A Day On The Track: Sportbike Track Time

Sportbike Track Time is one of the largest track day organizations in the U.S.A. Nick from STT invited us out to ride with them at Autobahn Country Club on Memorial Day and we couldn’t have been more excited. Great friend, journalist and marketing guy, Chris Kuecker packed his trailer and “burban” to the brim and headed to Autobahn to represent us in the best way possible. Somewhere stashed in a gear bag, he brought about 100 custom track maps designed for the riders and were placed at every table during registration & tech inspection. We also came up with a short questionnaire for the STT staffers and incorporated their responses. Throughout the day Chris observed as much as he could to share his experience with STT.

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[cv_testimonial author_img=”5595″ author_name=”Chris Kuecker” author_info=”Editor, Brand Ambassador, Friend” company_name=”Sportbike Track Guide” company_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-kuecker-1a317027″]

“I could give you the old ‘we want to be the best at..blah blah blah’ but everyone says that. For STT it is well beyond being a track day provider.” Nick Amelio, Northern Region Director for Sportbike Track Time continues, “Our foundation is this: STT is more than just a track day provider. It’s friends, sunshine, sometimes rain, lots of fun, but most of all it is a family. Our goal is to be your track family. It has been that way since 1999.”

On Memorial Day I was awarded the opportunity to join Sportbike Track Time for a day at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL. I had ridden with STT a few times before, but on this visit I wanted to do things a little different. My objective was to observe as many of the interactions as I could throughout the day. Many different interactions happen at track days, at various different levels. Riders talk with riders, riders receive coaching from instructors, management speaks with riders, and so on. I believe it is in these interactions where STT’s ‘secret sauce’ resides.

Interaction one: riders’ meeting.

Amelio maestros the meeting with an impressive efficiency. I say efficient because while the meeting clicks along like your gixxer-one-million on the back straight, Amelio ensures that enough attention is given to the most important topics, such as safety and flag descriptions. On the top of the list, though, is his traditional thank you to the men and women who have served our country. He always takes the time to acknowledge their astounding service and pays tribute with ‘The National Anthem’ complemented by some free swag – a t-shirt, hat, etc. This time though, on Memorial Day, the men and women of our armed forces were surprised with a flyover from a WWII-era fighter plane during The Anthem. Addressing the service personnel Amelio proclaimed, “We could not do what we’re doing today without people like you fighting for this country.” The flyover and speech was a truly memorable tribute that brought many grown men to tears that morning. One man joked with tears in his eyes, “There must be some pollen or something!”

Interaction two: classroom sessions.

STT track days are packed with riding instructors. The beauty is, the same instructors that are on the track with you lead coaching meetings after each riding session in the morning, and are available after each session all day long. The time in the classroom is spent covering the important observations the coaches made. Any safety concerns are addressed and fixed, then the conversation gets more in depth. Chris Onwiler, Senior Editor at trackdaymag.com, is the lead instructor for my group. Onwiler directed the conversation toward a common theme of, “finding the race line,” which was nice because it simplified the goal for the group. In doing so, the following riding sessions had a much better flow as more and more riders began finding the line and riding more predictably. This makes for a much more satisfying experience on the track.

While I found the coaching sessions incredibly helpful, and was thankful for them, I found myself wanting the coaching to be just a little more. In my days spent as a novice rider with STT I remember being separated into smaller groups, with an assigned instructor to lead the 6-8 riders. This format led to more Q&A between riders and instructors, rather than quiet listening in a classroom with 40 of your peers. At one point, a couple riders behind me became distracting as they were discussing something on their own rather than listening to what Onwiler and his co-instructors were teaching. To be fair, it was 90 degrees, humid, and sunny so allocating the time in the air-conditioned classroom may have been tough to do if they went with smaller groups. STT has made a commitment to always improving this service though, with Amelio adding, “For us high anxiety is not what the day is about! Our job is to help you overcome those anxieties by increasing your skills as a rider. Our novice program was built with that in mind almost two decades ago. Point being, we will absolutely work to make it right… period.”

Interaction three: rider to rider.

“Hey, did you get stuffed by an H2 that last session?” a young rider asked me. I thought maybe he had been pushed into a corner by a different rider and was trying to find him so I instinctively responded, “Nope, wasn’t me,” not wanting to get in the middle of any kind of altercation, even though I was, in fact, the rider that was stuffed. The rider’s response was indicative of the environment STT has created. “Oh okay. I just wanted to make sure because I was riding over my head and wanted to apologize.” The rider recognized he was at fault, and wanted to make it known that it wouldn’t happen anymore. This wasn’t a teacher telling a student to go apologize and play nice. This was a man taking accountability for his actions and looking to improve. It’s possible that without the tone Amelio sets to start the day, and without the instruction received from the coaches, that rider doesn’t recognize his fault. Without that recognition, he keeps on riding thinking he’s Jorge Lorenzo on his brand new H2 and potentially injures himself or someone else. In addition, I would be back on the track still hot and distracted from the session before when Jorge stuffed me, knowing that idiot is still out there. But instead, the rider understood his mistake, showed he wanted to improve, and I had the piece-of-mind in knowing that when I rolled back onto the track.

Sportbike Track Time is running a world-class operation, there’s no doubt about that. As with anything in life, there is always room for improvement. I would ask that they continue to perfect their coaching format and strategy, in order to promote the best learning environment possible. Aside from that, STT staff and instructors do an outstanding job of being available, presenting themselves as knowledgeable resources, and instilling a confidence in the riders that they are there that day to serve you and give the best possible experience. Anyone considering a track day at all should look to start with STT. Amelio sums it up to novice track riders, “First, do it! Your skills will immediately increase and make you a much better rider. Still on the fence? How about a free day? At every event we have Ride Right. Ride Right is a free track day raffle at every event we do. I started this program because I was seeing countless riders get hurt on the street. Ride Right was born with the intent of giving unskilled riders a chance to change that.” You can find out more about the Ride Right program in this article by Motorcyclist.



STT is an organization covering the entire Eastern side of the country, with representation at nearly every road course East of the Mississippi. A 5 to 1 rider to coach ratio coupled with outstanding attention to detail makes them an organization you must ride with. Once you have, Amelio confirms, “If you’re a STT rider then you’re our track family.”

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