Road Trip #2 for Nan's Z06 was to Pahrump, Nevada, home of the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at the Spring Mountain Resort and Country Club.
When you buy a new Corvette, you get a coupon that provides a discount on the admission to the Corvette Owner's School. Since we purchased two Corvettes, Nan was able to enroll in the Stingray class and I was able to take advantage of the Z06 class.
We have been to Spring Mountain on four previous occasions, but this was our first opportunity to experience the mid-engine Corvette on the track. On every other trip we have gone with friends -- sometimes with Don and Shirley Kingery, or Rick and Kristy Sing, or Bill Athas. In a sense we were sad to not be with any of those dear friends, but at the same time, we were excited to learn more about our new Corvettes under performance driving conditions, and to have the experience together.
The trip from Carlsbad is almost exactly 300 miles one-way. The Z06 was now "broken in" from our trip to Monterey, but we still drove it gingerly going north.We drove straight up I-15 to Baker, California, then took Hwy 127 toward Death Valley Junction, then Highway 178 into town. With just one fuel (and potty) stop, we arrived in the late afternoon in time for the check-in process.
After checking in, it was time to go to our room, unpack our luggage and go to the club house for happy hour.
Finding a good meal in Pahrump on a Sunday night is a challenge, made even more difficult by the temporary closure of the Pahrump Winery, a place we have visited before. Someone suggested we check out Nicco's Pizza Italian Restaurant.
The drive to Nicco's was easy, and we secured a table with no waiting. There was a large party of maybe 10 people at an adjacent table, who were celebrating some happy event with a Nevada politician. Everyone was having a good time and they added a nice mood to the small, strip mall restaurant. We exchanged a bit of chatter asking about some delicious-looking entrees.
The affection that Nan I have for each other is readily apparent. We sat quietly waiting of our order to be served. we were completely surprised when one of the gentlemen at the table asked us if he could take our picture. We said, "Sure, but why would you want a picture of us?" His reply was something like, "It is so nice to see two people who are so obviously in love!" It was an unlikely time and place for such a beautiful compliment (even though the photo of us isn't very flattering!).
Our dinner choices were excellent, completing a long, but very good, day.
Monday's program started early with breakfast at the club house with all the other students. Because we were in different classes we needed to go to different classrooms next to different tracks. Nan's group had 18 students and she chose a blue coupe for her track car.
My group also had 18 students divided into three groups of 6 drivers. I was able to choose a car that was almost identical to our Z06 -- a white coupe with the red interior.
Although our classes and tracks were different, the course content was identical. Instruction was split between classroom and time in the car, using a "lead - follow" format. We were taught things like very aggressive braking (even in wet conditions), steering under maximum braking, all the driving mode options and their differences, and (our favorite part) spinning the car around with traction control turned off!
The instructors are very focused on getting our track lap times faster and faster. They go to great lengths to discuss each corner, and to teach us what all the cone colors mean.
And how to corner a car at maximum speed.
Monday was a full day of driving and we were pretty spent at the end of the day. Tuesday was more of the same.
We were happy that we "graduated"!
Finally, on Tuesday afternoon it was time to bid Spring Mountain a farewell and to head home.
The drive home was more spirited than Sunday's trip. We left Spring Mountain in the early afternoon with a full tank of gas. We observed the speed limits out of town and onto Highway 178. After we made the left-hand turn onto Highway 127, and worked our way through a few hilly passes, we noticed a straight stretch of highway clear of traffic as far as we could see.
My personal speed record in a Corvette was 150 MPH set in our C7 Z06 on a similar stretch of highway in Wyoming while on our way to the Black Hills Classic in 2023. This day I decided to see how the performance of the C8 Z06 compared to the C7. From our cruise speed of about 70 MPH, the new car responded to the depressed gas pedal by downshifting and instantly zooming off. That stretch of highway has an undulating characteristic, and only gravel for a shoulder, so I decided not to get too crazy with our new toy. It didn't take very long to reach 151 MPH, so I let the car gradually slow, satisfied with a new personal record.
The reminder of the drive home was uneventful, and we made it home before sunset without any stops. We averaged about 20 MPG for the return trip -- not bad considering the lack of an Economy mode!
With two road trips behind us, we are very happy using the Z06 as our long-distance Corvette. The next road trip will be to the Grand Canyon in September.
