Autocross Ruined My Life

[j-rho]

Yes, spectating is free. Would be a glorious day when an SCCA autocross is considered interesting enough to garner a ticket price!

[BMR Sales]

RatFink,



Take a look at this place which is not too far from you, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is a great facility!



http://pittrace.com/

[SRD art]

It's easy to lose the taste for drag racing after trying autocross, at least it was for me. I have an 11 second Nova I had a bunch of fun cruising back in the early 90s. After a while I got sick of breaking parts and pushing the motor to it's limit. It's been sitting in the garage for a long time while I sort out my station wagon. The wagon has about 250 LESS horsepower than the Nova but is WAY more fun to drive. After it's done the Nova will be getting transformed to pro-touring. No more slicks and skinnies for me.

[Rat Fink]

Thanks for all the info! I'll have to check out Pittsburgh and the SCCA soon. I'm amazed at how many ex drag racing guys are into this, I think I'm among good company.

[car_designer]

Rat Fink, I'm in the same situation. I've been on here for a couple of years, but never been to any autocross events... until last weekend where I watched some people run at the Syracuse Nationals. Now I'm starting to think about what I need to do to my Cutlass to give it a try at the show next year. Or try and find something local to attend this year.

Rat Fink
I hear ya...

Been trying to get a autocross event of sorts going or started for Buicks , at any of the all Buick events.

Pretty much all the higher ups want A car show and drag races, they all seem interested , but don't want to get their fingers messy , direct me to do something off site of the venue and out of pocket.
But yes they want to use the events name.
Trying to get these dying Buick events some new blood, but the ole skoolers want to sit in their chairs and polish cars. A few left now days that go down the track.
back in the mid to late 90's it was hopping at these events , now days .. like you said boring..

Chris, at least the Buicks had drag racing. The Olds club only starting officially running a drag racing event with their national meet a couple of years ago.

[HELLCAMINO]

I'm the same way. I have a 71 Chevelle that has the skinny's up front and 11" of rear drag tires, but I have more fun Auto Xing my Elco. I haven't drag raced the Chevelle in 5 years either.

[Rat Fink]

You guys that are thinking of trying it or wondering what you need to do to get out there, I'm tellin' ya, just do it! My best run was a 51 and almost everyone else was running in the mid 40's, I had a ball you couldn't slap the smile off my face. She was all stock in the suspension dept., and those 50's cars weren't known for their handling. As for the guys who don't want to get off their chairs and have fun, get out there and show them how much fun it can be and maybe they'll join you. If not, their loss. That little guy looks like he's having fun in the El Camino.

[Z06killinSBF]

Well I did it, went to my first autoX race in about 15 years (I was a kid, dad raced C prepared 73 Camaro). Also, it was my son's first race experience (18 months old) and the wife's first autoX. Had a great time for the 1-1/2 hours my son let us stay. Now to get my blazer sorted and run over them orange pookey things.

[65_LS1_T56]

Hi, my name is Aaron and I'm addicted, to autocross!

First time with G-Velle at Motorstate, had a blast.

[HELLCAMINO]

What wheels are you running on that 65 Aaron?

[struck by Lightning]

25+ years of drag racing here as well and still spray the truck down the track on occassion. I got hooked to auto-x in 2012 while attending a GG's show and shortly thereafter joined SCCA. I'm having a blast and am sooooooooo hooked that I'm building a 73 Camaro!

[65_LS1_T56]

What wheels are you running on that 65 Aaron?

They are Forgeline RB3C's. 18x8.5 fronts, 18x10.5 rears. Satin Gunmetal centers, satin cleared brushed outers, gunmetal inners.

[Rod]

25+ years of drag racing here as well and still spray the truck down the track on occassion. I got hooked to auto-x in 2012 while attending a GG's show and shortly thereafter joined SCCA. I'm having a blast and am sooooooooo hooked that I'm building a 73 Camaro!

addict!

