The Gear Team Gets Dirty at Car and Driver's Lightning Lap 2024 (2024)

This little guy will change the way you inflate tires at the track. Milwaukee's M12 Compact Inflator works like a charm without making you mess around with air compressors or tanks. The kit linked here includes a battery and charger, which explains why it might seem pricey. Still, we felt that it paid for itself almost instantly.

The digital screen is easy to read and navigate, and the buttons are easy to press with gloves on. Simply input the pressure you desire, and the inflator goes to work. Set and forget—brilliant. This is a must-have for any track time, and we loved it at VIR.

Radios are of the utmost importance at a track. Safety and communication are invaluable, and this bundle of six units from Midland was up to the task. We never had any issues with reception, even though we had radios spread all over VIR's 4.1 miles of raceway. They felt robust, and the buttons and channel switches were easy to operate. If we had one wish, it would be for a louder maximum volume. However, when you're standing next to a track where ear-piercing exhaust screams are at full pitch, maybe that request is unreasonable.

Midland also offers an in-car two-way radio for off-roaders called the Micromobile.

Here's the bottom line: If you're going to be on a track, you need a head and neck restraint. All of Car and Driver's editors use them and swear by them. This Simpson Hybrid S is by far the most popular and widely used, and for good reason. Many race events and track days require drivers to use a head and neck restraint; if an accident happens, the Hybrid S prevents your neck from snapping forward, and it also limits side-to-side head movement.

Executive editor K.C. Colwell says, "It's an essential piece of safety gear. Setting one up properly takes some time, lots of back and forth on the length of tethers, but once it is set up properly and you have full range of motion, it's unnoticeable."

Mechanix Wear gloves are a staple in garages and pit lanes around the world, so it only makes sense we'd bring a collection of them to VIR for Lightning Lap. Mechanix Wear's 0.80-mm synthetic leather was more than enough to keep our hands protected, and the TrekDry material on the back kept the sweat at bay, even on the longer days of track action.

A nice benefit of these particular gloves is that they're touchscreen compatible, which meant we didn't have to take them off every time we needed to check something on our devices or even use the touchscreens inside the vehicles. The gloves come in an array of sizes, from XXX Small to XXX Large, so use the measurement guide on the product page to make sure you get the right-size glove, as it makes all the difference in comfort.

It wasn't as hot this year as it has been in the past, but no matter the temperature, we needed to keep our drivers and support staff hydrated. Enter the RTIC 72-Quart Ultra-Light Wheeled Cooler, our cooler of choice for this year's Lightning Lap event. Large enough to hold up to 96 cans, this behemoth kept our Gatorade and Celsius drinks nice and cold throughout the day and our brews even cooler at night.

The cooler comes with multiple internal dividers, as well as a basket for times when you need to keep food and drinks separate. Even on the warmest days, the cooler had no problem keeping the ice intact, and when it did melt eventually, the integrated drain made quick work of getting rid of the excess water. We're not sure where this cooler will be off to next, but it's safe to say it'll become a Car and Driver staple trackside at our usual slew of testing and comparison events throughout the year.

As anyone who works on cars knows, a pocket flashlight is absolutely essential. One of the most popular choices is this compact flashlight from Streamlight, which we used to inspect brakes and other components after intense hot laps or the occasional off-track excursion.

The 45 lumens of brightness aren't going to knock anyone's socks off, but it's all you need from a pocket flashlight. We found it worked well in crunch time, as a simple click-and-check action helped us get the cars ready to go without fumbling over a larger light. If you plan on working on cars, you need a pocket flashlight—and we love this one.

For a light during longer repairs and inspections, we tried out Streamlight's Stinger Switchblade light. It's a typical switchblade-style light, where the LED bar folds out to emit up to 800 lumens. There's no power cord to get in your way; the lithium-ion battery fully charges via USB in about eight hours. When not in use, the switchblade folds back to make it somewhat compact.

