Independent inspection before track day?

I have a track event coming up on Saturday in the Mustang. This particular event is run by an insurance company that's well-known in enthusiast circles, and it's at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, MI. I was looking through my emails today, signing the waivers and such, when I discovered that the track wants me to have my car independently inspected by a certified mechanic before I come to the event. It's the usual stuff, make sure the tires are OK, fluids are good, lugs are tight, battery is secured, etc. But I've never had to actually go pay someone to do that. The group doing the event (or autocross or drag race, etc) has always had someone on site, often a volunteer to do the inspection, and it's usually pretty cursory. I haven't done a ton of HPDE in the past few years, but I've done a E36 M3-load of organized driving events of one kind or another, and I've never needed to do this. 

So, a few questions. First, do I just call my local dealership or muffler shop or whatever and give them the car and the checklist and pay them an hour of labor? Or are there shops that "specialize" in this kind of thing. Michigan doesn't have any kind of state emissions or safety inspections, so I'm really kind of lost here. And second, is this becoming a thing and I'm just out of the loop, or is it unique to this track?

I have no worries about the car passing inspection, it's pretty squared away. I'm just curious if this is something other folks have dealt with.

Are they requiring it, or just telling you to do that to cover their own liability? If it were me I would just fill out whatever they want myself.

There are a few big HPDE orgs that require this sort of third party tech inspection for track days as well.  There are track/race-oriented shops that do it, if you've got a local BMWCCA or NASA chapter then check their web site to see if they have a list of suggested/approved shops.

It's definitely a thing for club events and street car track days. Any commercial shop should be able to sign off the checklist.

PCA locally has just started requiring this.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

There are a few big HPDE orgs that require this sort of third party tech inspection for track days as well.  There are track/race-oriented shops that do it, if you've got a local BMWCCA or NASA chapter then check their web site to see if they have a list of suggested/approved shops.

 

Good call. Turns out that PCA has a list of local shops. Now the question is whether not I'll be able to get in to any of these places by Friday. 

Our club requires it up here (Trillium BMW CCA in Ontario, Canada), a number of our club sponsors will do the inspections for free but otherwise any certified mechanic can sign off on it.

Take it to someone you trust and have them do it.

Well, I made some calls, none of my local places do it. So I called Munk's, a well-known Porsche shop that was on the PCA list. After first saying they wouldn't deign to soil their sophisticated Teutonic hands on a crude, uncivilized crowd chaser, they checked again and told me that yes, they do in fact do inspections for all makes and models. But the scheduling is really tight. At the end of the day, I decided it wasn't worth paying for an inspection this late in the season when I'll probably have to do it again next year, so I canceled my entry for the track day.

I may do TNIA or something else that doesn't require an inspection before the end of the year, though.