Tell us about your track or a/x experience level., Or your goals... Options

[Trekkor]

I started a/x in April of '04.

I've done about 30 of them.

On the big track I have no racing experience and will always keep it that way.
I really enjoy HPDE ( High Performance Driver Education or just DE ).

Done about 10 of those and have a full season planned ahead.


I plan on doing one or two a/x's and one DE each month through November.


KT

[SandyI]

Did my first POC Drivers School at Streets of Willow in my stock '69 911E in Jan. 2004. Then competed with that car in their Short Track Series for two years as I improved the car, bought some track wheels and tires, but never made it an uncomfortable street car, which meant I was getting hammered on the track by the guys who trailer their cars to the events.

Last December, I bought a '75 914 with a Euro 3.2 in it for street & track. The car basically hauls ass in a huge way. Ran 3 POC Short Track events this year on 16" Cup Wheels w/street tires waiting for my 17" Fikses & Toyo RA1's to arrive. They're on now and Monday is my first PCA event at Streets. Then June for POC. My goal this year is to participate in my first POC Time Trial student event at Big Willow to get my POC Time Trial license some time in 2007.

[Joe Ricard]

Owned a Porsche of one sort or another for 15 yrs.
started Autocrossing 2 years ago. in that time I have gone through 3 sets of tires each progresively getting more agressive. Now on 4th set which is the ultimate sticky slick.
Started in C street prepared and quickly got bumped to Street Mod 2 for engine modifications.
Rules changes in 2006 have put me in X Prepared Very fast SCCA class. I am under prepped and just strive to someday win PAX or get TTOD when the heavy hitters are playing.
Plan on attending SOLO Nationals in Topeka. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[jhadler]

Started autoxing in the early 90's back in the SF Bay Area. Had a VW GTI that I was pretty proud of, and was cruising the VeeDub bulletin boards (in the early days of the internet), and asked the obligitory question of "how do I make my car go faster?". I got the obvious resposnes from the vocal majority..." Oh dude, you got to buy this bolt-on thing and that bolt-on thing, and this... and that..." and oh brother! Okay, so I did buy some of that stuff, but just some nice shocks for starters. Then there was a quiet minority who said "the best way to make your car faster is to make the driver better.". Hmm, that sounded pretty sage to me. So I asked some more questions about where and how and who and all that.

I wound up going to my first SCCA autox at Candlestick Park (and I don't care how long it's been, it still IS and always WILL BE Candlestick Park to me). I told 'em I was new to this and asked who I should talk to. They pointed me in the direction of one of the veteran drivers (Charlie Davis, for anyone who knows him), and he sortof walked me through the day. What to do, etc. I went on my first run by myself, and thought "hey, I'm doin' pretty good." I figured I was doing well, and leaving a little in reserve. Then I went for a passenger ride with Charlie, in a STOCK Honda Civic. And HOLY COW!!! Not only was he going Sooo much faster than I had, he was NARRATING the entire time!! I had a white knuckle grip and an ear-to-ear grin that wasn't leaving my face for a month. I was HOOKED!!

After that, it was a steady progression of autox after autox. And after a little while I went and bought more doodads for my GTi, and loved it! Then I proceeded to _roll_ it at an autox. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) Cr*p! Oh well, one door closes, another opens. A friend of mine had just bought a '69 911E, and was trying to persuade me to get a Porsche. And another local autoxer was trying to convince me to build a CSP 914. Well, I bit. I searched for a few months before I found a nice, relatively rust-free '74 914, and then it was off to Automotion for more doodads.

Many years of autoxing, and many track events, DE's, and TT's later, I'm still hooked and having fun! Driving, instructing, and stewarding are all tons of fun still!

Yup. They say you never forget your first time..........

Now, if I can just get my car running again!!!

-Josh2

[nebreitling]

Then I proceeded to _roll_ it at an autox. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) Cr*p!

damn! you rolled a GTi at an AX? i assume you weren't hurt -- care to share more details?


grew up wrenching on cars and bikes and racing BMX, but my first AX was at the WCC a couple years ago. i had an awesome time, even if grant beat me.

since then i've really become a student of driving, and have basically learned how much i still have to learn. As a grad student money and time have been in short supply, but i've managed to rack up some decent AX time and have had a good introduction to big track driving. i plan to run as many track days as possible this summer (as soon as my schedule clears up a bit). meanwhile, i've been running in a kart league every week, which has taught me almost everything i know about lines, traffic, passing, getting passed (errrr), momentum, tire slip angle, timing, and general race dynamics. i hope to be racing cars w2w in about 4-5 years, and i think i'm on the right track to do so..

