Originally published July 1, 2021. Last updated February 18, 2025.

For any passion or hobby that a person can pursue, there’s usually an outlook or mindset that is ideal for getting the most personal fulfillment and enjoyment out of the time you spend doing it. With HPDE, there’s a certain approach you’ll find many folks talk about that can help you get there.

Namely, the best approach to take with HPDE is to keep your focus on four key aspects during every event:

• Safety
• Fun
• Education
• Speed

If you can keep these four things in mind at your next track day, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll have a great time. Here’s how the right HPDE approach can make a difference in your track day.

Safety

Safety is number one at the track. No matter the event you participate in, organizers at tracks around the country all prioritize safety — and driving on a track is generally safer than driving in traffic. There are a few reasons for that. Everyone’s focused on what they’re doing and you’re all going the same direction. Drivers also show up ready to learn, with an understanding that there’s always something to improve. Plus, everyone’s given the same set of rules and procedures to follow. And classroom coaches, in-car instructors and turn workers are all there to help guide participants and warn about potential problems.

For drivers, events are also a chance to practice risk management. There’s some level of risk every time you get behind the wheel of a car, but a track is a controlled environment. Drivers can gain experience of when and how to push themselves and their car and when and how not to. You can also help minimize the risk of damage to your car during in an event by buying track insurance. Even just knowing you have this protection in place can help ease your mind and allow you to focus on driving better.

In sum, a great track day is one where everyone enjoys an event without incident. It’s easy for something to go wrong and for vehicles to get damaged, or worse, for someone to get hurt. When everyone goes home safe, that’s been a great day — even if your lap time was slower than you hoped or you weren’t able to master a particular technique. It’s a process and you and your car will have another chance.

Fun

Some may wonder how it’s possible not to have fun driving a fast car on a famous track. But like any hobby people are passionate about, there’s a lot of time, money and expectations poured into motorsports. It’s easy for drivers to lose sight of the big picture and forget that this is something they first wanted to do because it looked like fun.

HPDE is a lot of fun. It’s a welcoming and enthusiastic community, the facilities are great and it offers a minimally competitive environment where the focus is on learning and improving. The sport attracts great people and it is not uncommon to make lifelong friends with some of the people you’ll meet at events. What started out as a car hobby and skills goal can become an important part of your social life. It’s also rare in the sports world to be able to use the same facilities as professionals — there are no “track days” at Wimbledon for fans of weekend tennis. But you can find track events to participate in at most major tracks at some point during the year.

While it seems like it would be impossible to forget all this, it can happen. You could take it too seriously, spend too much, take too big a risk or forget why you’re doing it in the first place. A better approach is to have fun while learning and improving. Don’t be too hard on yourself or too impatient to achieve your goals and realize you’ll get there soon enough.

Education

Always keep in mind that the “E” in HPDE stands for education. HPDE is minimally competitive, meaning you have the opportunity to learn without the added stress of worrying about being faster than the other drivers. That kind of thing can always come later for the drivers who choose to transition into racing competitively. But even then, you’ll realize that motorsports never really stops being about learning.

There is always more to high-performance driving than drivers think there is. Even those who’ve been doing events for decades say it’s a never-ending process. For novices, learning is possible in just about any street-legal, stock vehicle, from navigating corners to being a better driver or just learning how to more effectively manage yourself behind the wheel. Eventually, you may think about adding in vehicle modifications to the mix, which then opens up a whole new opportunity for learning.

Regardless of your current level, you won’t have trouble learning something new at HPDE with so much education packed into events. There’s classroom instruction, one-on-one coaching and time on the track. Plus, many drivers find that the best learning sometimes happens off the track while just chatting with their instructor, coach or other drivers.

Speed

Last but not least, HPDE participants can’t forget about the importance of speed. In fact, speed is one of the main elements that attracts drivers to the sport, with many wanting an opportunity to drive faster than is possible on regular streets and roads. For some drivers, speed is the most important part of their HPDE experience. For others, it’s just something that naturally happens after learning how to drive a car really well.

All the same, speed at the track is relative. You will be working towards a speed that feels fast yet controllable for you. Drivers don’t want to drive too fast, too soon. And since HPDE isn’t a race, one driver’s slow may be another driver’s fast. Everyone learns at different speeds, so it makes sense that their speed on the track will also vary.

Like everything, developing speed in motorsports has a learning curve and it’s sometimes a bumpy ride. Drivers should expect that their HPDE journey will have periods of steady progress, frustrating plateaus where no improvement seems to be happening, then breakthroughs where there is another burst of progress — with a burst of speed to match. Managing the rollercoaster of emotions that come with this experience is an important part of the process. In fact, it can be almost as important as managing control of the car.

Conclusion

The ultimate goal going into an HPDE event is to combine these four elements: always try to have fun and learn something, while staying safe so you can drive better and faster. It’s a lot to learn, but practice makes perfect.

As you get ready for your next track day, don’t forget to make sure your car will be covered on the track. Most regular auto insurance policies limit coverage for HPDE, time trials and track day events.

Insurance from Lockton Motorsports is different. We offer HPDE Insurance to that is specifically designed protect your car from damage when you’re participating in HPDE, time trials and track day events. It’s a great way to help minimize your risk and stay safe as you have fun, learn and work on developing your speed.