Words by Kyle Mavis (aka mavisky on the TrackMustangsOnline.com forum)
Twelve years. It had been 12 years since I’d last autocrossed, and I felt the desire to get back on the pavement. Prior to that, I had been autocrossing for roughly seven years with various automotive platforms. I’d run everything from an STX Subaru 2.5RS to a gutted front-wheel-drive Eagle Talon on Kumho tires in SM. While the STX car was competitive in class and on PAX in my local Indiana Region, the vehicle was a co-drive situation and not always available. I needed another solution.
The Talon was far from my preferred solution for Street Mod. I’d spent the better part of a decade building it as a street car, so it was the hand I had dealt myself – that meant fun times with my friends, but I was always staring at the bottom of the results sheet during autocross weekends. Eventually, my Region created an SMS class – Street Mod Street Tire – which was basically Street Mod limited to 200 treadwear tires. This solved an issue that many of my friends and I ran into – the modifications we were making to our street cars were pushing us into the extreme end of the SCCA rulebook where we simply couldn’t compete.
Twelve years after my last SMS autocross, I have matured in terms of the color of my beard, but my inner child still enjoys tinkering in the garage and building what I feel is the best version of a particular vehicle. These changes often don’t have to be drastic, but it’s easy for one decision that I feel would truly help the car become a more enjoyable experience result in an unfortunate autocross classification.
After purchasing a 2018 Shelby GT350, I joined a Mustang forum, TrackMustangsOnline.com, operated by an old friend of mine. After some time on the site, I stumbled upon a writeup about SCCA’s new Classic American Muscle (CAM) category. This was the perfect home for me and my car.
In CAM, there’s leniency with the modifications I want to deploy, but there’s also an overall tire and weight restriction to help limit two of the most important factors in autocross. CAM isn’t a maze to follow precisely and accurately; rather, it’s a coloring book where you can choose to make whatever you want as long as you stay inside a few broad lines.
After just two events running in CAM, other Mustang owners who had dismissed the sport entirely due to its traditionally rigid class structure were reaching out to me about CAM. With CAM, there’s a diverse group of drivers and owners who vary in their approach to vehicle builds, driving skill, and results. The unique part is that everyone has been super open to discussing their setup, build, and strategy, and the camaraderie in the class is reminiscent of my great memories from more than a decade ago.
The other reason I had been avoiding timed events is that I knew it would uncover my competitive edge – and sure enough, I’m already finding myself revising my current build, which was setup to be a great driving car for the North Georgia mountains with zero sacrifices to daily usability. Now, I’m questioning things like tire choice, spring rates, and alignment settings, while pondering additional safety equipment. I have no doubt that there will be further expenditures made with some of the great vendors who cater to the portion of the Mustang modifying world that’s not focused on drag racing performance.
While my bank account may not be the happiest at times in the months and years to come, I have to say that I will be – and the more the SCCA is able to find and build these “catch-all” autocross classes, the more involvement I think they’ll see from younger, casual fans of the sport.
Over time, those casual members will become concerned with SCCA’s National competition and eventually become members on their Region’s boards and get involved with the organization on a larger scale. The SCCA needs the youth to compete alongside its more seasoned members, and classes like CAM are a fantastic recruiting tool.
Interested in Kyle’s Mustang? View his GT350 profile to see his mod list, build thread, and watch videos from his events.
Photo courtesy Kyle Mavis
