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2009 Autocross Competition!
What is Autocross?
An autocross is a time trial event. Typically, a road course is set up using orange traffic cones in a large parking lot. One driver at a time negotiates a course laid out with the cones, or pylons, testing their skill against the clock. Time penalties are charged for hitting the cones. Afterward, your times are compared to others in your.
Click Here for Calender
Rule
1. All drivers must at least 16 years of age with written parental permission
2. All drivers are to have a valid driver’s license
3. Pregnant drivers must provide a written doctors approval for the competition
4.Helmets are to be worn while driving on the course and be it needs to be a SNELL 95 or newer helmet.
5.No reckless driving. Be safe while on the course and watch out for the corner workers. If you’re seen driving recklessly you will be taken out of the competition. You may even be banned from further competitions. Safety is our number priority!
6. All Narcotics and Alcohol are prohibited during the competition! If you’re found under the influence you will be removed from the event.
7. Know your flags and follow your instructions. This is for your safety and the safety of others. A red flag waving means bring your car to a safe stop. A green flag waving means go. Checkered flag means your fun is over. Please slow down to the grid speed (15 mph max) as soon as you safely can.
8. All Entrants must work. If you do not work you will be disqualified and will not be considered for a trophy. You may also be prohibited from future events. Look on the assignment sheet to see when and where you will work.
9. You can not be a passenger or teacher in a car before your run group has run.
10. You were given a modification information sheet for your car. Anyone found not disclosing their modifications will be disqualified and your money will not be returned. You may also be banned from future events.
11. It is a one second penalty per cone if you knock or push a cone out of its box. If the cone remains partially in the box there is no penalty.
12. The Autocross Chair Person is final say on all disputes. The Chair reserves the right to remove anyone from the competition for any reason.
13. Hitting the timing equipment will be a DNF. Please avoid hitting the equipment. DNF-Did Not Finish
14. If for some reason your run is stopped (timing equipment error, another driver’s error) you will be allowed to run again. Proceed safely to the grid start area and wait for instructions from the grid master.
15. If your car’s four wheels leave the course boundary during a run you will receive a DNF for that run.
16. Speeding in the grid area or parking area will not be tolerated and you could be removed from the competition.
17. While on working on the course there will be no electronic equipment, cell phones or camera's will be allowed other than the provide radio. If you want to take pictures in the course, then you will be allowed only with a spotter. The spotter can not be a course worker and must be approved by the Chair person.
17. All cars will need to pass tech inspection, Helmets, Belts stock, or five point harness, you will be asked what mod’s have been done to your car or if it’s stock. Click Here for Modification form
To print the rules Click Here To get a example of what to bring to an autocross Click Here
The following (A-I) are some of the things they look at during the inspection.
A. Solidly Mounted Battery: The battery must be held down properly. If it can be moved at all, it will not pass. There are some additional battery requirements which may affect you if you have modified your car. The Tech Inspector will help you out with them.
B. Legal Tires: In Stock and Street Prepared categories, the tires must have measurable tread, and must be in good condition. Excessive weather checks or visible cord/plies will fail inspection. Tire pressures should be higher than used for the street, usually 45psi-Front/35psi-Rear for a front-wheel-drive car, or 40psi all around for a rear-wheel-drive car.
C. Brakes: The brake pedal must be firm, with no loss of pressure when held down.
D. Steering / Suspension: The steering must be tight, with no excessive play. Wheel bearings cannot have excessive play.
E. Hub Caps and Trim Rings: Hub caps, trim rings and wheel covers must be removed for competition, unless they are bolted to the wheel.
F. Loose Items in Car: All loose items must be removed from the passenger compartment and trunk. This includes the floor-mats. You may remove the spare tire and jack, but you are not required to if they are properly secured.
G. Fluid Leaks: Excessive fluid leaks will not pass inspection.
H. Numbers and Class Markings: The car numbers and class markings should be prominently displayed on both sides of the car. We will provide you paper class and numbers which will be taped to your car.
I. Throttle: Accelerator pedal must have a return spring and operate freely
Fees:
Fees are a total of $45.00 to race, you pay at the track admission gate and tell them you're there to autocross with Hot Nevada Vettes. They will take the money for the event. We will be awarding trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each class if there are enough cars.
How to join us:
To participate, go to the Strips box office.. Tell the people there you’re with Hot Nevada Vettes and you’ll receive the special price of $45. Gates open at 10:00 am, first run group starts at 12:00 noon. Depending on how many cars we get the event should be over by 4:00 pm
Directions:
Take the I-15 freeway south exit on LVMS speedway ramp, turn right on to Speedway Blvd. and drive straight passing the Admin Building on your right, it will also say Gift Shop on top of the building , then take the next left hand turn, follow the fence line until you reach the Box Office.
