I'm going to be at Buttonwillow since I booked the track event before I saw the 2016 autocross calendar. C'mon lets get the CAM class going in the LA/OC region so I hope some others can hold the torch in my absence.
Another Sunday, another great day of autocrossing!
Yesterday marked the 2nd monthly CalClub autocross and my first time making it out. We had 7 CAM cars show up
CAM C - Matt A. in his late model mustang that he calls "the rental car."
CAM S - Jane T. in her 64 Corvette (Scarlet)
CAM S - Greg T. in his 65 Corvette (Scar)
CAM T - Efrain D. in his 69 Camaro
CAM T - Ron M. in his 69 Camaro (making his SCCA debut!)
CAM T - Kevin R. in his 65 Chevelle
CAM T - Myself in the 68 Camaro
The weather was beautiful low 80's SoCal day, perfect for autocrossing.
The course yesterday was HUGE (times of almost a minute and a half)! The 2nd biggest course I've done and one of the big reasons I love going to the SoCal SCCA events. Both the CalClub region and San Diego region consistently create one minute plus courses with a lot of variety.
With such a long course DNF's were in vogue, though I think at least one or two of them were bad calls but everyone ran their best time without a DNF so it was all good.
In CAMT Efrain came out of the gate swinging and jumped into the lead in the first set of runs and kept that position for the first 3 of 4 competition runs. It wasn't until the 4th run that I managed to leapfrog him into 1st. In CAMS, Greg ran the fastest time of any of the CAM cars during the competition runs. Everyone loved Greg's car, including the announcer. Matt was up against another late model Mustang in CAM C who was on the RE71 tires and ultimately Matt wasn't able to catch him.
Here are the Official Results for the CAM cars as well as the X-runs that we did later.
And here is a video of my 77.8 second x-run.
And one final pic Ron took in the hot pits.
Thanks everyone for coming out! Hopefully, I see you again plus some of the other local autocrossers at future CalClub events.
PS. this is the same lot the CAM Challenge will be held in April so as you can see the courses possible in this lot are awesome!
Another month and another fun SCCA outing coming up. This Sunday is the first El Toro event of 2016 with Cal Club. El Toro is not only a fantastic location because it is close but the large size allows from some amazing courses and the concrete offers tremendous grip!
Lets get some more CAM T guys to sign up and come out for some friendly competition!
The next two weekends have SCCA autocross in Fontana!
This weekend (4/23-24) is the next monthly CalClub autocross and because it is competing with a national event the attendance is low. You can still get in on practice Saturday and 4 competition runs Sunday should be a shoe in. This is also another chance to practice on the same lot and surface as the CAM event the following weekend. I will be there both Saturday and Sunday.
The following weekend (4/30-5/1) is the California CAM challenge. As of this posting we have 48 CAM cars registered with the splits between CAM T/S/C being fairly even so each class is going to have some great competition! I'll also be at this event and am helping volunteer too. If you don't have a CAM eligible car you can still come out and run the same number of runs at a discounted price in exchange for helping with an extra work assignment on Sunday.
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.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Linear Mode
