Last Tuesday, I traveled to Blackhawk Farms Raceway for the Chicagoland Region PCA Taco Tuesday HPDE, where I had the privilege of serving as an instructor.
Blackhawk Farms quickly became one of the most enjoyable tracks I have ever driven. This video follows roughly eight to ten laps from my final session of the day in The Heritage Porsche.
The car drove beautifully, and the Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS tires provided an incredible amount of grip. Possibly too much grip. Their performance gave me more confidence than I probably should have had as the session progressed.
During the last lap of the run, the tire-pressure monitoring system started sounded an alarm. One tire was reading approximately 50 degrees hotter than the others. I saw the warning, but I treated it more like an inconvenience than a serious indication that something was wrong.
That decision caught up with me on the final lap.
Nobody was injured, and the car came through without damage, but I experienced my first genuine off-track excursion in quite a while. It was a clear reminder that when the car gives you a warning, especially when a tire is hot enough to trigger an alarm, you need to listen.
Watch through the end to see what happened.
Event: Chicagoland Region PCA Taco Tuesday HPDE
Date: July 14, 2026
Track: Blackhawk Farms Raceway
Car: The Heritage Porsche – 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera
Tires: Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS (very “lived-in”)
Car Number: 993
The Heritage Porsche Project follows Porsche ownership, motorsports, HPDE instruction, racing, autocross, technical development, and the stories of the drivers and enthusiasts who make the Porsche community special.
