An "Average Guy" Joins the Sports Car Club of America - Part 2

Submitted by Tim Sweet on September 13, 2010 - 10:36am

In Part 1, I began talking about my experience and the costs of joining a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) event.  So let's get to my runs.  As I mentioned before, there were 2 sets of runs, one for time and points and one for just time.  Each was five trips on the course.

One thing they have you do, of course, is walk the track. This gets you someone familiar with the corners.  I walked it twice.  Once on my own and once with the novice "coach".

This is my second auto cross.  If you've been a constant reader you might recall the first was on January 25, 2010 and it was mainly Corvettes. We rented the area and set up our course.  I did fairly well there for my first time.  But this course was different.  A lot tighter corners in a row and two sets of very tight slalom.  Nothing a Vette couldn't handle with the proper speed and a good surface. This was not a good surface, however.

My first run was darn right awful.  I looked like some crazed speed demon with a severe hatred for orange cones. I over drove every tight corner.  My second run wasn't much better, I didn't even hit the first corner and then a took a cone for a ride under the Vette. 

So now I'm feeling like a knucklehead.  I had the oldest car there and maybe the one with the most torque, but certainly not the most horse power.  My third run was better and I took along one of the novice coaches but I still had a CD (course deviation) on the backside by missing the second slalom set of cones.  I dropped off the novice coach and my 4th and fifth runs were clean as far as CD's go but I still got a cone on each run.

So here is how it end up in the first set of 5 runs.

 84 Chevy/Corvette BS

  1. DNF
  2. DNF
  3. DNF
  4. 56.355
  5. 54.616

My next runs were much better.  I did have one CD and I did get a cone, but the times were getting better. The 5th run below I took a cone and spun on the back side of the course.

  1. 51.643
  2. 53.146
  3. 52.622
  4. 51.645
  5. 54.188

So I ended the day with the following times and points.

  • PAX Time: 46.260, 43.575         
  • Points: 753, 796

PAX time is like a handicap in golf, it takes the class of your car and the skill level reduces your time to keep you somewhat competitive.

Not bad for my first real "formal" event.

By the end of the day I was worn out.  That is a lot of driving, in the heat (ok...only 88 degree..little hotter on the course). 

The Vette performed perfectly, no over-heating issues (one of my biggest fears) and nothing broken, did have to rub out a few cone marks....but I showed them who's boss!!!!

If you want to see the scores go to  http://www.azbrscca.org/results/index.php and you can review the results.

- Tim

Read more from Tim Sweet at Average Guy's Car Restoration, Mods and Racing

Photo Credits: Tim Sweet