Track Guide: Pacific Raceways

Track Guide: Pacific Raceways 

Welcome to our fourth edition of Track Guide, our notebook on how to be fast at tracks around the U.S. Each edition covers a different circuit giving drivers the best approach to reduce their lap times.

Racing your vehicle through the northwest forest of America, surrounded by the tall trees and thick vegetation characteristic of the evergreen state, is a normal part of the experience when you go to the Pacific Raceways in Seattle metropolitan area, Washington. There you can find a counterclockwise racetrack of 2.25 miles, ten turns, several of them with considerable banking, and nice long straight runs to keep your engine screaming for gas. The racing complex opened in 1960 and features a dragstrip enclosed inside the road track infield area. Several motorsports associations use Pacific Raceways regularly such as the SCCA, IRDC, SOVREN, WMRRA, and others.  

125 ft. of total vertical gain and some heavy steering at the turns get the average lap time to 1:32.588 and the average speed to 87 mph. Pacific Raceways is a landmark for those passionate motorsports fans of Washington state, with 60+ years of history and still a lot more to come. The track is a thrill to drive and provides an experience, unlike most modern race tracks. Track ownership has recently invested in some major upgrades with Armco barriers lining most of the circuit keeping cars out of the trees and out of embankments. 

Turn 1: 
This is a flat-out bend in the straightaway for most cars. There isn’t anything super special to this corner except car placement. As soon as you cross the start-finish line you will want to start moving your car over to the left to open up 1 as much as possible. If you stay too tight your car will take itself across the track and you will ruin your setup/entry for 2. So stay wide and apex 1 at the end of the wall while staying flat out. If your car gets unstable at 1, don't completely lift off the gas. Keep the weight rearwards and just crack the throttle. You need the rear of the car to stay hooked up. Those who lift completely off the throttle will find the rear becomes more unstable. 

Turn 2: 
Known as “Big Indy” this corner has a little banking to it which is where its name originates. As you approach the brake zone use the pit exit blend line as a reference point. Brake in a straight line on entry, but if you’re comfortable you can hold a trail brake as you start to turn in to aid with front bite. This corner is long; the apex is at the very end of the 180-degree carousel. Keep the car about middle of the track as you start your turn in and head towards mid-corner. Hold your positioning about mid track and slowly start to work back to full throttle once you know you’ll hit the apex and make the exit. The apex of this corner is usually marked by a cone but it also can be referenced by the escape road on drivers left on the inside. You want the car all the way down to the white line there. As you start to open up the wheel let the car take itself all the way out towards the FIA curbing on drivers right at the exit. The key is rolling your momentum in and out of Turn 2. A lot of lap time can be made or lost based on your exit of 2 which takes you down the hill towards 3. 

Turn 3a: 
As you exit turn 2 and you won’t see Turn 3 for a minute until you crest the hill. Slowly start to move the car to about the middle of the track as you fly down. You can brake a lot later than most would think here. 3a is such a slow corner you can extend your brake zone to the apex. Those who are really fast here can trail brake all the way down and into the corner which aids with front grip to help the car turn. Momentum cars can hug a narrow line and get the car to rotate. A higher horsepower car that doesn’t handle well might need to open the radius up and turn in a bit later to get to the apex. The apex here is very late and most of the way around the corner and is usually marked by a cone. You want to be getting back to some throttle before this cone. If you find yourself getting on throttle too early before the apex it means you over-slowed the car and got on the brakes too soon. 

Turn 3b: 
Don’t get back to throttle too much between 3a and 3b as you want to keep the car in the middle of the track to have time to get the car over to drivers right on the white line to set up the entry. Unless you’re in a Spec Miata you will want to be all the way to the right to start the corner. This is one of the sharpest turns you will find on a race track and also one of the slowest. A good run out of 3b is essential for a fast lap at this track. Get the car turned in and commit to throttle as soon as possible and roll all the way out to the FIA curbing on the driver's right. Oftentimes you will be on throttle with the wheel still turned. It’s pretty slow here and the rear tires typically can handle that in most low to medium horsepower cars.

Turn 4: 
This is just a flat-out slight bend in the back straight. Slowly start to work your car back towards the middle and left of the race track as you head towards 5a. 

Turn 5a: 
Your car should be on the driver's left near the white line as you approach this sequence. Take your car from the left side of the track and give it a little implement to the right to get the car squared up for the braking zone. The track bends back to the right as you approach it even though 5a is a left-hand corner. There are a lot of bumps here. Figure out what your car can handle over the bumps and progressively work up to braking later in this sequence. The corner starts with a quick flick to the left. There is a curb at the apex. A compliant car can get a bit of this curb. Traditionally if you don’t want to upset the car as much you stay to the right of the curb a little bit. There is still a bump there regardless of what line you take and your car will rise and compress which is normal. Aim to put the car about the middle of the track on the exit. 

