AndrewISF

Does anybody have any experience with running a track day with Extreme Speed on one of the Southern California tracks? I’ve ran with Speed Ventures and had a positive experience but I’ve noticed that Extreme Speed events come out to about 1/2 the price. Are the groups overcrowded? Thanks!

SpeedFreaksUSA

iTrader: (1)

It's a bit of a mixed bag with them. I did one of their days at Chuckwalla when I was in SoCal visiting my sister earlier this year and a lot of my buddies down there had warned me to stay away. But I was down there for a predefined amount of time and that was the only event I could do while I was there so I had to roll the dice. My experience wasn't terrible- I've been to at least 150 events at this point in my life and instruct with a few groups local to me so I have a very relaxed attitude about my own track time in general but I will say in all those events I've done this was the very first time I've ever experienced the event start time being pushed back because the owner was late to the track. Seriously. The guy who runs the show was late to his own event and according to yelp that isn't unusual. If I were new to the game and stressing about getting every last minute of track time this would have probably frustrated me quite a bit. But the event was fairly inexpensive, I was on vacation and just happy to drive a new track so it was no biggie to me at the time. Also I must have gone on great day because there were only like 8-10 cars in the advanced group so I had plenty of open track all day which helped make up for it. With that said I think the underlying problem most people have with Extreme Speed is with the owner (Joel). Looking at some of the reviews on yelp and you'll see the main issues people have are that the events are run without any scheduling rigidity and that he tries to up charge for everything- bring your own numbers because if you show up with painters tape numbers he wont let you out on track until you buy his sticker numbers for $20. Also fair warning that if you do need a tow for whatever reason get ready for quite the bill (~$800). At the end of the day he offers very low pricing (at face value) but like most things in life you get what you pay for.

-Matt M.

AndrewISF

Matt,

I asked the same question to a FB group named California Track Addicts and oh man, the company and Joel were ripped a new one fast. Nearly 100 posts in and the admin said "I think we get the point..." and locked the thread. Some described it as the Spirit Airlines of track days and like you, talked about how they were nickel and dimed on things. There were a few more things that were said that were worrisome so I think I'll stick with the more reputable companies for now. Thanks again for your input!