When I first started doing High Performance Driver Education events a several years ago, I was immediately hooked on the sport, the fun and the camaraderie. The thrill was intoxicating and the people were fantastic. I couldn't wait for my next event, and of course, like most new people to the hobby, my first inclination was "I need to change my brakes, my suspension, get more power...". What I really should have been focused on (of course) was becoming a better driver since the car was already more capable than I was at that time!
That notwithstanding, I went on a quest to find more information about what I should do to my car and to find more groups to drive with and to watch videos online to see how I can improve. What I quickly discovered was that it is actually really difficult to get information that was relevant to my experience and car from people that I could actually trust. It was easy to find opinions all over the Internet, but I had no idea who the people were at the other end and what their qualifications were to make them the so-called expert they claimed to be. I remember asking a question about a tire, and a forum war ensuing between a group of guys who "swore" by that tire, and other guys who said that tire was terrible. But what were the conditions they were using that tire to get their opinion? Were they at the right pressures? Who knows.
I then decided that maybe it was better to ask some questions to people I had met in person; instructors at some of the car clubs that I had been driving with. The trick there became that many of those people (while absolutely incredible) are volunteers and they have their regular lives to lead and I began to feel a little guilty asking them more and more questions because I didn't want to take advantage.
Over time I was able to find a strong group of peers who had instructed me or worked on my car that were able to provide enough information for me to avoid wasting too much money and to keep getting better. But as I progressed and went on to get my NASA and SCCA racing licenses, I realized there is a whole new set of questions to begin to ask (SFI ratings, ballast, class differentials, fuel cells, racing rules, etc.) and I was again looking for some additional people that I could trust that have the experience to help answer these new questions.
But - who knows what new questions are around the corner when I move to yet a next level? It was based on all of this that we realized that there has to be a better way - and we believe TrackPro Advisors is it.
We have spent a significant amount of time building a system that qualifies and validates our Advisors to make sure each of them are the best at their expertise. Our software enables our members to track their history and experience in online profiles, so that if you have a question about brakes on your E36 BMW, our system connects you to brake experts for an E36. We have Chief Advisors that monitor all of of our Advisors, but we also have our member community providing feedback, so that we have an open, honest and self-policing service that demands excellence.
During our development of this business, we realized from our conversations with people ranging from newcomers to the sport to people who hold Grand Am racing license that everyone needs some advice, questions answered or support no matter what level they are at. Even if you are just trying to find a driving coach for a weekend or pit crew, we can help with that too.
Like I said earlier, beyond the thrill of being on the track, I found that the people really made the sport something I wanted to be a part of. It is our goal to not only connect you with great advisors, but to also connect you with fellow members at special events that we will hold throughout the year so that you can continue to build those friendships between events, and maybe even build bonds between families.
So while we finish up what we have to do on our end for the fully enabled site, we invite you to sign up to get a taste of the type of content you will find on our site aside from the interaction with our Advisors. We believe you will find our site to be an incredible resource of information and also a lot of fun. Thanks again for checking us out! We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!
Sincerely,
Andrew Groelinger, Co-Founder