[jhadler]

Then I proceeded to _roll_ it at an autox. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) Cr*p!

damn! you rolled a GTi at an AX? i assume you weren't hurt -- care to share more details?

Warning: Long story is to follow.

Well.... If you must pry....

I had been trying to dial the car to a nice even 4 wheel drift, and was getting pretty close. But I wanted to get it better balanced. I took just a bit more air out of the rear tires, and stiffened up the rer bar, and went for my third (third? maybe it was my second?) run. The feature in question was a long slalom with a hard right hand turn at the end (already a recipie for a rollover). Also keep in mind the notoriously uneven terrain of the Candlstick Park parking lot. As I entered the right hander, I felt the rear of the car "hop", and my knee-jerk reflex reaction was "Uh oh, what happend? I better lift...". So in essecence, the car did exactly what I told it to do. I had said (in car speak), "Roll Over! Play Dead!". And it did... The horrizon started to rotate rather steeply, and rather quickly. And by the time I was trying to steer out of it, it was too late. The car went up and over the driver's front corner, got airborne twice, and quite thoroughly shmushed all four corners, while rolling over 1-1/2 times, before coming to rest on the roof. I wish someone had video taped that, would have been great to watch. I didn't watch. As soon as I knew that I was a passenger, I simply said to myself, in a very matter-of-fact kindof way "Cr*p, I destroyed my car.". The I held on, closed my eyes, and hoped that nothing hit my noggin. When the crunching and tinkling sounds sounds had stopped, I opened my eyes...to see... asphalt. "Oh! I'm upsidedown!". The harness was holding me quite securely in the inverted position. Ran down the checklist lickity quick. Toes? -check-. Legs? -check-. Arms? -check-. Fingers? -check-. Neck?.....-check-. Head? -check-. At that point the corner workers had gotten to me and were telling me not to move. I said "where would I go?". Got a little help releasing the harness, and scratched my elbow on some broken glass climbing out of the car. That was my sole injury from the incident. The car didn't fare so well... Only one pane of class was unbroken, all four corners of the car were quite well shmushed, and the right side wheels had gained around 20 or so degrees of positive camber. Somewhere there's a picture of me sitting on my helmet, staring at the inverted remains of my car. I'd like to get a copy of that picture from whomever took it.

Postmortem: The car was totalled (duh). The insurance company covered it, and actually paid far more than I had hoped for. No, I didn't drag it out into the woods and claim a deer ran in front of me so I swerved, like some people had suggested. I told them the whole truth and nothin' but. I bought the car back as salvage, and proceeded to part it out, piece by piece. Sold pretty much everything off except the wheels the steering wheel. Had the remaining shell dragged away on a flat bed, didn't even have wheels on it, they didn't care. What I had discovered in the stripping of the car was what probably precipitated my bone-headed response of lifting off the throttle. It would appear that one of the rear sway bar drop links had buckled, and that was most likely the "hop" I felt in the rear of the car.

Epilogue: The insurance company didn't cancel my policy, but they did change the language in all of their policies to exclude coverage at any and all competition events of any kind. So, I switched insurance companies to one who would still cover autox events. And I went and got a 914 with the money from the insurance and parts selling. The 914 choice was for four reasons. 1) It was a Porsche, and everyone at one time in their lives has got to have a Porsche right? 2) It was mid-engined, and all -real- race cars are mid-engined right? 3) My friend with the 911E had succeded in convincing me that Porsche was the way to go, and it was, afterall, a German car right? 4) My other friend had somehow (I don't know exactly how) convinced me that I was really going to try to build a competitive Street Prepared 914. What was I? Nuts? Yep! But that hasn't stopped me... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

To this day I still have that driver's side front wheel hanging from the ceiling in my garage, a large piece of asphalt embedded in the rim. The sign reads: "Don't Lift!".

