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Autocrossing
Some Information About Autcrossing
by Roy Armstrong of the Tidewater Z Club
I don't pretend to be an expert on the subject of automotive racing in any form or fashion. In fact, my autocross-racing career consists of two whole events. This article is intended to help some of you that may want to have some fun with your car but are not sure where to start.
What is autocross you may ask? Autocross, or as the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) calls it SOLO II, is an organized race set up on a large piece of concrete. The course is outlined with traffic cones. Cars compete one at a time against the clock. The driver who makes it around the course in the shortest amount of time wins. There is a two-second penalty for each cone that is knocked over and a ten-second penalty for missing a gate. Missing a gate means you drove on the wrong side of a cone. Engine size, types of modification and other criteria class the cars. The local SCCA Autocross runs fifteen car run groups with four runs per group. This means that the first fifteen cars line up. The first car makes his first timed run then goes to the back of the line. Then the second car runs, then goes to the back of the line. This rotation keeps going until the first fifteen cars have four timed runs. Then the next fifteen cars line up and it starts all over again. After you have made your runs you are expected to "work the track" for the next run group. There are a number of jobs to do, from starting cars to working corners to keeping track of run times They are all fun.
Russ Meeker, Mike Powers and Chris Casmir have raced regularly through-out the 2002 season. Russ and Mike have gotten serious (or is it obsessed) with it. They have gone so far as getting Victory Nissan to sponsor them. Russ lives to outperform Corvettes. Mike on the other hand lives to out perform Russ. Russ drives a '90 Twin Turbo and Mike's 94 is normally aspirated. There are usually only a couple tenths of a second difference in their times. A bunch of other members are planning to start competing next year. Besides myself, Eric Feiler, Steve Shell and Jim Robinson plan to be regulars out at the track. Even Maribeth wants to start racing autocross and I've heard a rumor that MaryHelen will come out and play.
If you have never raced I would suggest you come out and watch a race first. You can see how everything works without having to worry about what to do. It's a lot of fun to watch and cheer on your fellow members. You might even be able to talk one of the guys into taking you for a ride around the track to see what it feels like at speed. Maribeth sweet talked Russ into giving her a ride and she described it as more fun than a carnival ride.
Since the cars run one at a time there is no chance of running into another car. OK, I almost did it in Texas but that was different. You may slide or spin the car but mostly the hardest things to run into are traffic cones so there is not much of a chance you will do any real damage to your baby. I raced the Blue Car so you can believe I wouldn't have had it out there if there was a chance of bending it. Nobody is going to kid you that running autocross won't put wear and tear on your car. But the amount of wear is determined by how aggressive you drive your car. Speeds rarely get above 35 MPH. You'll lose some rubber off the tires and maybe some brake material but as long as you don't hammer the car that's about the extent of it. Autocrossing is more about precision driving than all out speed. In fact I've been told that if your tires are squealing you are doing something wrong. My tires squeal a lot.
Another advantage of running autocross is that you learn how your car feels at the edge of traction and how to regain control when the car is just slipping over that edge. You'll learn what happens when you brake too much or not enough or even at the wrong time. All of these things and more will make you better prepared if an emergency happens while you are driving on the roads.
© 2007 Triad Z Club
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