I did my first DE over the weekend. Driver's Training was on Friday, then the DE event was Saturday and Sunday at Brainerd International Speedway (road course).
Here are some of my thoughts after the weekend:
1) I met so many great people. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. I didn't notice any ego issues with more experienced drivers. Great way to meet lots of people with a common interest.
2) Sweet cars everywhere. I spent alot of time just walking around looking at the cars. To name a few - 986 GT2, about 5 GT3 Cup cars, Panoz, Lotus, etc.. Lots of highly modified cars (sponsored).
3) I have a whole new appreciation for the capabilities of my car. WOW!
One of my first hurdles when I was driving at speed was to trust the car. It was perfect, very stable with no issues. I am especially impressed on how fast you can stop. We did some braking exercises and this car stops on a dime.
4) I think I will be a better overall driver now that I know the capabilities of the car and how to handle it.
5) Fun
Driving into a banked turn at 130mph is just really cool.
So I strongly recommend trying a DE if you haven't done one.
I did a once over on the car last night and the damage from the weekend was minimal. My new tires now have some nice 'melted' effect on the outer edges. I played with tire pressures to minimize this so it isn't too bad. Couple of rock chips in the front - very small. One scuff mark on a wheel. Not to bad given three days of very hard driving.