum on Sunday, the 23rd of April, 2023.

Led by the Mohawk-Hudson Region SCCA, the day-long exercises in the classroom, and out on the adjoining Saratoga Performing Arts Center parking lot, were run by a team that also included the Patroon Chapter - BMW Car Club of America, and staff of the Museum.

Milton Fire District Number 1 added an extra challenge to the students. One-half of the skid pad was made even slipperier by high-volume water sprayed from a regulation fire hose. For the students, it was no different from driving up and down the nearby Northway (I-87) on the way to school, work, and shopping that is a way of life on the edge of the Adirondacks.

The constant downpour did not dampen the enthusiasm of parents and students alike who stood in line to see for themselves what a semi-driver sees from the cab, or doesn’t see, in the mirrors or even over the hood in front. That demonstration was followed by an airbag detonation (actually two) that provided graphic evidence as to why one should keep one’s driving hands at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions. And why a passenger should never ride with their feet on the dashboard!

The only TRSS program activity that was truly dampened was the traditional class picture. What with that exercise moved indoors at day’s end, rather than during a sunny lunchtime, it was ‘herding cats” to get most of the students in camera range as they and their parents started to head for dry homes.

As always, TRSS staff and instructors gathered together to swap stories of how their students had gone from timidity to confidence as the day progressed. It’s always a toss-up as to who gets more out of the TRSS experience. The students, or is it the instructors?