What does the PCA event information mean where it says, "Students with instructors, if assigned one"? Don't they provide an instructor to ride along with EVERY student, unless and until the student is signed off to drive solo?
And I don't see the classroom sessions shown on the schedule. How much classroom instruction time do they provide, along with the track time?
There are different ways of structuring track events. Some, which are basically open lapping days without much instruction, may be fine for experienced drivers, but don't work as well for novices with less or no experience. Others are more instructional oriented, and are great for those with limited experience. You can choose the type of event that works best for
your level of experience.
I'm sure the folks who attended the Windy City BMW event will be happy to comment upon the quality of the instruction they received, in their cars as well as in the classroom sessions. (FWIW, my students at this event were not part of our NSX contingent.)
In addition to choosing an event which provides the level of instruction you prefer, you can choose an event which has the format and amount of track time you prefer - for example, a one-day event with less track time (150 minutes, if you drive every session all day long, which many folks don't/can't) for less money ($230-270) like PCA provides, versus a two-day event which provides more track time (190 minutes spread over two days) for more money (around $375, I believe) like the BMW CCA events - whichever best meets
your needs and budget.
In a similar vein, some groups put more cars on the track at a time than others, with a greater frequency of cars getting "bunched up in traffic". The number of cars per mile is usually an indication of the likelihood of traffic problems, which tend to increase, particularly if you put 10 or more cars per mile of track. Windy City BMW generally has run groups of around 32 cars each at Road America (8 per mile), and with four passing zones, traffic is rarely a problem. CGI Motorsports, which holds Monday events at GingerMan, does even better, with around 10 cars per run group (6 per mile), and even less traffic. How many does PCA put in a run group? Of course, the offsetting advantage of more cars per run group (just like the advantage of having more run groups) is that they translate directly into lower registration costs. Again, this may be another area where some groups are better than others, and you can pick the one that best meets
your needs.
As my experience increased over the years, I became more interested in how much actual track time I got, and less interested in the amount of in-car instruction and classroom time. I found that BMW CCA was a great way to meet
my needs. The quality of their instruction and the structure of their event format is as good as you will find anywhere. And, as long as I was going to go to the trouble to prep and pack up the car and drive to a track, I wanted to make sure that I got the most track time I could. BMW CCA's two-day events provided more track time than one-day events. Even better, once I had a fair amount of experience and I was running in the most experienced run group, I was able to participate in the Friday open-track instructor lapping day that precedes most of their events. (Most BMW CCA chapters, although not Windy City, allow their most experienced students to run with the instructors on the Friday sessions.) These lapping days are run under the same structured rules as the Saturday-Sunday schools, and these provide a measure of safety that I have observed as lacking in other groups that hold "open lapping days", where you can drive on the track all day long at your discretion. With unlimited track time on Friday, combined with the run sessions on Saturday and Sunday, you can easily get 300 track miles or more in a weekend, if you're so inclined.
Another group worth considering, particularly for those interested in getting a lot of track time with a limited amount of traffic on the track as well as in-car instructors and classroom sessions for novices, is
CGI Motorsports, which runs one-day events at GingerMan roughly every other Monday. Their schedule is set up with three run groups, and you will get as much track time as you can stand in a one-day event.
An advantage of both BMW CCA and CGI Motorsports is that they welcome those running all makes and models of cars. Although I have instructed a few times at PCA events, I never joined because I don't own a Porsche (that's a requirement if you want to be a member). I know that their policy regarding the ability of non-members, and drivers of non-Porsches, to drive in their events varies from chapter to chapter. Some chapters welcome non-members with open arms, usually because they need those entries to fill their events, while others restrict them to PCA members (which means Porsche owners) and some even frown on members driving non-Porsches. I've been treated very nicely by the PCA chapters that let me run, but told by others that they do not allow non-members in their events. So this is one more thing to consider when scouting out track events.
There are lots of other groups and event formats to consider in addition to these, too - other marque clubs and not-for-profit groups (
AROC,
NASA) as well as professional, for-profit schools (
Skip Barber,
TrackTime, and some in specific parts of the country like
Chin Motorsports in the South,
Trackmasters and
Car Guys in the Northeast,
Driver's Edge in Texas), and Solo and Time Trial and Competition events in addition to the HPDE events like CGI's at GingerMan and BMW CCA's at RA and elsewhere nationwide. Again, different formats, different amounts of track time, different levels of instruction, different levels of risk, etc.
So there are lots of groups you can try, and things to consider in choosing one group's event vs another. If you're not sure, read up and talk with those that have run their events and try one. If you like the way they work their events, keep going; if not, try someone else's events. Find the place you feel comfortable, based on what you're looking for. Once you find a group whose events you enjoy, you probably ought to keep participating in that group's events; that gives you the ability to make friends that you will see at subsequent events (many of us attend the same events each year) as well as for the event organizers to become familiar with your experience level as it improves over time, and place you in the proper run group.
For those just getting started, I think a well-structured school with in-car instructors and classroom instruction at a "safe" track like GingerMan, Putnam Park, MAM, etc is a great introduction to the sport. Once you've done a few events, and as you continue to do more, you can see whether other groups and tracks and formats best meet your needs.
I'm such a loser. Next time we're all together, I gotta check out your car.
Charger + Road America = BBK. You did a rookie mistake, putting the $$ at the BHP before safety, tires, and brakes. Get a BBK, ducting, r-compounds (17/17 will do) and put in some seats, harness bar, and 5-pts asap. You will love the BHP much more after the other stuff is taken care of. 
