Bull-Pucky! A lot of insurance companies cover damage that could occur at the type of events the OP is talking about. They are usually fine with "driver improvement" events which they categorize by having no timing involved.
Back to the OP's question: Any time you put that much stress on a car, something
could break, which would necessitate a tow back home. Having said that, most people drive their cars to and from the track, so you would be in the majority. Bringing your tools and some common spares (pads, fluids, belts, hoses etc..) would be a good idea.
A lot of people do what you're thinking of doing, and how you're thinking of doing it. The worse case scenario is you might break or crash, and you'd have to have your car towed home. Not the end of the world, and it's happened to others and they've survived.
Check with your insurance company to see if they cover these kinds of events. Make sure you tell them that the events you intend on attending are non-timed, and are classified as "driver improvement" . If they don't, find one that does. There's plenty of 'em out there. I remember having Progressive for my bike back before I bought my store, and they covered 'em.
You've got the car for it. Go have fun.

 

Congrats on your first track day! After doing +30 trackdays with my evo, I am pretty sure that your car will be just fine doing 4~5 events a year as long as you
1) take care of your car 2) stay level-headed when you are out on the track.
Also, I recommend you to look into getting real track pads and break fluids before you do another trackday. Good luck!

 

I used my EVO as a DD for 4 years racking up 125K miles, and I put in about 20 track days.
Treat the car with respect and you can drive it home everytime!

Darin

 

When i agreed with Greg when he said, "If you can't afford to write it off, don't take it to the track" i was serious. Im not blowing anything out of proportion. I was being straight forward.

I highlighted the parts of his post that i feel reflect my response. What do i think? Based on his concerns, i will not sugar coat my response to simply make him feel better about whatever he is thinking. I would feel responsible if i wasnt straight forward given his concerns. Sure, you could go out and track your DD and never have any problems. However, you could also go out to your first event and total your car. It happens! You can be as safe as you want, but the reality is that some day you will probably break something, crash your car, be crashed into, total your car, injure yourself, or worst case scenario...

In retrospect, like mentioned before, you could also track your car and never have any serious issues, other than the basic wear and tear issues. But, just be aware of what really can happen. Every time i go to an event i dont plan to go out there and have some catastrophic failure, or total my car, or even worse injure myself. However, i have experienced enough, and seen enough that i know that just because im having a blast all the time doesnt mean something bad wont happen to me, or my friends. So, just be aware, thats all. If youre ok with that, then get out there and have a blast!

 

You can also get HPDE insurance if you are concerned about on-track crash damage. There seem to be 2 or 3 companies in the US that offer the insurance:

http://www.liabund.com/on-track_damage.htm
http://www.wsibinsurance.com/motorsports.html

For an IX MR ($27,500) both companies quoted approximately $1050 per year.

The coverage is less for mechanical breakdowns and more for collisions. The policies usually have exclusions for competitive events as they are more designed for HPDE-style events.

 

this is great info!

 

As far as the steel braided brake lines go, I purchased them but didnt put them on my car. I had them with me but figured when I got bored id go ahead and to the swap. I purchased them for better brake feel more than anything else. Then at CMP, I was at a time attack there, I put the brakes on and heard a loud POP and my brake pedal went to the floor, the oem brake line popped out of the metal coupler. Brake fluid all over my tires and I was doing some serious sliding. It all worked out but could have been much worse. Had I been in a race at the time and not a time attack, id have been on the trailer at that point. Maybe mine was a freak thing and I do know Im tough on brakes, but since then I've highly recommend the steel braided lines. Oh and my brake feel is better
Marty

 

Well I'm glad you got out of that one safely

 

If you decide to go, then that about covers it. My only comments on the setup would be:
- The HPS pads won't cut it
- Add a little bit of unleaded race gas, or dial back the boost when you track the car, esp. on hot days.

Some other thoughts on keeping it all together for an HPDE, in no particular order:
- Go in with the right attitude. An HPDE is not a competition, so, if you have some idiot either in front of you or behind you, then either let them pass or give them some room (read: drive through pit lane). You might lose a lap or two, but usually there's plenty of time throughout the day to get in some good, clean laps.
- Let your car warm up and don't beat on it the first lap out. I always use the first lap to let my engine and tires come up to temp.
- Let you car cool down after your lapping session. After you pull of the track, go putz around the paddock for a bit before parking it.
- If you think something is wrong with the car, pull into the pits and check it out. I'd rather lose half a session than end up losing my engine or crashing
- Don't forget to include your tranny fluids in your maintenance schedule (OEM FTW)
- Take as many instructors out with you as you can, but not at once It's always good to get feedback and to get different opinions on your driving style
- Don't overdrive the car. It's not a timed event, there is no need to try to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of the car. As was said by Lawrence ... be smooth.
- Be prepared for some of the more common issues plaguing our cars, such as IC piping popping off, dip stick popping out ... bring a full sized spare, etc.
- Speaking of that ... always bleed your brakes before an event. Check all your tires for nails, rocks, etc. Basically make yourself a pre-event checklist to go through.

...whew, I'm running out of steam... basically, properly preparing yourself and your car will get you 90% there.

l8r)

 

Great advice. I appreciate the time you guys are putting into your responses.