Who will I be racing against?

1. Take your work assignment seriously. Part of autocrossing is helping with various tasks that keep the event running. Giving your work assignment 100% of your attention will ensure that you are not having a negative effect on someone else’s event. Be sure that you arrive on time or early for work, as tardy workers often delays event start times.
2. Arrive Early. Give yourself plenty of time to get yourself together, register, tech and walk the course a few times. It’s always better to have a little spare time to chat with friends than be scrambling.
3. Look for opportunities to help. Few are able to bring their full garage to an event, as such often people need to borrow a tool. If you have a tool someone needs to borrow, let them borrow it, or better yet, offer them a hand. Autocross is a community, everyone is there to enjoy the day and helping someone else enjoy theirs will certainly come back to you in the long run.
4. Respect the Site. Autocross sites can be challenging for a region to secure, and require a relationship between the site management and every person who participates in the event. Simple misjudgements, such as disrespectful driving, littering or excessive noise in and around the site can strain this relationship and put the usage of the site in jeopardy. Being mindful of this balance at all times is a essential part of being a member of the autocross community.
5. Be Honest. Despite the very best efforts of all involved, mistakes do happen in the timing and scoring of runs. Generally, the first person to notice is the person it benefits. If this ever happens to you, whether you were assigned the wrong time, or a penalty was over looked, own up to it. You will appreciate it the next time when someone does it for you.
6. Allow others to prepare for their runs. Autocrossing is a largely mental sport. Many drivers require a few moments to become prepared for a run. Be aware of this when you are in the grid, and be cautious of when you approach someone with a question. Most autocrossers are always willing to help out, but there is a preferred time and place.
7. Save the performance driving for the course. Whether it is for the preservation of the site, or safety of those around you, there is a place to play with your car, and there are many places not to. Any unsafe practices puts everyone at risk, and should be avoided at all cost. If you speed on roads leading to or from the event site, it not only puts you at risk of a speeding ticket but also can give the club a bad reputation. This hurts everyone involved.

Remember, we are all in it for fun. You may not get why some of us do what we do, but if you step back and look at the sport we are all in it for fun. We come out here to drive cars, but most of keep coming back to hang out with great people. Stay positive, have a great attitude and you’ll rarely have a bad event.

“Both Feet In!” Get your left foot on the clutch and your right foot on the brake to bring the car to a stop (for a manual car). Hard on the brakes for an automatic or other clutchless cars.

Autocross courses are designed not to exceed normal highway speeds. For most cars, that means staying in 2nd gear, and topping out around 55-60mph. That doesn’t mean they are slow. Well designed courses will feel plenty fast as you attempt to maintain that speed through a series of elements. Imagine slaloming every barrel in a 55mph construction zone, and you will start to get the idea.

Autocross is a rain or shine sport, the only thing that shuts an event down is lightning in the area. For rain days plan to bring some plastic bins to keep your stuff dry, a towel to dry off hands and feet before driving and something to protect you from the elements. An umbrella does ok, a poncho is a little better, but the seasoned competitors will all be in full rain suits. A rain suit can be had for under $100, and will provide you with many years of service and comfort.

Competitors under 18 are welcome at SCCA autocross events. Drivers with a license or permit may compete in the same configuration as they are legal to drive on the street. For example, many states require permitted drivers to have a parent or guardian in the car, a permitted autocrosser would then be allowed to compete provided their parent or guardian was riding along.

Most regions have courses in the 40-60 second range and try to release a car every 20-30 seconds. This can mean there are as many as 3 or 4 cars on the course at one time, but far enough spaced out that they do not interfere with one another. There will be a series of work stations on the course, each with a red flag. Should someone spin or stop on course, the other cars are also stopped and granted a re-run.

You need to bring your car in good working mechanical order, a valid driver’s license and a helmet (loaner helmets are available in most regions). You may also want to bring a tire pressure gauge, multiple layers (coat, sweat shirt, sweat pants) gloves, a cooler (water, pop/soda, sports drink, lunch), comfortable shoes, towels, rain gear, sun block, a hat and anything else that you would want for a day spent outdoors.

The best thing you can do is make sure it’s mechanically well maintained and that you keep up with fluid changes. The technical inspector is going to check to make sure your car is safe, with attention given to the proper installation of wheels, removal of loose items and properly functioning controls. You will want to confirm these things as well as check that the battery is tied down and secure. Drivers and passengers seat belts need to be in good working order. It is also highly recommended that you raise your tire pressures 5-10psi in each tire. In autocross there is a lot of load transfer, so increasing the pressures gives your tires more rigidity to manage the energy.