[1966longroof]

Rat Fink I'm with you. Our car is a true daily driver/weekend bracket car. 11.90's manual shifting/12.30's leaving the 700R4 in drive (with slicks). Got tired of having to go fast and then.......hitting the brakes to make sure I didn't breakout. Told my buddies if I wanted to do sumthing for 12 seconds.....I'd have sex with my wife. Auto-X hooked me at Good Guys in Charlotte. My car is still a daily driver, but now have made suspension upgrades so I can turn both ways.
Not the fastest on the track. But having a riot sliding around on the front bench seat. And the wife loves it too. That's a win-win in my book.

[kmdracer]

My first experience at anything like Auto cross was right after I bought my wife's car. It's an 08 Caliber SRT4, and we got to go to the SRT experience track day. I had a blast on the cone course, and even managed to turn in 3rd fastest time of the day (against all the other amateurs, lol) but I really, REALLY liked the road course. So much so that I bought a 91 Camaro to build for stock class, but due to economic reasons, never got it finished, and it's gone now. So, for now, I'm just a lurker, getting my kicks watching everyone else.

[BuzzKillian]

I gave a guy a "FREE" ride at Good Guys, and told him "You have no idea how much this ride is going to cost you."

[RobNoLimit]

You guys, you say 'addicted', and 'ruined my life' like it's a bad thing. lol. this is by far the least expensive (no, didn't say cheap) way to go racing.
- drag car, 40k, long tow, high pit fees, on a good day maybe 40 sec in the seat. With tires, fuel and rebuild/freshening costs, over five years, $400/sec.
- IMCA mod (ask me how I know) car 25K, lower pit fees, but tires and the cost of 'rubbin (everything), fuel, rebuild...But, on a good Saturday night, 40 min. seat time. five year ave. $100 minute.
- Flat track/Speedway bikes. Love it, but, I don't heal that fast any more.
- Auotcross. OK, some of have to much in out cars, but we would own these cars anyway. So really, we're talking about the extra to make it competitive, - maybe 5 to 10k. Tires and fuel, cheap enty fees. Total seat time is not as much as in the modified, but it's more fun. About 12 to 15 minutes per outing, my average is running about $25 / minute.
So, don't think of it as "ruined my life" or "addicted", or "WOW, this is gonna cost me", put it in perspective, and think, "HEY. autocross is saving me a bundle!!"

[Ron Sutton]

25+ years of drag racing here as well and still spray the truck down the track on occassion. I got hooked to auto-x in 2012 while attending a GG's show and shortly thereafter joined SCCA. I'm having a blast and am sooooooooo hooked that I'm building a 73 Camaro!

Cool. What does big red run in the 1/4 on nitrous?

.

[Ron Sutton]

You guys, you say 'addicted', and 'ruined my life' like it's a bad thing. lol. this is by far the least expensive (no, didn't say cheap) way to go racing.
- drag car, 40k, long tow, high pit fees, on a good day maybe 40 sec in the seat. With tires, fuel and rebuild/freshening costs, over five years, $400/sec.
- IMCA mod (ask me how I know) car 25K, lower pit fees, but tires and the cost of 'rubbin (everything), fuel, rebuild...But, on a good Saturday night, 40 min. seat time. five year ave. $100 minute.
- Flat track/Speedway bikes. Love it, but, I don't heal that fast any more.
- Auotcross. OK, some of have to much in out cars, but we would own these cars anyway. So really, we're talking about the extra to make it competitive, - maybe 5 to 10k. Tires and fuel, cheap enty fees. Total seat time is not as much as in the modified, but it's more fun. About 12 to 15 minutes per outing, my average is running about $25 / minute.
So, don't think of it as "ruined my life" or "addicted", or "WOW, this is gonna cost me", put it in perspective, and think, "HEY. autocross is saving me a bundle!!"

Hey Rob ... you've raced a lot of different stuff like me. You are a true "racing lifer" .

.

[Rat Fink]

RobNoLimit,
I love your sense of economics! Although the comment about "ruining my life" was tongue in cheek and it's an "addiction" I'm happy to have! I even caught my wife talkin' about suspension parts and tires the other day, now I can tell her we're saving money at the same time!