How Can I Start Autocrossing?

One of the best things about autocrossing is that it is easy to start, you just have to start somewhere!
For the next event in our South Carolina Region, it's as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Go to this website to register:  Motor Sports Registration

2. Follow the instructions and sign up.
You don't have to pay yet, and you don't have to be a Sports Car Club of America member yet. 

3. Show up on April 27th with your car and be prepared to have fun! 
Once you are at the Michelin Proving Grounds, you will find workers who will ask you to sign the waiver form. After that, you will find the registration folks in the big van who will help you finish registering and then paying to enter.  You can pay with cash on site, and if you are not a SCCA member you can also pay for a weekend membership so you can drive.  Then you just have to have the Tech inspection to make sure that you and your car will be safe, so they will check for things like tires, seat belts, wheels are fastened securely, and that you have a helmet. If you don't have a helmet, there will a bunch of loaner helmets you can borrow for free.

If you get thru steps 1-3, then you will be attending the driver's meeting to cover any important rules for the day, and then you should join the Novice track walk where one of the experienced members will talk you thru the course as you walk it. After that you can walk the course on your own and get a picture of it in your head so that you can drive it later and not get lost!  In the photo above you can see Andre in the black hat listening to the Novice talk.

As of right now, here is a partial list of driver's signed up, so you know that NMS will be there at Michelin on April 27th.

 [ES] E Street 2 entries

#	Name	Year	Make	Sponsor	Hometown
86	Nixon, Brian	2004	Mazda MS Miata	Nixon Motor Sports	Columbia, SC
89	Ray-Smith, Kyle	2001	Mazda Miata	Panic Motorsports	Greenville, SC

 [GS] G Street 1 entries

#	Name	Year	Make	Sponsor	Hometown
77	Nixon, Robert	2013	Fiat 500 Abarth	Nixon Motor Sports	Blythewood, SC

How much fun is it? I don't think you would believe me if I told you, and since a picture is worth a thousand words, this short video (really a Tire Rack commercial) shows how much fun it is to be an autocross driver!

Tire Rack "This Is Kenny"

3000!

Hey everyone, we've been online for just a few months and we've already hit 3000 page views!

Thanks for all the site visits and positive feedback.  We're off to a great 2014 so far and we've still got 8 months to go!

Evo School Day 2

Sunday was another full day of driving and learning.  Luckily the weather dried up a bit, but the wind was turned up to 11, so it wasn't a whole lot of fun to stand around and pick up cones, but the reward of seat time was fantastic.

This class ended up about 12 students, compared to the 17 or so on Saturday.  We had cars ranging from the high-end Porsche 911 turbo to a 10 year old stock Honda Civic, which just goes to show, it doesn't matter what level of driver you are or what level of performance your car is capable of, they'll teach you how to make the most of it.  I still think this is one of the best parts of autocross; it doesn't matter what car you bring, just that you are driving it with the most skill.

The Phase 2 class really focuses on emphasizing the techniques learned in the Phase 1 class.  The way they approached the teaching was great and it really was a challenging experience.  I don't think I was really implementing all of the techniques yet, but it really drove home the understanding of what I needed to be doing and really gave me an understanding of how to self-critique and make improvements at all the future events.

I know I'm going to need a lot more practice, but I feel confident I have the tools I need to make big improvements and build those skills. This should be a really exciting season for me!

The school has a fantastic curriculum for teaching performance driving and the instructors all had great positive attitudes that taught the skills in a really fun way.  I would highly recommend checking them out to see if they're doing any classes in YOUR area of the country.  Their website is www.evoschool.com