WOW! Mary Pozzi, Pleasanton GG

[sjaroslo]

I'm not much of an autocross guy but I just got home from Pleasanton and had the PRIVILEGE of watching Mary Pozzi run the course in anger. It's funny how even the untrained observer such as myself could tell that her driving and her car (and her times) are something special.

I wish that I had had the guts to just say "hello" when she walked by me in the pits. LOL, 53 years old and starstruck....

What a beautiful day and a great time.

[MrQuick]

She's one cool gal. Should have said hello. The pozzi's are always friendly.

[CarlC]

Just have nice hunk of Godiva in you're hand and she'll melt like butter.

You won't find nicer folks than the Pozzi's.

[class67]

That was a close one today!!

[mpozzi]

If you're referring to that K-wall, that was TOO close. Chad said that from his vantage point at the timing stand, the distance between the spinning rear bumper and that wall was about SIX INCHES ... if even that! Up shifted from first to second, gave the loud pedal a little love, and all hell broke loose causing the car to head right and in a real big hurry.

Have no idea what I did nor the sequence of brake, steering, lift, and throttle but knowing the wall was there, I guess I processed all this stuff right as when I felt the Camaro bite after the first kick to the left, twisted it back around, got back on the throttle, kicked the rear to the right, gave a huge sigh of relief when the butt end passed safely by the wall, and then planted roots for good stopping the car. After asking Deanna (passenger) how close we came followed by a how cool was that, we waved to everyone and finished the run.

Damn ...

And to the OP, thanks and definitely stop me to say hi. As others have lived to tell it, I don't bite too hard ... LOL. And Carl's right as chocolate sweetens me up good.

Mary Pozzi

[Cobra 498]

I know there are space limitations and all sorts of logistic problems but I wish that Goodguys would look at minimum allowed distances to hard objects that other organizations have established through experience. It is wonderful that a whole new group of people are being introduced to autox, why not make sure that it is a safe introduction. The sport is so popular at Goodguys events I would think that it merits a greater allocation of space to the folks running the autox. it is also a crowd favorite, so why not make it the cornerstone of the show. I know this sounds wimpy but over my years of autox I have seen cars roll, people run over and other serious issues usually related to course design. Why take a chance when the work has already been done by others. People say it is up to the driver to keep their car under control but when the driver is right on the edge a small oil spot can be enough to lose it big time through no fault of the driver. Helmets would be a good idea too, it is such a fun sport, why not make it safer if you can. I actually felt safer at a time trail on a full blown race track than I did sliding around the "peanut" next to those K walls. Sorry about climbing on the soap box but I care about the sport and want to see it continue to attract new people.

[mpozzi]

Had I been a newbie to our sport, there would be a nice Inferno Orange Metallic splat along that wall. Brakes would have been locked and it would have been a wide-eyed "watch and wait" until the drivers side smacked up against it. That said, what was good to see was that no one actually hit anything except for pylons. A few spun a little but I think I was the winner of the "Oh, Shi ... (lite)" moment.

For me, it's crowd control as getting in and out of your pit stall can sometimes be like navigating a human maze ...

Mary Pozzi

[class67]

That is exactly what I was referring to! I thought for sure....well, you know the rest. As soon as you hit second, the car just took off (is what it looked like to me). Glad it ended the way it did rather than the alternative...

[Black93GT]

I actually felt safer at a time trail on a full blown race track than I did sliding around the "peanut" next to those K walls.

Just watching you guys rip around that peanut I could only envision contact with that wall and all kinds of bad following. I'm less nervous leaned all the way over on one or two wheels at a real track dragging a knee across the pavement than I was just watching you guys kiss cones and the walls.

Granted, Rodney's drift around the corners and Mary's close call make for a good show.... but it really shouldn't be such an unnecessarily large risk for them.

[Rod]

Mary was the winner of the "Oh, Shi ... award, we do push the limits of car and track, and if it would have been me in Marys spin I would have bounced the rail, kudos to Marys awesome driving, I would like to see the K-rails pushed back about 5 more feet around the track, right now I drive about 7-8's out of 10, but like everything else we would take a few more risks and probably use up that 5 feet of real estate also scaring our selves, going 8-9s out of 10. I know that there are space limitations and logistic problems but Autocross brings sponsors, and fans, that means money so maybe just a little more room could be used for us, anyways Great job Mary, and thanks to all who came out to see us!

[sjaroslo]

I will be sure to approach with chocolate in hand at the next opportunity, Mary. Might have melted on a June day in Pleasanton, though. And I think at the time I was marshalling a gigantic bag of Kettle Korn to bring home to the wifey so juggling chocolate might not have worked out! It is great that there are talented folks like so many of you out there who are willing to put it out there in order to entertain us spectators, and the effort is appreciated. And again one of my points was, even to the uninformed and untrained eye, I could tell that there was something special about Mary's run compared to many I had seen that day. Don't quite know how to explain that, but it was great (also enjoy your column in Camaro Performers!)

[Vegas69]

There is definitley no room for error. Glad to hear you didn't pile up that old pile, Mary. ha

[mpozzi]

I will be sure to approach with chocolate in hand at the next opportunity, Mary. Might have melted on a June day in Pleasanton, though. And I think at the time I was marshalling a gigantic bag of Kettle Korn to bring home to the wifey so juggling chocolate might not have worked out! It is great that there are talented folks like so many of you out there who are willing to put it out there in order to entertain us spectators, and the effort is appreciated. And again one of my points was, even to the uninformed and untrained eye, I could tell that there was something special about Mary's run compared to many I had seen that day. Don't quite know how to explain that, but it was great (also enjoy your column in Camaro Performers!)

That was YOU with all that KettleKorn??? Man, I saw that and was ready to mug you for it ... LOL. Gotta say that Korn drizzled with a bit of that fifth basic food group, chocolate, is also pretty tasty.

Thanks again for the nice words and writing that column is pretty fun. My next one takes on the evil Nick Licata for some major third-gen trunk slammin' a couple of issues ago. After that, it's anyone's guess as the topic rarely takes shape until about half the story is written. Maybe I should start a thread asking for story suggestions ...

As for the autocross driving and stuff, I tell people it's all smoke and mirrors. Honestly though, we have a ton of behind-the-wheel talent on this end of the dirt plot and it's a toss up as to who will come out on top after the dust settles.

Mary Pozzi

[mpozzi]

There is definitley no room for error. Glad to hear you didn't pile up that old pile, Mary. ha

You and me both, my friend.

Mary "No Crash ... " Pozzi

[Flash68]

I know there are space limitations and all sorts of logistic problems but I wish that Goodguys would look at minimum allowed distances to hard objects that other organizations have established through experience. It is wonderful that a whole new group of people are being introduced to autox, why not make sure that it is a safe introduction. The sport is so popular at Goodguys events I would think that it merits a greater allocation of space to the folks running the autox. it is also a crowd favorite, so why not make it the cornerstone of the show. I know this sounds wimpy but over my years of autox I have seen cars roll, people run over and other serious issues usually related to course design. Why take a chance when the work has already been done by others. People say it is up to the driver to keep their car under control but when the driver is right on the edge a small oil spot can be enough to lose it big time through no fault of the driver. Helmets would be a good idea too, it is such a fun sport, why not make it safer if you can. I actually felt safer at a time trail on a full blown race track than I did sliding around the "peanut" next to those K walls. Sorry about climbing on the soap box but I care about the sport and want to see it continue to attract new people.

Bruce, I could not agree more with you.