The key here is to maximize your entry speed without losing control or compromising your setup for 5b and 6. The run up the hill is even more important than your entry into this complex. It would be wiser to lose a little time on entry through 5a but focus on a good smooth run up the hill through 5b and 6 with early throttle application.

Turn 5b: 
When you get through 5a try and have the car in the middle of the track. Once the rear settles over the bump prepare to start your turn in for 5b. Make sure you’re aiming to get a bit of the 5b apex curbing. This opens up the corner a bit. All while rolling as much throttle as the rear can handle.  A slower momentum car doesn’t have as much of a worry here but in a high horsepower car, it’s easy to lose rear traction. So be cautious on the throttle until the rear feels completely settled. Hit the small curb with your right front at 5b apex and quickly unwind the wheel and start turning left towards 6. 

Turn 6: 
After hopping through 5b you will be immediately focused on turning up the hill for Turn 6. Once again you can clip a bit of this curb here with your left front tire if your car is compliant enough. Some cars can stay flat on the throttle from 5b through 6. Others might have to crack the throttle a bit. It’s easy to run out of road on the exit here so figure out what your car is capable of and work up to it. A good run through the entire 5a/b and 6 complex is also crucial to a fast lap. The key is to maximize your speed up the hill. As you get more comfortable you will realize you can commit to throttle sooner than you think which will drop lap time more and more. It’s all about carrying your momentum. 

Turn 7:
The pavement changes from new to old here and there is a rather bumpy transition. A momentum car takes this flat-out. Something faster will have to crack the throttle a bit or you risk running out of road on the exit. To set up turn 7 you want your car all the way to drivers right on the white line. Almost touching the grass. Opening this corner up is important to help you stay on the gas. Slowly turn in towards the apex usually marked by a cone. It’s bumpier down at the apex. It’s a little smoother about a car length off. Try both and see what your car likes. Stay in the throttle as you approach 8 and get your car mostly straight as you approach 8.

Turn 8: 
This is known as “little Indy”. There is a bit of banking here too. Roll towards 8 and keep the car more to the right. You don’t need to be on the edge of the track but you want to be over center and to the right.  This is a short hard brake application and mostly in a straight line. Your job is to slow the car down just enough so the front will turn without killing your momentum. There are two racing lines here. Low horsepower momentum cars can stay more towards the bottom and take a shorter distance to roll on to throttle earlier. Typically they will be in the middle of the track at turn-in. Get the car down to an earlier apex and roll the throttle sooner, opening the wheel up and letting the car flow out to the pit exit road at the edge of the track on the exit. 

Higher horsepower cars don’t have this luxury as they have to prepare for Turn 9 which is the fast kink onto the front straight. Typically a GT car will stay wider on entry for Turn 8 and turn in rather late. Which means they will also have a late apex. Traditionally they will track out to about the middle of the road which gives them enough time to get the car back over to the left for turn 9. 

Turn 9: 
Maybe the most daunting corner on the track for a newer driver. It’s fast, bumpy, and narrows up quickly on exit. To approach this corner you will want to get the car out towards driver's left. There is tons of room to set it up. You don’t need to be way out to the left but definitely over in that direction. For most momentum cars with less than 200hp, this is typically a flat-out corner. For higher horsepower cars with limited grip or aero, you might have to lift/crack the throttle depending on how well set-up your car is. Our advice is to work your speed up through here. If you’re new to the track don’t go flying through here flatout on lap 1. Get your tires warm and figure out how your car reacts before pushing too much.

The apex is at the wall and is marked by a neon cone. Stay about half a car length off the wall which is the ideal racing line. Don’t pinch the car here or the rear may step around on you. Let the car take itself out towards the grass but leave yourself a bit of a cushion as the bumps will sometimes carry your car right to it. This isn’t a place you want to run out of road. It’s all about car placement. Work your speed up and figure out where your car is happy through this section. It’s rather bumpy and some cars absorb that well and others don’t. 

Once you’re comfortable it will become much easier. It’s about trusting the car and grip and sometimes that takes time! Focus on smooth slow hands through and no sudden throttle changes. If you have to lift that’s fine but don’t mash the gas until you're through all of the bumps at the exit.

And that's a complete lap around Pacific Raceways on the fast line. We hope you learned a few tips and tricks about car placement. This is a fast flowy track that takes time to get comfortable with. Progressively work your speed up practicing the proper habits; eventually, you will link sets of corners together and see the lap times fall.  

VIDEO: Ride with LapMeta supported driver Austin Bradshaw for a lap around Pacific Raceways to see some of these best practices in action HERE