Amusing sidenote: Right after the autox, I had been planning on meeting this woman I had met at a concert two weeks before for a first date. So after towing the GTI to the shop where I had it left (used the drop box envelope and marked the different things to check. Glass, headlights, steering, brakes, tires,... etc. You get the picture. Thought it was funny at the time. So did they fortunately.), I got home, and took the old VW camper bus that a few friends of mine and I had sortof collectively owned, and I went to drive up to SF from Palo Alto. Just north of Redwood City, the engine started to make an incredibly bad sound. I -thought- that maybe I had dropped a valve or something. "Oh Cr*p!!". Couldn't see anything in there, even though it was still light, so had _that_ vehicle towed back to my house (turns out the #4 plug backed out is all). Where I then got on my motorcycle and then scooted off to the city. You'd think that's where I should have called it a night, and quit while I was "ahead". But nooooo. Fortunately, the ride was uneventfull, if not a tad chilly. And I arrived only around an hour late (I did call ahead). The date was a total bust. Turns out, for starters that all eyes were on the TV that evening, OJ was makin' a break for it. And not a single TV was tuned to anything else. Even in the restaurant we went to. Geez, why would I want to watch that? But the kicker was that she had thought, from when we met before at the concert, that I was a lot older than I was. Okay, so most of you have never met me face to face. But that is the kind of mistake that hardly anyone in their right mind (the operative phrase here) could have made. If I shaved my beard now, and kept a baseball cap over the thinning top, I'd get carded in a heartbeat anywhere I went, even now. Back then? Hah! Oh yeah, and she seemed a bit of a nut job to boot as well.... So I rode home in the cold foggy SF night, wondering if tomorrow could possibly get any stranger than today had been...

edit: Hmm, now that I reflect on it, maybe that "date" was a couple days after the rollover... Oh well, it's a good story anyway right?

Wow, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be... Hope y'all didn't mind reading all this....

-Josh2

[nynone4]

I started autocrossing in 1995 after going for a ride in a 914 that Doug Jacobsen shared with Brad Mayeur. I had just bought my first 914 at the time (riding in a family friend's 914 had hooked me on them when I was 8 years old back in 1979). Since then - in order the cars I've driven as my primary car and autocrossers have been:

1974 2.0 914 (B Stock at the time)
1986 Hond Civic Si (E stock)
2) 1991 MR2 Turbos (Both ASP cars)
1973 2.0 914 (B Stock at the time)
2001 MR2 Spyder (wife's car... shhhhh... don't tell her) (C Stock class)
2002 Mini Cooper S (GS, then STX, and finally SM classes)
1970 914-6 (SM2 - and my current ride)

I guess I always come back to the 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I've done three track events (HPDE's) in the last year and plan to do a couple this year with the six if I can get up the nerve for running a nearly 40-year-old car at those speeds.

[drew365]

I participated in the Virginia City Hillclimb nine times. It's basically a Time Trial run on a very dangerous public highway outside of Virginia City Nevada.
I bought my 914-6 so I had something to use on the track. I've been going through the POC race program for the last four years. I won my class in the Short Track Series two years in a row. I now have my Cup License. There's something about wheel to wheel racing that adds extra excitement to being on the track that I didn't get doing time trial. There's very little room for error as no one wants to get passed. It's very fulfilling finishing a race with a clean nose after a good dice with a fellow racer. Sometimes it feels like being part of a dance troupe and the music is congo drums.

[J P Stein]

I've

[URY914]

I ran my first A/X in 1990. I won first place in the novice class (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Since than I've done DE's at Road Atlanta, Sebring, Roebling Road, Moroso and the Talladaga motorcycle track.

I ran the PCA Club race at Sebring for about 5 years and won my class several times.

In a/x I've been Florida State Champion and won the Outstanding Driver Award in my local club in South Florida. I figure I've run somewhere around 100 a/x events over the years.

[DNHunt]

I'm a field filler at best. My first AX was at Bremerton with the PCA and I was very close to last. I finished the course once out of 4 runs. It was a humbling experience when I realized that I wasn't a natural. Maybe no one is.

My driving is improving. My best event was my last and I hope I can keep saying that. Ninth overall out of about 60 and 3+ seconds behind JP. Tips along the way have helped like Brad saying "You right foot belongs on the gas not the brake." have helped. My goal is to go out each event and do better and I have. Courses are slowing down for me and I can at least envision where I want the car to be (putting it there is still a longshot). I'm no longer afraid of losing the car and I've gotten over the urge to lift when the car is unsettled at least at AX speeds.

