Get ready for 19 of the most challenging turns you will ever encounter at Ozarks International Raceway, site of the 2025 NASA Championships. This year’s event will feature the NASA racing and Time Trial classes we all know and love, but also offer HPDE3 and 4 drivers some time slots over the weekend so they can be part of the action.
Track owner and founder J.R. Pesek set out to build one of the most unique road courses in the United States, and boy did he ever accomplish that. Having raced in NASA and IMSA, Pesek and his son James had been to some of the most iconic race tracks around the country. J.R. tried to incorporate something familiar from those tracks — a familiar corner here, a downhill, off-camber curve there — and in the process created something wildly unique.
More than one driver has said that when you drive Ozarks International Raceway, it will instantly become your new favorite track. It’s like nothing you have ever experienced.
To help drivers find their way around the track, we leaned into the expertise of James Pesek, who has more laps here than probably anyone, and JD Krull for the data-rich video from his Garmin Catalyst. With Pesek’s intimate knowledge and Krull’s video, we have pieced together some sage advice for getting around Ozarks International Raceway the fastest way possible.
“The best way that I found to approach the track is to approach in sectors,” said James Pesek. “I will approach it as the section and how it flows because the corners are back to back and they flow together.”
VIDEO
Pesek’s instructions are geared toward the Mustang he is driving, so lighter cars should be able to brake deeper than shown here. We have added red dots to show where apexes are or where you should be looking to help give more context to this 19-turn 3.97-mile circuit. Also be sure to reference the Garmin’s track map at top right for further reference.
Let’s take one lap around Ozarks International Raceway. If you learn and retain information best by reading, there’s a lot to absorb here. If you prefer video, we have three included above and below you can use to help you get around Ozarks in a hurry. For best results, read everything and watch all the videos.
Good luck at the 2025 NASA Championships!
Turn 1
I want to be sitting driver’s seat over that seam line that puts you close to the wall without having to think about it. I’m braking about the 400 board and I want to do a good hard brake and then immediately start trailing off, because as you approach Turn 1 it just keeps falling and you lose more and more grip as you go down the hill.
So it’s taking what the track will give you because it’s continually going to give you less as you approach the corner. So just past the wall, I start really slow hands, start turning it in. I really want to feel that right front tire as the limiting factor on grip. Feel that down to the apex and then once I get there I want to be fully rotated and for a point of reference, I want to be pointed to the end of pit lane. Once I know I’m pointed there, I start opening up my hands feeding throttle and I let it track all the way out to the right side.
Turn 2
I’ll throw away the entry into Turn 2 because two is so uphill you have so much grip that it’ll take it, you can turn in with a really shallow entry and be just fine, and you also have room to track out on the top of 2 before having to get back over for 3. Light brush of the brake, getting it pointed in and then as soon as I’m at the apex back to throttle and then I can open up my hands.
Turn 3
I’ll move all the way over to track left after exiting 2, and once you get out to there, just hold your hand position and the car will bring itself back over to the right side of the track, lining up for three, braking just before the start of the curbing. I immediately begin to slowly turn my hands in because it kind of crested here. So you’re going to start the attitude of the car, point it down toward the apex before you come over to the crest.
Turn 4
Once I get it straightened out coming out of 3, I just straight line it, carrying as much speed as I can in and then hard brake before the curbing on the right for Turn 4, and then just kind of letting it float out. I carry as much speed as I can in and I want to “diamond” it off in the Carousel.
I don’t want to make it a continuous corner because the elevation changes and all the subtle features of the corner. I almost want to make it a diamond, carry speed in, point it and then get back to throttle all the way out. Once I can see that apex, I’ll give a good lift, get the car to rotate down to it. Then I want to hold it tight to the right at the exit to get a straighter exit down through 5.
Turn 5
My reference here is when I’m at the apex of Turn 5, if I’m pointed at the corner worker station for Turn 6, then I am pointed toward the Turn 5 exit curbing on the right. I know coming through the apex, if my eyes are up looking that far ahead and I can see 6 and I am pointed at it, I know there’s room to run off on the exit curbing.
Turn 6
Bring it back to the left coming into six wide entry carrying speed in. It’s all uphill. I use that grip and I hold it right a little bit longer here on this first curb so I can get a better transition back to the left because you are losing grip as the corner progresses, so the further in you get, the less grip you have.
I hold it a little bit right longer so I can quickly go back to the left while I have grip and get a quick transition back to the left, back to that curbing on the left and back on throttle, connecting the curbs on the way out, just coming up midtrack into Turn 7, just kind of feeding throttle, kind of just maintaining speed through that.
Turn 7
My reference at the apex of Turn 7 is the second half of the curbing, which is flat and pointed straight at the exit curbing as you head into the Roller Coaster. So I’m going to be right side tires on it. You have no visual reference other than that curb. I may not be able to see the exit of the turn, yet but if I know where it’s pointed, I know where I’m going and I can commit back to throttle.
Roller Coaster
A little trick in the Roller Coaster that can smooth it up is right where the track jogs back to the left. I will hold it just for a second to get it a little bit farther left so I can go back to the right and kind of straighten up the exit a bit more, just a little bit and I want to use all that uphill so I’ll hold it left just a hair and then once I hit that bottom compression, just turn my hands back to the right and straight it up and it just smooths out just a little bit. It’s more a preference, no advantage, just a comfort.
