I'm going to do something I almost never do. I'm going to tell you all of the secrets of this course right here and now. It won't matter, nobody ever listens, anyway.
We've run most of this course before. (11/6/2016... there's even video of it) The bit right off the start is designed to NOT let you accelerate much for the first 250 feet. This is rewarded by pretty much WOT all the way to the turn-around. Just don't get greedy and hit those first couple of apexes. And, yes, it will pay big dividends to be sure to LATE APEX even those first apexes. Starting with the very first one. Set up for it. Late apex it. It's what all the cool kids will be doing.
After that slow bit, you need to be thinking about setting up for that tight entry into what someone called "the wallom". You'll need to get maybe 4-5 feet off of the grass (maybe closer?) to get the proper angle through there to carry your speed. Speed here = MORE speed in the faster part. Remember that. From there, you're flat out. Try to make a nice flowing "S" out of the whole thing, not a "lane change" and a straight and another "lane change". Find the flow. Accelerate as much as your car will allow, get a little wide, turn in early, be smooth and flow between the gaps.
If you're gonna tap brake, lift throttle, or even just breathe anywhere on the outgoing side, it's going to be at that last apex to the right just before the gate at Station 3. You DON'T want to be crossed up in that really fast sweeper going cross-course. If you think you've got too much speed (hint: you don't... as long as you're on the right line, looking WAY ahead, and being smooth with your steering inputs), you want to knock some of it off WAY early. Maybe get the nose set down just a tiny bit to initiate that sweeping left. You'll actually START that sweeping left before you even go through the first gate. Coming around the right apex, you should be setting up as many feet to the right as you can get away with to make a nice fat arc out of that cross-course sweeper. If you're doing it right, you're on the gas all the way through there. (and if that's your plan... chicken-lifting in there WILL cause you to spin... commit to it)
The big, big secret. The "no tricks" turn-around. Nice, evenly spaced 3-apex loop. "Tight is right". Right? Well, it depends on what you're driving. Shifter kart? Anything resembling a shifter kart? Yeah, sure. Stay tight. Rock that grip. Anybody else... your thought should be "momentum". What's going to give me maximum speed at the exit apex without adding too much distance? And, what ANGLE do I need to come through that last apex so that my speed doesn't put me into the cone wall on the outside? Lots of car dependency and driving style to consider here, but I expect the correct line for most of us will be to get straight as you come through the green gate. Blow that first apex by a few feet... don't even think about it. Brake HARD and STRAIGHT... but, only just as much as you need to. You want to carry just enough speed to hear a little tire squeal, but not induce understeer. Right on the edge. That second apex? It doesn't matter either! Way back at the entry. As soon as you're done braking (if not sooner), you should be focusing on (or at least thinking in the direction of) that exit apex. What arc gets me there at the angle I want to be at? If you do it just right, you'll be on the gas before the 3rd apex, on a trajectory to almost graze the outside wall. It will be a thing of beauty. Course workers will stand in awe. Some might applaud. Some may even shed a tear.
All that just to say: Set up wide, like you should for any turn-around that allows it. Don't go any deeper than you need to, that just adds distance. Focus on the exit apex.
If you can accelerate any earlier than half-way around that turn-around, you SLOWED DOWN too much! If you entered at the right speed, you shouldn't be able to add speed at all until you're 2/3 around it. Likewise, if you go in too fast, you're just going to plow when you try to turn-in and end up adding a bunch of distance to your compromised position. Err on the side of caution. But, if you find you can accelerate way early in the turn, or that you're not hearing ANY feedback from your tires... try braking a little less next time.
Return side. You've got that apex way out there, and you might be tempted to head straight for it. WRONG! See that cone wall on your right? You want to almost touch the end of it. That's your setup. It's what's going to allow you to late apex the left, which is what you'll need to be set up to make the next right. Really, it sets you keep your inputs ahead of at least the first half of the return side. Remember what I said at the start: Start thinking "late apex" from the beginning.
Okay, so you pulled off all of that setup and late-apex action. That should set you up pretty well to enter the Chicago Box at Station 5. Chicago boxes are interesting. I find them to be very challenging... and I probably never carry as much speed through them as I should. (same with slaloms, believe it or not, I almost never drive them as fast as I could... I'm too conservative) Anyhow, you'll want to be sure you're set up to late apex (yeah, you saw that coming) the entry. But, from there... the rest of the Chicago box is just "survival". Get a good late apex entry, get past the "pin cone" under braking (this both scrubs some speed and sets the nose down so you can get a good hard turn-in) and be thinking about the EXIT cone as you past the first apex. (just like a turn-around) The exit cone is the one that will bite you. Every. Single. Time. Try to carry too much speed? Exit cone. Try to brake too late, too hard? Exit cone. You've got to be thinking way back at the entry, "do I have my speed under control to get past that exit cone over there?"
Fun fact: The exit cone of the Chicago box is quite likely the only true "early apex" on the entire course. You're not even thinking about how to apex it, it's only marginally important. Just don't HIT the damned thing!
Now you're home free! Just a little sweeping right into the easy 60-foot slalom and straight on to morning. BUT... don't let your guard down. If you don't late apex the SHIT out of that right apex after the Chicago box, you're going to mess around and enter the slalom being "behind". Your inputs will be "late". Your apexes will be "early". Getting behind in a slalom is not uncommon. We tend to want to accelerate through them, so somewhere around the 2nd or 3rd cone... a lot of times people will start losing it. But, if you START the slalom and you're already behind. All hope is lost. It's not gonna be pretty. So, as soon as you've survived the Chicago box, didn't hit that damned exit cone... your brain should be thinking, "I gotta enter that slalom with a late apex and make it my bitch".
You've got 100 feet to recover from whatever happens in the slalom. Remember, you don't have to go through the CENTER of the finish gate. You're coming out of that slalom on the right, and your instinct should be to NOT move the car any more than necessary. You should finish just a few inches off of the right side of the finish gate. Don't risk hitting that big ol' green cone, of course... but you don't need to move an extra 3 feet to the left. Might not matter much on this course, but on some courses, stuff like that will slow you down, or the act of trying to move the car more than you need to could induce a spin! Don't yank the car around more than necessary.
And you're done. Now, I'm not saying that's the ONLY way to drive the course. We all drive different cars on different tires and have different driving styles. But, that's more or less how I'm going to try to drive it... at least on the first run. Will adapt from there!