My greatest enjoyment now is watching my 16 year old son learning to drive. Prior to his first AX run I told him take it slow the first run and then don't be a wuss. He proceeded to spin twice ans by the last run he beat me. So much for advice,

Dave

[J P Stein]

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[carr914]

Well the hook grabbed as a child in Elmira, NY 18 minutes from Watkins Glen International (at least the way I drive). My Godfather was competition chairman at the track, so at an early age I was at the track at races (Grand Prix, Can-Am, Trans-Am from 66 to 79), practices and test sessions for a host of teams. Before the age of 12 I had met Andretti, Siffert, Gurney, Hall, Stewart, Cevert, Donahoe, Penske and more. As a teenager I raced go-carts on & off and my parents import cars through the roads of Upstate NY.
I put away any spirited driving from 76 to 84 ( college, marriage, child, etc) and then started A/X in 85 where I did local SCCA and national Pro-Solo events. I competed head-on with Randy Pobst( winner 2006 24 Hours of Daytona) in VW Jettas. In 86, I switched to a Scirrocco and a 69 911S (the Porsche my now ex later wrecked)
In 1987 I had a severe bout of Viral Encephilitus, was in a coma for a while, then I had a lot of downtime to think about things. The one true realization was that I wanted to race. I went to Skip Barber Racing School in April 88, was racing 2 weeks later and was working for Skip Barber Race Series 2 weeks after that. I still work for SBRS, but only 5-8 weekends a year. I have raced in Skip Barber Formula Cars since 88, at first quite a bit ( back then it was barter our work for seat time), down to I try to get into them at least once a year. I did some Barber Pro Series tests and 2 races, a few Showroom stock races and have tested quite a few different race cars.
In July of 88, I won A Merkur XR4Ti from Camel while attending the IMSA race at Watkins Glen. The day I took delivery, I drove it 18 miles and traded it in on a Porsche 944. I A/Xed that car and started to DEs in Sept 88. Suncoast region was one of the 1st to have DEs and due to my experience or the lack of experience on others, I was made an Instructor at the end of my 1st day. I continue to be a PCA Instructor, I have National PCA DE license # 14 (how cool is that).
In the past I have also sold Porsches at a well known dealership and was a test driver for VW/Audi, and crewed on some endurance teams. I now am a Manufactors Rep in concrete and wood coatings, as well as my involvement with SBRS.
I have had a series of 914s & 6s, with currently a 74 914-6 conversion track and A/X car and I am bringing back to life a 74 Lightweight Carrera race car

All The Best, T.C.

[Steve_7x]

My Dad convinced me to come out to an Autocross over in Pleasanton back in 1980. I drove a green 356B coupe with a 60hp engine in it. I remember my instructor yelling at me "Gas!", "Brake!!!" - you get the idea. I got out after my first run, thinking I had never driven so fast before, but my times were pitiful! Back then there were some really great drivers running the GGR events... Gary Walton had his Garetson Enterprises 2.5 liter 914-4 running against Walt Maas and Terry Zaconne in their 2.8ltr 914-6 race car. There were quite a few 914's back then, 4's and 6's, many running on slicks... some with very minor fender mods because Cantilever slicks were not yet in use.

So doing the math I have been doing this for slightly more then a quarter century... about 20 years with 914's. I drove a slighly modified 2.0 from 1986 until 2002 when I finished the blue zoomy car. Outside of a few guest drives in other peoples cars, I have driven 4 cylinder vehicles.

I have no track experience besides doing a few parade laps and the 1985 Parade Driving event (pseudo autocross) which was run on the full length Riverside Raceway course (before it got bulldoezed). All they did was tighten corners and add a chicane on one or two of the longer straights... but I still got the 356 Coupe into 4th and over 100mph (stock 1600 S-90).