Turn 8
For Turn 8, I am braking at about the 400 board and I want to stay left until the left-side curbing begins. When the suspension compresses there, I want to start my turn in. I’ve got grip. As soon as I get in that compression, I turn the wheel, get into the apex using that grip so I can straighten up the exit and be back to throttle at apex.
Coming up the hill, it’s blind and it catches some people out, but the track kind of bends right here through the center. It kind of bends out to the left and then comes back to the right as I’m pointed up this hill. If I keep it straight, this seam light right here on the right, it will come underneath me and then come back out. So if I just stay, let the seam line come underneath me, it’ll come back to the right of me. So just keep your hands straight once you’re exiting 8, the track may work its way back away from you, but it’ll come back to you as you approach 9.
Turn 9
For Turn 9, begin braking just before the access road on the left. It’s a good hard, quick brake and immediately trailing out kind of like Turn 1. It’s fast, so I want to be very smooth turning in, slow hands, smooth trail-brake, carrying a lot of speed in. I am actually on throttle before apex, because the corner keeps opening up as it progresses, so there’s a lot more exit than you think there is. I’m on throttle opening my hands, letting the car work all the way out to the left side.
Turn 10
Approaching Turn 10, give a good hard brake right before the curbing. It’s another one to think about the geometry of the corner. It’s uphill, so I take it a little later with more steering input so I can open my hands as I come over that crest because I’m going to lose grip. I want to open my hands, ask less of the car. That way I’m using the maximum amount of grip the track will give me. Turn a little late staying not on the first apex, but staying a little left, getting the turn done so I can open my hands on the exit, while still being able to hit the second apex.
Turn 11
Turn 11 is another one that has a little hidden gem. That first lane on the left on corner entry has a slight camber to it, so I will turn in earlier than most people think you should because you gain a little extra grip and it’s hard to detect until you feel it the first time. You just turn in and it grips up and you’re like, “Oh there it is.” I’m turning in slowly at about the 200 board. I just want to get down to that apex. Carry speed down into it, and once you get into it, the front will just bite into it and you can get back to throttle before the apex. Let the car work its way out.
Turn 12
After tracking out from Turn 11, look for the curbing on the right. Staying tight and I’ll follow the right edge line up after the apex of 12 until I can see the curbing on the left at corner exit and then I’ll just straighten that section out.
Turn 13
Turn 13 is a weird corner because of how the geometry is. I want to approach it almost like a rain line on entry, carrying as much speed as I can in and then using all the grip in the uphill to get as much turn as I can out of the car in that short little section where it goes uphill, so I’m giving it a good, hard brake, slowly trailing off the brakes to carry speed going in wide.
Just past the corner worker station, I am going to start tightening up my hands, getting it down to that apex and using all the uphill to get all the turning done that I need in the corner. And then from there I’m opening my hands back up.
Turn 14
At the exit of Turn 13, I’ll let the car come all the way back to the track left and another place where I’m using the next station as my reference. If I am pointed at Turn 14 station, you can’t see it yet, but that parabola-shape curbing on the left will be under your left side tires, and I use all the curbing. I want to stay as far left as I can.
Turn-in at 14 is slightly uphill. I have a bunch of grip, but past the apex I lose all that grip, so I want to make it a late turn in. I use as much grip as I can on entry because once you get past it, the front end feels like it falls off. It’s because it’s now working downhill almost. So I stay left all the way to the end of the curbing before turn-in, and I’m just working my hands in trying to get as much turning done as I can before the apex so I can immediately start opening my hands and feeding throttle.
Turn 15
Turn 15 is similar to Turn 1 in that you are losing grip the whole way down. You want to turn-in later higher up the hill with more steering input so you can straighten up the exit. So if you stay a little bit to the right, and kind of point it down to the hill, you can carry more throttle down the hill into 16.
Turn 16
Approaching 16, I like to hug the left side because there’s a valley, it’s kind of like Turn 8. I want to get it as far left as I can so I can use all the uphill for the grip. I’m turning it in so I will hold it left a little bit longer to get a better run up that hill.
Turn 17
Once I get to the curb, I’m braking immediately as soon as it lands, hard on the brakes. Turn 17 is banked so I try to make that as big an arc as I can using all the track, carrying as much speed through it as I can. So I’m turning in just at the curbing trying to roll speed in and then straight line it to the curbing on the left here for the hairpin Turn 18, and just carry as much speed through as I can.
Turn 18
For a Miata, I would try to come in midtrack so that you have a little bit wider radius and you can maintain momentum. But for a higher horsepower car, it’s easier to just go ahead and point-and-shoot this corner.
Turn 19
Turn 19 uses a similar reference as Turn 1. I want to be sitting on the seam line in the track, and then you don’t have to think about the wall at all. I want to be sitting on the seam line, and once I can see the building, that’s where I want to start turning in. It’ll give me a wider entry, smooth out the double apex to the center. Again, you’re going to lose grip as you come down so if you get bent out of shape here at the crest of the hill, you’re going to spend the entire corner trying to save the car instead asking more of it. I give up more on entry so I can get more on exit.
And that brings you back to Turn 1 again. Now drive the next lap even faster!
Please paint the apex curbs!!! It’s hard enough with the elevation change and blind turns/crests.
The entries/setups for the 3 slowest turns are very tricky.
Overall a very cool track. Definitely on the bucket list.