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Over the past year, I've learned the three unwritten rules of Tarheel autocrosses:

1. Register, unregister, paypal paypal paypal
2. Work or die
3. No whining

Learn them, love them, live them.

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

Thirded. I learned a tremendous amount, and I don't think I talked to any other novices that weren't having a blast and learning a lot.

Unfortunately, now that I've learned to do it the right way, I have to unlearn how to do it the wrong way. Oh well, there's always next month.

I never said how long it was going to be... just that it wasn't going to be "short"



What I was saying was that autox is not a spectator sport.

edited for content. have a nice day!

A few comments...

* First, the school on Saturday was great! My wife attended and while she was very nervous and apprehensive, she had a great time. I think getting into the car and going out on course for the first time was the big leap for her and she had a great first instructor who gave her lots of confidence and good feedback (thanks Tonya! ) I also had a great time as an instructor. It was fun to provide input, see a student listen, give it a try and see that they were faster. In the section that had the timer, you could see quantifiable evidence of this. Having your student drop seconds off their time after trying something that you asked them to do is huge fun for both the student and instructor.

* My wife was spoiled with the Qty of seat time in the school vs. the event. I don’t know how many runs the students had on Saturday, but it was a bunch. She had a blast with the school, but after working 1/2 of heat 2 (my mistake for showing up to work early ) and all of heat 3, she didn’t know if all of the “standing around” was worth 4-5 60 second runs. Maybe a track event for her (and me) is in our future.

* I kind of liked the shorter course because it was directly after the school the previous day. Getting students to really understand the importance of the course walk and learning the course before their first run IMHO is a very hard point to drive home. They may understand it more after their first event (in which they are "lost" on course more than they thought they would be). I guess you could throw them in the deep end and have a 60 second typical Laurinburg course, or a shorter one that is a bit easier to remember. Long enough for them to realize they are not paying enough attention during the course walk, but short enough that they don’t struggle from start to end. At a minimum, my wife now understands why I try to get there early and walk the course as much as possible!

* Regarding getting times at the end of the run, I was one of those that didn’t have as much luck as others. Of my four runs (I skipped my last run), my time was announced just once. But I agree 100% that this is just something new that will improve as time goes. I think the radio system was great and I am glad it is up and running. I was able to listen to it for over a mile away as I drove away early from the event.

* I also have to say I am happy to have finally won my class at an event! Changes over the winter (stop using toe out in the rear, stiffer rear springs, smaller diameter tires) has really helped the car and it is so much less likely to spin that I am able to push the car and trust it will not snap-spin on me.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

I had two different thoughts as I walked the course for the second time. The first was "Wow, look at the acres of concrete that we're not using". That thought came right after my seven minute coursewalk. Waitaminute -- this is Laurinburg. Aren't coursewalks supposed to be 20+ minutes? Then I heard Whitney proclaim "This is great. Spectators can see the whole course". Which was true. And awesome. That revelation allowed me to come to peace with what Jim did.

You see, I've autocrossed at Laurinburg four times before now. Three of the events were on the same course, only one of which started at the P. If you've ever been there for an event setup there, you understand that there are squares SPRAY PAINTED out there. That's how permanent that course is. If I were looking to drive the same course every time, I'd do frickin track events.

Just my $0.02

PS: Kevin, I was working start when you took the Forester out and forgot to check for a tech sticker. I assume that Simon properly okayed that vehicle to go out on course, right?

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Has no responsibility whatsoever.

I really enjoyed the course that was set up this weekend. The course was very technical. The technical parts of autocross are what I need to work on. Pretty much anyone can hold the gas pedal on the floor in a straight line. I want to learn how to get through slaloms, lane changes, etc. as quick as possible.

Thanks for a great course Rick and Jim!

The one thing I have learned about this club, when you volunteer to do something, you had better put on your flak jacket. So I had mine on all weekend and it is still on. Thanks to those who offer encouragement, that is why I volunteer the whole weekend away. To those that berated me before, during and after the event...I will not let a few bad apples spoil it all. Rick and I put together three courses for one weekend. Hell, my favorite was the novice course with the timer. That course was only 23 seconds long

What makes me pretty happy is seeing the wide variety of classes in the top 20. I am disappointed in the poor showing for ES though

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

That little course was a blast. As I mentioned above, my wife was spoiled with the qty of runs in the school vs. the event and she wondered why we "couldn't just have two small courses run at the same time".

I know that there are a number of issues with trying to do something like that, but what I really wanted to illustrate is how much fun could be had with a short and sweet course. She obviously enjoyed it! She was also within 4/10ths of my time on that course during the school!! She was excited about that.

Oh, and I liked the entire course yesterday. But I think it always ends up that if you do well, you love the course. If you don't, you hate it.

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

I didn't drive well yesterday, blowing some potentially fast runs, but I still had a blast. Was it the traditional course we run there? No. Did I like that? Yes.

It's nice to see someone think outside of the box instead the same old thing. For someone doing this on a National level, the only time you see a course like the traditional Laurinburg is at Ft. Myers, and they're not hold National events anymore

- AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Personally, I liked the course. No Graham, not because it was a Miata course . It was different from the racecourses we usually run at Laurinburg, but it had plenty of fast sections for Corvette drivers if they would learn to use the brake pedal on all 5 runs

The radio in the pits rocked.