We are looking forward to lots of fun this season! If you have any questions call Matt Whetton at 523-9992 or you can email me at mattwhetton@yahoo.com
Driving Tips
Seat time, seat time, seat time. That's the best way to go faster. They say, "Before you fix the car, fix the driver". That's because there's so many techniques to improve your driving, it takes seat time to learn them all, but once you do, someone without those skills would have to spend a lot of money on their car to beat you, and probably still couldn't.
Here are a few techniques to get you started. Don't try to apply them all in your first run, you'll be too busy. But read through the whole list, then work at gaining these skills one at a time.
Look Ahead. I can't emphasize this enough. I repeat it out loud while I am driving. It's so easy to forget, but makes such a big impact on my driving. It all relates to hand-eye (and eye-foot) coordination. Look where you want your hands to drive you, and look far enough ahead to take advantage of the feedback. If you're looking at that outside cone that you're afraid you'll hit, well, you'll hit it. If you're looking ten feet in front of the bumper, the turns will keep surprising you. Imagine looking at your feet while you are running on foot! You won't be very coordinated, and you won't have a good sense of distance or speed. Same goes for driving hard corners as you do in autocross. Look ahead. You will be astounded at your performance the first time you remember to do this all the way through a course.
Slow Down to Go Fast. A common problem when you're starting out is trying to take the tight sections too fast, and not staying in control. I still remember finishing a run and saying, "Well, I didn't go very fast, but it sure was smooth," only to find out I'd gone faster by a full second! Just be patient in the slow spots. They're slow spots, after all.
Brake hard in corners. Go ahead, squeeze the brakes hard. There's no morning coffee on your dashboard, or eggs in the front seat. Once you decide to slow down for the corner, don't waste any time. If you find yourself at a crawl and you're not at the corner yet, why, you've just found out that you can brake later. Locking up your tires will not make you stop faster, so squeeze the brakes and let them do the work, not your tires.
Adhesion. Don't ask too much of your tires. For any tire/pavement pair, there's only a certain amount of traction. We'll call that 100% traction. You can use up that traction with your throttle, your brakes or your steering wheel. So if you're going into a corner, using 100% of your traction to make the turn, what happens when you ask for more traction by applying the brakes? Either you won't brake or you won't turn. Or both. Same goes for accelerating out of a corner. Ease in the throttle as you ease out of the turn. So use full throttle and full braking only in a straight line. This goes back to slowing down to go faster, and brings us to...
Smooth Inputs. You may have noticed that I used the phrases "squeeze the brakes" and "ease in the throttle". This is where you have to change your mind-set about inputs to controlling your car. You need to convince yourself that you can make your car respond better by squeezing the brakes hard instead of standing on the brakes, by rolling in the throttle rapidly instead of stomping on the gas, by turning the wheel quickly instead of cranking it around. Subtle, but it will show up in how often your car is in control instead of scrubbing off speed pushing around a corner. And it will take a lot of practice to become second nature.
Shift near redline. On the street, we don't usually shift near redline (high rpms). But in autocross, you want to be making the most of the power available to you. You'll learn to hear the motor as you drive and stay in a low gear longer. Most courses will be in second gear for stock cars. If you're shifting to third, you're shifting too soon, and giving up power (ask local drivers if this is true in your region).
Launch at 4000 rpm. Each car varies, but try to start at higher rpms than you're used to. Don't "dump" the clutch, or you'll find your wheels spinning. Let it out rapidly and find the right rpms to maintain traction. Higher horsepower cars will want to use lower rpms than less powerful cars.
Don't worry about the blinkers, wipers or horn. You're bound to hit them as you drive. Don't let it throw you. We've all done it!
More, Later... There are many more techniques for getting better times, but start with the ones listed above. After you've learned them, you'll be ready to buy a book on autocrossing (see Recommended Reading), or attend a driver's school and learn the advanced techniques of heel/toe, shuffle steer, late apex, and more.
Go to as many events as you can. Go to the ones with the toughest competition - winning something local is fun, but losing to someone fast will probably teach you more. Attend drivers' schools in your area, or travel to another region. Do some Pro Solo2 events; these are explained in more detail later in this book. They give you 12 runs on a fairly short course, with time to walk between runs and a chance to drive against real national competition.
Always remember to have fun, even when you are being stomped by some national hotshoe. You'll never stop learning - the best drivers will tell you this still applies after ten or twenty years! Remember, seat-time, seat-time, seat-time. Nothing will make you go faster sooner. And nothing is less expensive in improving your times.
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