The Driving Club at Road Atlanta checks off all the boxes when looking for your next adrenaline-pumping track experience.
Need a challenging, world-famous road course? Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta provides a big check there. First-class amenities? Got it.
Storage for your track car? Absolutely. Experienced staff and race-proven driving instructors? Check & check.
Time on the track? Yes, in fact, a permanent check goes in this box.
Because Trip Campbell, the Founder, and CEO of The Driving Club at Road Atlanta, knows the other boxes don’t matter without the seat time you need.
Trip and his team have over ten years of first-hand experience providing a safe and immersive road course experience. Have you been searching for a track day that checks off all the boxes?
Flip your helmet visor down and grab the wheel because you’ve found it!
The following is the second of a three-part interview with Trip Campbell, the Founder, and CEO of The Driving Club at Road Atlanta.
The first article of the series was ‘The Driving Club – The Best Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Experience.”
Abundant Track Time
Rod Worley – Editor – Trip, the top question we get asked about The Driving Club at Road Atlanta is concerning track time. Specifically, how much time do you get on the road course, and how are the sessions divided up?
Trip Campbell – The Driving Club at Road Atlanta – Well, Rod, there are six driving sessions for the two groups comprised of solo drivers. We have them broken down into “Sport” and “Sprint” sessions.
The Sport sessions are for intermediate drivers, while the Sprint sessions are for advanced drivers.
Each session is 25 to 30-minutes in length, and they go back and forth all day long.
We have four sessions before lunchtime and two after lunch. There is also an hour and 20-minute open session in the afternoon where Sport and Sprint are driving together.
We committed early on to those two main groups of driver level. As a result, the session numbers are manageable, with seldom any congestion.
This schedule alleviates the pressure to get out on track for every single session from start to end. In addition, it gives our members the freedom to skip a session if they are involved in a conversation with fellow members or need to take a business call.
We’ve seemed to have found the perfect mix between track time and relaxation. Some of our members like to come out, clear their minds, drive for half a day, have lunch, and then beat the afternoon traffic home.
Others want to spend as much time on the track as possible. Either way, our members get plenty of laps at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
We also insert our “Touring” group for novice drivers. These are new track drivers who have an instructor riding with them. They have three sessions of their own in a lead-follow format following their initial classroom time in our Michelin Tower Suite.
The sessions are shorter, but it still gives them a great experience with a mix of coaching, driving, and classroom instruction.
Inclusive Driving Experience
Rod Worley – Editor – How many track days do you have a year for your members? Also, do you have reciprocal relationships with other road courses?
Trip Campbell – The Driving Club at Road Atlanta – Great question. The answer to the first question is twofold. The short answer is we usually have around two member days per month.
Our track days run from late February through December, depending on the weather. Currently, we have 16 up to 18 track days per calendar year.
As membership grows and we hit our 250 member cap, we will hold at 18 track days per year.
We’ve started a tradition recently where we will join with our preferred partner, Chin Track Days, who rents track time at several other prime road courses.
We join them in January at Sebring, which is another legendary track. Last three years in a row, we’ve taken about 25 a year down for a weekend track experience there.
So, we help organize the trip, secure vehicle transportation, lodging and arrange dinners together. It’s a great chance to drive another famous track and spend time with fellow club members.
We also have reciprocal relationships with Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and the National Corvette Museum (NCM). In the future, we’ll add other tracks as they come online.
Many in Atlanta love VIR. Those who haven’t driven it quickly learn to love it once they do. So on September 1st and 2nd of this year, our Club will be at the Virginia International Raceway for a joint member track day with their member club.
We are constantly looking to mix in other events to provide our members a more inclusive overall driving experience.
Dynamic Synergy
Rod Worley – Editor – What factors led you to choose this iconic road course to start The Driving Club?
Trip Campbell – The Driving Club at Road Atlanta – Well, I would say they chose us instead of us choosing them. Many have tried over the years to convince the track owners to allow them to start a club on-site.
But, unfortunately, often, the timing or the synergy wasn’t right. In its 48 years history, the track had never found the right driving club.
Fortunately, we have considerable experience with motorsport country clubs and driving experiences.
Combining our proven experience with a strong word-of-mouth reputation convinced them we were the perfect group to start the first driving club on the property.
Their facilities are ideally suited for our club. In addition, our total, newly renovated 25,000 sq ft location is spectacular.
We feel fortunate to be the first and only member club on the property. Also, we quickly learned that they were very excited to have us there as well.
The Driving Club brings fresh, vibrant energy and new drivers that otherwise might never have step foot on the property.
Anchor, Not A Branch
Rod Worley – Editor – Are there thoughts of replicating this winning business formula at other road courses across the country?
Trip Campbell – The Driving Club at Road Atlanta – What’s unique about The Driving Club is that we get to be a private country club on-site at a prestigious, high-level pro track.
There are a few other smaller track clubs that have sprung up over the years. Some of them going back as long as 15 years ago.
But, you have to possess the right mix of a vibrant metropolitan area, an iconic track that everyone wants to drive, management and ownership that are willing to bring that on and support it.
So, something at this level is obviously, few and far between. I can count on one hand the number of true pro-level race tracks in the US that have a membership club on-site as part of their offering.
We established The Driving Club as a reliable anchor for on-site expansion rather than a branch to other locations. Our primary goal is to give car enthusiasts a reason to come out to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta more often and stay longer.
The Right Track Experience
Trip Campbell and his team have put together a first-class driving experience at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The attention to detail is reminiscent of someone who instinctively knows what road course drivers are looking for and how to deliver it consistently.
Time and again, we saw first-hand the wide smiles and camaraderie that are the hallmark features of this driving club of friends.
One thing becomes clear, The Driving Club at Road Atlanta is the adrenaline-pumping track experience you’ve been seeking.
Articles We Recommend:
Tony Parella – A Nationwide Vision for SVRA
David Hinton Is Driving HSR To The Winner’s Circle
43rd HSR “The Mitty” Rallies Vintage Faithful In April