With the 2025 Tire Rack SCCA® Solo® National Championships in the history books (which, in my humble opinion, was one of the best I’ve attended), all that’s left to do is get those pesky cone marks off of the finish of our cars.

But how?

While I was at the Solo Nats, I tried five different methods for making cars look like their drivers (or co-drivers) didn’t hit any cones at all during that event. Yes, the permanent record we call the “results” will always show quite a few cones took abuse, but that doesn’t mean the cars need to maintain that blemish.

Here’s what I found worked.

1. Eraser

(Yes, a simple eraser works really well at removing cone marks from your car.)

If you want to erase the evidence that you hit cones, well, just use an eraser.

I got this tip from San Francisco Region, Fresno Chapter autocrosser Brad Dawson (who drives a Subaru…and thus hits lots of cones). Hi-polymer soft erasers, like the ones used by artists, work very well to simply erase the transfer of material left by the orange cone after you smack it at 40 mph.

I tried it and it does the trick.

2. Malco Spray Citra Cleaner

Malco is one of SCCA’s partners – but it’s a partner with a product that claims to remove cone marks. It had to be tried!

Spray the Malco Spray Citra Cleaner foam onto the car’s paint, let it sit for a minute, then rub off the cone marks. Turns out, it works great – and it smells nice, too! Because of SCCA’s connection with Malco, you’d be right to be cautious about any endorsement given on scca.com, but know that it worked a treat!

Based on how well it eliminated cone marks, you can bet this cleaner will be put to the test again on other motorsport-related schmutz.

Want a discount on Malco products? SCCA and Malco will hook you up.

3. Goof Off

I always have a can of Goof Off in the race trailer because this stuff removes just about everything. It works really well for leftover glue from stickers, and I’ve also found it removes cone material as well. The only drawback to Goof Off is it doesn’t always mix well with certain plastics, as in it may dull the finish and leave behind evidence that you sprayed a chemical on the surface, which isn’t great.

So while this works, be careful with your application.

4. Mothers R3

I’ve had Mothers R3 in my race trailer for years when I discovered how effective it was for removing race rubber off the front of my road racing car (something a lot of other cleaning products didn’t seem to be able to do). The little black streaks from running into flying rubber tossed off my competitors race car tires disappeared with a little use of Mothers R3.

I tried the product with autocross cone marks and found it works quite well for that, too.

The trick with the Mothers R3 is to let the spray sit on a car for a bit to soak into the material before you start wiping. Some people prefer microfiber towels for wiping the surface clean – I just use an old cotton t-shirt.

5. Don’t hit the cones!

The final – and easiest – recommendation to eliminate cone marks from the finish of your favorite car is DON’T HIT THE CONES IN THE FIRST PLACE! Remember, cones are worth two seconds in an autocross, so they aren’t worth it! If you can win an event while hitting cones, just imagine how much MORE you’d win by hitting no cones.

(About the author: Rob Krider is a national champion racer, the author of the novel Cadet Blues, and is the host of the Stories and Cocktails podcast.)

Photos by Rob Krider