What is this autocross thing you do, anyway?

No matter how much it baffles my mind, I am quite sure there are a few of my friends/followers that have never heard of, let alone been to, an auto-x (autocross).  And even if you have heard of it, you might not know exactly what it is, or what goes on.  Most know it involves cars, but that is about it.  And simply telling someone what I do on the weekends can be quite... interesting. "It's like a roadcourse. But with cones. Setup in a parking lot. And you don't race the other cars physically, it's all time based." To which I get a lot of blank stares, and, "Ahhh, ok."

So, I am now going to attempt to as'plain it better. My above statement remains the same. It is a time based competition, in which a vehicle will navigate a series of cones making a temporary course.  Those cones dictate where you go, and if you hit one out of its box, you get a 2 second penalty.  Each course has a start and a finish, and will involve a series of maneuvers that test a driver's skill, as well as the car's performance. While power is a plus, this type of event rewards handling and lightness. Generally. A typical course will take about 60 seconds to navigate, and will generally not allow a car to reach speeds above 60ish mph. At least in the highest stock classed car.   At any given event, you will get, roughly, 3-6 runs to get your best time.  If the event is a two day affair, your best time from each day will be added together, giving you your overall time.

There are quite a few classes that compete. From stock to a purpose built, anything goes A-Mod car. Generally, there is a class for almost anything someone can show up in. As long as it meets tech, which is primarily worried about safety issues. To give you an idea, here is a few different cars, and their respective classes:

H Stock

C Street Prepared, or CSP

X Prepared

A Mod

Now, obviously, these are not all the classes. But it shows the basic break down. All the classes generally start with a letter that designates which group the car itself should run with, then the further narrows it down by whether it is stock, or "street" prepared, and so on. There is also a street tire class, shifter kart class, kart class for kids.... and the list goes on. Basically, show up in something, and the SCCA is bound to have a class for it to run in. Even your grandmother's Grand Marquis.

As for the courses, they will always be new.  You, typically, will never run the same course twice.  And that is what makes it so special.  When you get to the site, you have never seen the course before.  You have never driven it before.  Your only recon is walking the course.  While doing so, you are picking out what you think will be the fastest way through the course, where you think your braking points will be, how a certain maneuver is going to effect the car, and so on.  Then you get your 3-6 chances to nail down your fastest lap.  Quite the challenge.  And, quite fun. 

So, how about a video to show you what it looks from inside the car?  This video is of my friend Matt McCabe, in the CSP Miata you see in the picture above, on this years Nationals East course.  Matt finished 2nd in class.




So, there you have it.  I hope that helps you understand what it is I, and other car crazed individuals do with our weekends.  However, I guarantee that having it explained won't help you fully grasp why we love it.  For that, you will have to go to an event.  Go and watch.  Go and ride.  Or, best yet, go and try it.  Only then, will you fully grasp why we keep coming back for more.

That didn't go as planned.

Time for another update.  Last time, I mentioned how I was heading to KC to take my 2nd test drive in my friends Shawn Hill's kart.  Well, I did.  And, as the title suggests, it didn't go as planned.  Basically, I sucked it up on all my runs.  I can now say, with certainty, that a kart is the must frustrating thing I have ever tried to drive.  It isn't the speed, the grip, or the shifting.  It is all of it.  In little doses.

If a car is an airplane, then a kart is a spaceship.  Completely foreign, even though it is built to do the same thing: fly.  The speed is instant, and intense.  The grip is other worldly.  And, then, you add in shifting.  Lots of it.  I think that was the part that really messed me up the most.  Karts use a sequential gear box, like that of a motorcycle.  There is no pattern.  Pull toward you to shift up, and away from you to shift down.  Easy, right?  Well, now do that once or, at times, twice a second while navigating a sea of cones, looking ahead to see where you are gonig, while trying to gauge the limit of the grip available.  Now try to remember what gear you are in.   Not that the specific gear is entirely important.  But I found myself not shifting down enough gears in some corners, and trying to shift down one too many in others.  The former will leave you bogging out of the corner.  The later will spin you.  Quickly, as I found out.

However, as frustrating as it is, it is also a blast.  Glorious power slides, small crests causing all four wheels to come off the ground, and acceleration just short of a jet fighter on take off, will leave you with a $#!% eating grin on your face.  And I know as I acclimate myself, it will become less frustrating.  But there is the rub.  How long will it take to acclimate myself?  I get one year.  Actually, I get about 6 months.  It has taken Shawn 2 years to get to where he is at, and he says he still has a ways to go.  I love the challenge aspect of it.  That has major appeal to me.  However, I have a ride in a vehicle that I know and have done well in, with just one year of seat time, available to me as well.  I can't help but imagine what another year of seat time can net me.

So the plan is to run the kart once more this year.  I don't plan to figure it out.  I certainly don't plan to set FTD (fastest time of day).  What I want however, is to see if I show signs of progress.  Did I get better?  And, if so, by how much?  Was it a baby step, or was it a leap?  Once I can see if I am improving, and by how much, then I think I can finally make my decision.  And, honestly, either way I can't lose.  Both options are great opportunities, with people I enjoy.  I can say without hesitation, that it is a blessing to be in this predicament.  So thank you, to everyone involved for the opportunity, for your graciousness!