Autocross Columns

A Good Bet!

Sunshine and smiles.  AutoX 2 turned out to be a great bet! (Pam Kudra photo)

You can always count on CVR AutoX events to be time well spent with friends, learning and enjoying the incredible dynamics of your car. The big surprise however was that we were able to squeeze in, and I mean just barely squeeze in, a fully dry event before the promised thunderstorms on May 28th at our CVR AutoX #2. Those heading North or West from Hartford on the way home no doubt got a free car wash. Those heading the other way barely got a drop on their windshield. Promising forecasts days before turned gloomier but the pre-dawn downpour dried with each passing hour and we were greeted with just a few evaporating puddles Saturday morning.

You don’t have to wear orange but it helps. With everyone pitching in, quickly setting up the tents and equipment, Scott Sylvester was set to lead the safety talk portion of the Driver’s Meeting.

Anticipating a full wet event, I had pre-marked the course cones with wax crayons two days before. That made for a record set-up time Saturday morning and a sense of urgency to get rolling as soon as we could. Special thanks go to early arriver Tim Mahr for helping me unload the Cone-Cart, my car, and then the Control-Cart from my trailer to considerably speed up the process.

The sense of urgency grew as more people arrived and in record time we had everything up and running. Registrar, Rob Bosco, made last-minute adjustments and got everyone signed in. At the Driver’s Meeting, Safety Chair Scott Sylvester covered all of the information people needed to stay safe and have fun for the day. Then, having just completed the AutoX-U guided course walk, Chief Instructor Ed Bogue gave his usual concise and insightful description of the two AutoX-U driving skills that this course was designed to highlight: Driving Dynamics and Steering skills. Ed has a clear way of conveying the skills so that each of us understands why these are so important and how to tell if we are doing them right, or to spot the signs that we could refine these skills further.  A day with AutoX-U helps everyone achieve Better Driving…Faster!    

Many newcomers discovered why CVR AutoX events are so fun. Helmets in hand, CVR AutoX Instructors helped everyone with Better Driving…Faster!

With rain predicted for 11:00 am, everyone hustled to get the event rolling. Workers for the first hour’s shift quickly got into place, allowing the first car to launch by a record 8:50 am. The course’s two slaloms ended in a Monaco-like “Lowes” hairpin, all giving plenty of practice applying the Autox-U lessons. The fast sweeping turn that followed was the perfect place to practice your decreasing radius turn skills and use your car dynamic skills to smoothly transition into a flick-flick finish, that drove faster than you might have initially thought. Linking together the seemingly separate corners was the key to a fast time and applying both featured AutoX-U skills was the key to that. The excitement was intense. There seemed to be no time to breathe once underway. Watching the F1 Monaco Qualifying later that evening one could easily conclude that the rate of driver input and sensation of speed was indeed similar.

Threatening clouds brought urgency to the day as the next group lined up and brought fast times to the clock!

As each heat was quickly completed, hopes for a full dry day increased. Rain was just to our west and the dramatic clouds reminded us of that every time we gazed upward. Timing the approaching clouds on live radar, we went for a 6th heat with fingers crossed and taunted by a few moments of sunshine. Maybe that sense of urgency all day helped people drive faster? It worked! We were able to end in the dry. What a pleasant surprise, a great day of racing the clock and the clouds. Congratulations to all of the newcomers and to all the improvements shown and the refined skills achieved by all. Knowing we were on borrowed time, everyone pitched in to pack the equipment in record time. A quick presentation of trophies was filled with rounds of applause acknowledging the accomplishments. We even had just enough time for a quick group shot to capture the day, with ominous dark clouds looming as a reminder of our good fortune.  

Storm clouds were denied all day by the fun we were having squeezing in run after run.

We beat the odds! Camaraderie and friendship at our CVR AutoX events grows stronger at each event and the teamwork shown at this event just enhanced that. What a surprisingly wonderful day! Results are posted on the CVR Members Only web page.

July 9th in Hartford is our next AutoX, having just been confirmed a few days ago. We welcome you to experience two new AutoX-U featured skills and to see why we all have such a great time at these events. All the helpful information you need is found on our CVR AutoX web page. We hope to see you then!               

2 Comments

  1. Robert Clough

    Paul,
    Congrats on your National service & recognition, and for fueling such great enthusiasm, experience, and good memories👌👏❗️

  2. Scott Sylvester

    Great article and thank you again Paul for setting up another great event!

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