[Racer]

Drove my first A/X and first track events in early 1990, after over 10 years of watching and helping my parents with their Porsche addiction (A/X, DE, Rally, Parades etc). Stopped while in college and got back into it in 1995 with the same 914 I learned to drive in (and wish I still had!). Consistant ever since. Sold the 914. Bought a 911. Became a DE instructor in 2000. Now my own growing family is beginning to cut into "play" time so even if I have to sit out Porsche ownership, I imaging the DD will be made to A/X once in a while (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[okieflyr]

My auto-x experience began in 1985 with my 73 2.0 914. I was a few years out of highschool, and would run with the local PCA (met Helmuth Bott) and with the local SCCA. My employer was an auto broker w/Porsche as our specialty.
So I had a small fleet of cars to play with around the cones. These ranged from 73 Carrera lightweights, to Renault R5 Turbos. Family started kicking in so a small break was taken(18 years). Started back again, and have raced various cars from MR2-Turbo MR2, GTI Turbo,04 STI, and back to the 914.
I've learned alot, more to go though, and as the kids get through college these days, I'm dreaming of getting to the point going to Topeka Nat's...Some day...
Kevin

[jgara962]

I did my first auto-x in '92 with my VW Rabbit that had an '84 GTI engine and 5-speed tranny. Got really into it and in '93-94 and ran the full Northern California Sports Car Council series, plus several auto-x's with the Empire Sports Car Associaion and SCCA. At the end of the year, most places were losing thier permits to run, and I was asked to start working with an SCCA sports car team. Just like that, I was done. Spent weekends during the next five years working with a local team that won several championships and I haven't auto-x'ed since.

Looking forward to taking the 914 out and getting back into it. Seems like I have a conflict every weekend that there has been an auto-X at the SR airport. I figure I'll start out on familiar territory to begin with. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Maybe after I get comfortable with the car, I'll try doing a DE event.

[Mike T]

I started autocrossing in 1978 in a 1967 VW Beetle. My first event was in Elmira, NY put on by the Glen Region SCCA. Later that summer I joined the Southern New York region and ran every Solo II I could find. I was hooked bad. I had the benefit of 2 National Champions in the local region and got good advice and instruction from them.
I ran the modified Bug until 1980. Then Inspired by multi-time National Champion Bill Goodale's awesome Porsche Powered Deserter GS buggy, I built a fiberglass Dunebuggy and ran that until 1983. I switched to Stock class in a 1972 VW Beetle and had reasonable success at Solos and Pro Solos. I was H-Stock Northeast Divisional champ in 1985. I've been to nine Nationals and trophied twice. 5th in 1986 and 4th in 1989.
I now compete in a 1975 914 that has been highly modified. I run the SCCA's E-modified class and am in it more for enjoyment instead of trying to be competitive. The V8 power makes the car insanely fast and is a hoot to drive. I was again Northeast Divisional champ in 1997 with the car, this time in E-Modified.

This summer is my 28th year of autocrossing.

Mike T

[ClayPerrine]

My first AX was in October of 1985, at Green Valley Raceway in North Richland Hills, TX with SCCA. My second AX was Nov 17th 1985... and at that event I met Betty.


So We have been AXing together for 21 years now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving-girl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[Vezna31]

Very first was back in 1997 at Summit Point, WV driving my '94 Plymouth Duster with a 3.0 L V-6 and a 5-speed. Drove the Jefferson Circuit mostly in the rain all day.

Drove Laguna Seca in May '04 in my '01 S2000. Had a great instructor and a great time until I went off on the inside of Turn 5 and hit the ditch. Only a damaged ego on that one.

Drove Sears Point January '05. Tough track...intimidated me. Finally started to get it after having an instructor with me for 2 sessions. Spun in the hairpin with walls all around, but didn't hit anything, and got completely sideways coming out of the carousel at 70 mph because I didn't let it track out. Recovered it after tank-slapping a few times and then pulled into the pits to change my underwear.

Drove Spring Mountain in Pahrump Sept '05. Learned the track really quickly and had a fantastic day. The driving skills were ON that day.

Drove Laguna Seca February '06. Rained all day, got completely sideways 2 or 3 times on the warm-up lap of my first session. Spun coming out of 11...damn water. I learned a lot about car control that day!!

Drove Streets of Willow June '06. Cool course...hot day, over 100. Long sessions had my tail wagging like a happy dog from the 20-30 minute mark of the sessions. Car was pretty loose the whole day. Had one tank slapper during the day, but no spins.