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Old 04-26-2016, 02:48 PM
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Chad-1stGen Chad-1stGen is offline
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Note to self and those that read this. Attending local SCCA events when there is a competing National event somewhat nearby makes for some great seat time!

This past weekend 4/23-24 I attended my first practice day on Saturday and I got my wife to come out and drive her first ever autocross on Sunday! Due to the National event in NorCal, the weekend attendance was lighter so on Saturday we got 14 runs instead of 12 and Sunday we got 5 competition runs instead of 3-4. All for the same price on a fantastic ~70 second course!

Saturday practice recap
We had 3 CAMT eligible cars attend though as it was a practice day there was no actual classing. Michael C. and I had our 68 Camaros and we ran into a first timer who had a freshly built Nova with TCI subframe and 4 link underneath.


It was a lot of fun to attend a practice autocross where I could set aside some of my competitiveness and try new things. This was the second time ever that I tried left foot braking and after 14 runs in one day it was feeling a lot more natural by the end. I'm not sure that I'm as fast around a course yet as I am right foot braking but I think its close enough to try and left foot brake this weekend at the CAM challenge. I also got some great ride along instruction that helped me understand some things I was doing wrong that I wasn't even aware of and some good car tuning feedback.

I think Michael was having a good time up until he discovered that his tires had been corded. Nick, the first timer with the Nova, was totally hooked. Its great to see how much first timers can improve from their first run to their last. Nick's first few runs were a little timid but as soon as someone else drove his car he attacked the course with a lot more gusto and confidence.

Sunday championship recap

Sadly, with Optima USCA the weekend before and the CAM challenge the following weekend It was a little lonely in the CAM classes this weekend. We had no CAMS cars, 3 CAMC cars (though one ran Novice) and my wife and I running CAM T. The good news was 5 competition runs all for the same $30 price.

The large SCCA autocross courses found in the SoCal regions can be a little intimidating for some folks used to GoodGuys or NMCA Hotchkis style courses as the SCCA courses use a lot less chalk and cones so you have to truly memorize the course to avoid a dreaded DNF. With that in mind, I was super stoked for my wife to complete all of her 5 runs with no DNF's and drop a lot of time. From her first run to her 5th she dropped over 8 seconds off her time from an 82.x to a low 74.x. She had a lot of fun and I could see some competitive spirit because she kept asking me after the event if the times from the newbie autocrosser who brought a brand new Lamborghini Huracán were posted. In the end she did beat his best time by about a second. In fact her best time would of placed her a solid mid pack 5th out of 9 if she had run the Novice class instead of CAMT. She also beat more than a few folks in the overall PAX index. However, the best outcome was that she had fun, not who she did or didn't beat.

Here is the video from her best run.


I get a kick out of the fact that in the past she has teased me for watching video of my runs over and over again and yet now that she has her own video she has done the same thing.

The next SCCA event in SoCal is the CAM challenge this weekend followed by your choice of either the San Diego region at Qualcom or the LA region in Fontana on May 14-15.
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Autocross and Track blog

Lots of autocross & track day videos of my car: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDude023
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