On the bottom is an extremely handy tail-end magnet for mounting on metal so you are able to work with both hands. We found it worked really well for wheel-off brake and suspension inspections. There's also an included UV light, which is meant for finding dye in various leaks. All in all, this is a fantastic light for garages both at home and at the track.

The humongous Woolly Mammoth Microfiber drying towel from Chemical Guys was a staple for our crew, particularly in the early mornings when we would use it to clear condensation off the cars before on-track photos and video.

As you'd expect for microfiber towels that measure 36 by 25 inches, these things could soak up the condensation across an entire sedan without issues and still have some capacity left over. We never objectively tested the water retention capabilities of these towels, but Chemical Guys state they can hold up to a gallon of water, and if anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, we'd be hard pressed to disagree.

We wanted to bring a solid floor jack along with us to VIR, and this one from Arcan fit the bill. Rated at a three-ton lift capacity up to 18 inches, the jack worked well when we just needed to pop a wheel off without using the QuickJacks.

The setup was simple, and the dual-piston operation helped lifting go quickly. Along with the capacity comes weight, and this thing does pack a punch. But the wheels worked well, and the weight seems to be from quality materials, so we aren't complaining. Overall, it's a great floor jack to include on your tool list.

Yes, the Milwaukee M12 Inflator features a built-in gauge and had no problem getting to just the right pressure every time. But sometimes, you just need a simple tool for quick and easy pressure checks. That's where the JACO ElitePro Digital Tire Pressure Gauge came in.

These units are as robust as they come and are certified to +/- 0.50 psi up to 100 psi with a readout resolution of 0.10 psi. The rugged shield around the display of the frame makes it easy to hold with gloves, and the 2.5-inch LCD display is clear and bright enough to see, day or night. While it might seem like a small detail, the fully rotating 10-inch hose is nice for keeping the display easily accessible, and a small bleeder valve makes it easy to dial in the air pressures without having to remove the gauge between adjustments.

Due to the performance of the Milwaukee M12 portable air compressor and the use of battery-powered impact wrenches, we didn't have much use for this Goodyear eight-gallon air compressor, but we did have it on hand should we have needed more serious pneumatic power. This unit was a top-rated pick in our Best Air Compressors test and is now in regular rotation in our garage in Ann Arbor.

As we noted in our full review, "This unit delivers, offering solid performance in a (relatively) quiet package that's surprisingly maneuverable given its size."

These compact scissor-style jacks make it possible to lift a vehicle quickly so you can more easily (and safely, thanks to the integrated locking stands) perform basic maintenance on a vehicle, no jack or stands required. Considering we were driving over a dozen cars, nearly all of which got multiple sets of fresh rubber over the course of the week, it made sense to bring along a set of QuickJacks to make the job easier.

Specifically, we brought the QuickJack BL-3500SLX and the QuickJack 6000ELX, the latter of which has a larger payload capacity as well as the capability to work with vehicles with longer wheelbases. In the end, we almost exclusively used the 6000ELX model, as it fit nearly every vehicle we brought to VIR this year.

While the assembly process was fairly smooth, one thing we did notice was that these two kits instead came with a red liquid sealant designed to keep the hydraulic fluid inside the hoses and fittings. Unfortunately, even after thorough tightening and double-checking, we found the sealant insufficient for keeping leaks at bay. In the end, we decided to grab some teflon tape to wrap up the male connections, and sure enough, the leaks stopped almost immediately.

Compared to using a jack and stands, the QuickJack lifts were fast and easy to use with the press of a button or two once you align the platform with the vehicle's lifting points.

Hearst Autos combines the talent, resources, and expertise of three of the largest, most influential automotive publications in the world. The Gear Team has tested a wide variety of automotive products, parts, accessories, and gear, such as dash cams, portable jump starters, and OBD-II scanners. We get our hands on each and every product we test. Most are purchased; some are supplied by manufacturers.

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