July 30, 2021
If you want to dabble a bit in the world of motorsports, or just want to have fun with your car and see what it can do, then autocross is the activity for you. Held at vacant airport spaces or empty parking lots coast to coast and border to border, a slew of SCCA regions host autocross events nearly every single weekend. Don’t believe us that autocrossing with SCCA is a blast? Well perhaps you’re more likely to believe a couple journalists from Jalopnik.
In their “Project Driveway” video series, Jalopnik’s Chris Landry and Jake Margle take the fear out of DIY car care with a bunch of simple tips and instructions. Recently in Here’s Everything You Need to Get Into Autocross, Landry and Margle broke slightly from their usual format to talk about an experience they shared at an autocross hosted by SCCA’s Atlanta Region. And as part of the video, they addressed some simple “car prep” items to get newbies ready for their first autocross adventure. They also talked through a few simple, common sense tips that will make “first timers” more comfortable at their initial autocross visit.
How’d it all go? You’ll need to watch the short video to find out. But towards the end Margle said, “I can’t wait to go back… Take it from me, it’s a good time.” And Landry noted, “We’re just living proof that no matter who you are and how stupid you are, you too can have fun and do car things and car stuff.”
“Solo” — which is the brand name for SCCA autocross — uses traffic cones to make a miniature road course in an empty, wide-open space. The challenge is to see who can get the lowest time around the layout without hitting any cones or going off course. Despite the somewhat low speeds, Solo is one of the most intense, rapid-fire forms of motorsports you can enter, with barriers to entry low enough that many drivers are able to be quite competitive without breaking the bank. To learn more, click the link below.
Photo by Dan Sabol