The radio with the times was pretty good, i think i got all my times. BTW, I left before you finished with the trophies and I picked it up till about halfway back to the Birch Ind. entrance.

I rode with a bunch of novices, most of whom had working seatbelts. The ones from the class did seem to have learned something from it judging by how they drove on Sunday.

It is getting warm enough for me to help Christine with the burgers

Great event Jim and Rick.

I think the course yesterday was a pretty good example of a "relatively slow technical course" that was still plenty fast and challenging . . . even in a "big car". It allowed us to really push the limits of the car while learning/practicing course elements that are common to MANY National level courses.

For you "relative newbies" please keep in mind that you cannot "get fast" in comparison to "National level drivers" unless you get LOTS of practice on all sorts of courses. Generally, especially with courses that start off VERY dirty like parts of yesterday's course (even after LOTS of shovelling and sweeping . . . Thanks to the folks who did this work), this requires lots of runs to get used to the course and to allow the driver's to try stuff. You want proof, look at my times and how they improved as the course improved and much more importantly how the DRIVER learned the car and its limits. The CAR did not get faster during the day. The DRIVER finally started to realize what the car could do.

Edit to add: A key feature of this course was the need to move your hands very often and very quickly due to all the direction changes with very short straights. Believe me, even in Miles" big Vette I used full throttle many times (briefly) and, of course, was twisting the steering wheel back and forth as fast as I could.

Thanks to EVERYONE who helped make this event a lot of fun!

Dick (slow learner)

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Hey you opinionated bastage!!! Did you get any Pics??

The course was still fun and challenging. With my heavy ass poorly set up car my front tires were losing grip about half-way through. It really made me work on being smooth.

Thanks Jim and Rick!!

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Silver Honda
Green Ford
Blue/White Suzuki
Red Triumph
Grey BMW

"Never let life be shaped by fear of its end"

No, you're a towel!

I agree with Tonya 100%. I needed a weekend like this. I needed a course like this one.

Getting back into the miata this weekend found me looking like "a deer in headlights". And to anyone in grid with me in heat 3 I whole heartedly apologize for my "temper tantrum". Especially to my birthday boy husband. But you know I should do that more often! It was refreshing. I hold in my frustration too much I think, maybe I'll bring a small punching bag for myself from now on!
I've got my work cut out for me in the miata, but now I'm looking forward to the challenge. I learned a lot this weekend, about the Miata and about me.

A. A Miata doen't turn the same way as a Celica.
B. I can't drive a Miata the same way as a Celica.
C. Even if I don't think that I'm going to make a gate (or lane change), I should try it anyway even if I take out three cones...aborting the section only gives me a big fat DNF and I have learned nothing about the car's or my capability. I can apologize to the course workers for my mess.
D. Miata's go really fast in a relatively straight line and turn even faster if you give them the chance, like at the finish.
E. I NEED A LOT MORE PRACTICE!

Thanks again to Jim and Rick for all their hard work. Thanks to all the people that make these events happen for us, we appreciate it so much. I need to strike it rich so I don't have to work all the time and can donate more time than I do. Hopefully working timing and scoring helps some.

And last but not least a BIG OLE congrats to Mr. Fredrickson for winning CS. Great driving!

Just a note: For some reason there seemed to a bit more trash left behind this weekend, more than usual. We picked up a good size bagful. I don't remember looking around at other events and finding quite so much to haul away. Maybe another reminder is in order at the next event. Although I distinctly remember Scott going over it at the driver's meeting. Maybe it's just a fluke.

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GO FOR IT! BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

A good solid event. Which is saying something given all the "new" involved. (Veeps, wireless, bus, etc. and so on).

Wish I could say the same for my driving. I was about as aggressive as Wonder Bread my first three runs. Run 4 was better. Run 5. . . meh. . . Let's just say I punched a hole in the traction envelope down by the finish.

I think I might go to some Triad events to pump up my morale.

All in all, I had a good time. Hats off to everyone who worked so hard to pull it off. (And to Christine for managing lunch.)

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

I found the course to be much better than it first walked, plus the intention was (I think) to give the students a chance to practice what they had learned in the school. There is very little learning accomplished with a high pucker factor 3 rd gear roadrace style course except how big a pair you have. AX is supposed to be PRECISION driving, not high speed try to keep it on the pavement exercise. It wasn't a walking speed course tho we were touching the rev limiter just before braking for the last turn to the finish, and someone like Eric would have been shifting to 3rd heading there. I worked up a good sweat and adrenaline shakes on each run! In spite of my concerns about the visuals of the double "humpty bump" I liked the challenge of the course and would have liked to have had fun runs to run it more.
"Working" in the bus for the first time this season I am very impressed with the new software and bus, the couple hold starts I saw was the result of false trips of the lights by human error, not software problems and the new printouts are so much easier to read.
PS: I heard Jim P. say he was in PA the latter part of the week before the event.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.