You heard about a track day or ride around at your local race track…sounds like fun…but be forewarned chances are your auto policy won’t cover you or your car.

For years insurance companies qualified racing as a “timed event” but recently they have added verbiage to clamp down on individuals taking their autos onto a race track and racing. As always check with your agent and read your policy thoroughly. In the meantime below are a few good rules of thumb to consider:

1.     Does your policy exclude any event on a racetrack? If so then you will not be insured even if you are alone driving at a safe speed on the track.

2.     Were you being timed? Some policies exclude activities on a track only if they are timed, in which case if you are on the track but not being timed you could be covered.

3.     Did you have an instructor in the car at all times? If so this would be considered drivers education or a training activity which most insurers do cover.

4.     Is the event listed as a “race” or is the word “race” used in any of the promotional or disclosure forms? If so most insurers would not cover you.

5.     How modified is your car? This may appear to be unfair but if you have a full roll cage, slicks or non-DOT tires, and other major modifications you’ve got a problem as they scream racing and not street legal.

Be sure to have all the facts before you take a chance, read your policy front to back and call your agent before you succumb to the call of the track.