Speakeasy Club Track Day Event at Atlanta Motor Sports Park on May 19, 2017.

I was recently asked to join the Speakeasy club at one of my favorite places for fun, the Atlanta Motorsports Track located at 20 Duck Thurmond Road in Dawsonville Georgia. The Atlanta Motorsports Park is home to two driving circuits in the North Georgia Mountains. Designed by Formula One architect Herman Tilke. Inside of the main course there is the Go Kart courses, which has three different configurations.  However, today the Speakeasy Counter Culture Club was there to experience the main course for cars, a two-mile main road course was recently voted one of the Top 10 Tracks in North America by Road & Track Magazine.  The author having driven it can also attest, it is a track with elevation changes and a very technical layout, making it a  challenging course designed to make sure the driver can develop the skills necessary to complete the course in the best possible time for car and driver.

The Speakeasy Club is a secret society of Atlanta business executives that meet monthly to network, make new friends, and just relax over a fine cigar and a favorite libation. Their  goal is to create a warm, relaxing environment that facilitates deeper social connections with a limited group of  high quality business individuals.  At this particular event there were three host sponsors for this exciting event.

Chris Grigalunas of Azul Motorsports who provided ride along experiences for folks in his C7 Z51 Corvette and his fully Race Prepared Mazda Miata. Trevor Smith of Greencents, also brought his Nissan GTR tuned to 700 HP for people wanting a ride along, plus a Porsche Cayman Cup Car was available for the ride along experience.  All are exciting track worthy cars capable of delivering a pulse raising experience for driver and rider as well.  If you wanted to drive your own car this was also an option available to the attendees.  

The weather could not have been better for racing. The temperature was in the 85-degree range without clouds and very low humidity.  The speeds of the cars on the track were high as well as the spirits of the drivers and passengers. The wide grins and rapid conversations of the riders exiting the cars was a testament to the exhilarating experience they just had. When all had completed their rides there was time for a jovial review of each person’s experience. This group discussion and recap of the day’s experience, was of course accompanied by the traditional Cigar, as a way of relaxing and enhancing the afterglow of the day spent in High Performance cars on a nationally acclaimed racetrack. On the plus side no one went home with a speeding ticket, making it the end of a perfect event for the Speakeasy Club.

Steve Bracken