Photography Credit: J.A. Ackley
Hey, road racers, if you look down on autocross, then you are just ignorant! Now, that doesn’t mean stupid, it means you just don’t know.
Everything in autocross translates to road racing in a most beneficial way. And proof of concept: Autocrossers always make better road racers, and road racers always make lousy autocrossers. (And never say “always.”)
Truth. So who knows the most about driving? And who wins purely on speed and never by “rubbin’ is racin’”? Autocrossers! (Although I know some of you road race hoodlums actually enjoy the elbows-out argy-bargy.)
Yeah, I started in autocross and am totally biased. And I’m right, according to the gospel of me.
I discovered the sport in a shopping news ad with the Indian River Sports Car Club on the Space Coast of Florida in 1977. It’s amazing how a stopwatch transformed the driving experience for me. From my very first fun run behind the Melbourne Shopping Center in my Datsun 510, I knew I’d found my place in this world.
[No longer a five and dime special: Datsun 510 buyer's guide]
I cracked the dash pad beating on it wanting more speed on the “straights.” Yeah, my driving was kinda intense in those early days.
My greatest realization finally came when I tried to slow down and sandbag it at a ProSolo six years later. Yep, six years. A few experienced friends tried to help the wild child. I wouldn’t listen. Couldn’t. Yet. But that’s another column.
I’m talking about how driving flat out at 37 mph makes us better drivers at 120–without the very real risk of destroying the car.
The turns are tight, so it takes a relatively long time for the car to get pointed. This requires a lot of patience on the throttle and a slow brake release to keep weight on the steering tires. These are two of the three factors of the foundation of driving properly, with looking where you want to go as number three, yet many road racers never figure out those first two.
One reason for this is practice and seat time. This is good, right? Well, yes and no.
Watkins Glen International first opened in 1956. Road America, Sebring and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca have been around about as long. Road racers come back to the same tracks every year. They learn by trial and error as to what works.
Autocrossers see a new course virtually every time. There is rarely any chance to practice. They must figure it out on the fly and by walking the course (and now, by watching the in-car videos of those that ran ahead of them).
[Video: What is autocross–and how to start competing]
This requires the three driving fundamentals: look/think ahead, slow brake release, and patience before going to throttle. This is also the best way to go quickly on an unfamiliar winding road without flying off into the scenery.
Autocross is short, and so each run gives the driver immediate feedback on how their driving affected their time. In road race sessions, the driver usually has to wait until the end of the session–not to mention negotiating the obstacles of traffic. And track work further muddies the learning curve, because power is such an important part of the lap time compared to the tiny acceleration zones between the cones.
And road racers mostly miss an entire category of fast driving: transitions. The great majority of road course corners are simple bends where the driver slows on the way in, apexes around the middle and powers down while tracking out. Autocross has a whole world of slaloms (they used to call the sport slalom, or gymkhana) and offset gates.
Many road racers do not see that the first turn of a chicane maneuver actually starts before getting into it. Many road racers enter a left-right combination corner like they enter a regular turn–that is, with the weight on the front to help the car turn. This unbalances the chassis when it really needs to be focused on pure cornering. Autocrossers know to finish braking sooner and start using all four tires for cornering much earlier than when entering a simple turn.
The second lesson autocrossers know about transitions is to very quickly go from one direction to the other. This is not a time for slow hands and smooth, gentle steering inputs. Going immediately left-right or vice versa requires super-quick weight transfer. Road racers don’t get this, but they can by many laps of that same track.
And the exit of a bus stop like at Watkins Glen or Daytona actually begins way before the second set of curbs. The inside curb of the exit looks like the apex, but it really is farther back. This is because the left-right transition tends to swing the tail around, so the driver must transfer some weight back to stick the rear while powering through it. We learn this in autocross: late power in 180s, early power when leaving a chicane.
I also enjoy picking on road racers to get even with the misguided disrespect I sometime see from them–and felt way back when. When I moved to racing, I knew how to drive, but I suuuuure didn’t know how to race. That’s what the road racer knows that the autocrosser does not.
I haven't done any road racing yet, though I can confirm that autocross felt like a different animal from driving on track.
I loved laying down lap after lap on track, but for autocross, it all comes at you so quickly and you have so little time to learn the course and improve.
I have always been a road race guy who happens to autocross. Read my focus is track events; I typically do 4-5 autocrosses a year and 7-8 track events.
I still go to autocross because it's fun but also because it teaches you how to go fast on cold tires; this is a huge advantage against road racers who drive to slow on the first lap.
From 2014 to 2023 I had a dedicated autocross car in the Formula 500 / F-Mod, yet if it's a choice I will always pick a track event first.
Only thing I would change on the statement is "good" autocrossers always make better road racers.
Discussed this more with Randy at Pikes Peak. He still stands by it, and I can’t disagree.
David S. Wallens said:Discussed this more with Randy at Pikes Peak. He still stands by it, and I can’t disagree.
I really don't either; a parallel is motorcycle trials riders always make the best enduro riders / off road racers.
The only reason I am a bit contrary is I've instructed several local autocrossers at track days who were, not necessarily winning but finishing well and they were horrendously rough with their brake pedal release. Because things happen so quickly with autocross they weren't even aware they were doing this.
My most favorite autocross student I've instructed was a guy who raced sprint cars; after a couple of practice drills he commented "this is a completely different mindset" and that stuck with me.
You know I really like autocross. Its a completely different challenge, but in a fun way. Randy is right there are thing you learn in one but not the other. The strategies are really different too. I spend more time on road courses, but that has more to do with seat time ratio and not liking shagging cones on hot asphalt.
Tom1200 said:The only reason I am a bit contrary is I've instructed several local autocrossers at track days who were, not necessarily winning but finishing well and they were horrendously rough with their brake pedal release. Because things happen so quickly with autocross they weren't even aware they were doing this.
Randy has more knowledge in his balaclava than I have in my entire life, so I will defer to him. I also agree with Tom, and I guess maybe it comes from being able to apply learned autox knowledge to road racing. I deal with autox people all the time and the overwhelming majority are very rough on the controls and need a lot of coaching. However, I'm reading and rereading his comments in this thread to see what I can learn/relearn from autox to make me a better road course guy.
Randy, racing in Atlanta soon or want to come out to Xtreme Xperience again?
I've no dog in this fight, but I do wonder how much the rise of cheap data acquisition helps road racers with the immediate feedback that autocrossers get.
Something not touched on, that I use to sometimes brutal effect in rallycross, is being able to see what works and what doesn't while working a corner. Or seeing everyone make what looks like the same mistake over and over and trying what you think is a better line when you put the flag and radio down and put the helmet and seat belt on. You might not see the times but you can see what people are doing at a given course feature, entering late here or early there, how much speed people are maintaining or sacrificing for a benefit elsewhere, and get a feel for how best to navigate and make it through in the least amount of time.
I’ll second that working corners at an autocross has helped me–basically gives me a sneak peek as to what works/doesn’t work.
Many of the track guys I know speak poorly of autocross, my assumption is that they're not good at it - so it's a waste of time to stand in a hot parking lot for half a day for 3 minutes of drive time.
My first track day after a couple years of autocrossing - everything happened so slowly. Yes I was going faster, but there seemed to be unlimited time between elements. And if I wanted to try something different on a turn... I could on the next lap, and then again on the lap after that. And the track was the same the next session, and the next event.
I think autocross also teaches you to release your hands. Saw a video of Randy driving a Porsche at COTA and it made me feel much better about my hand management and hybrid shuffling.
thashane said:Many of the track guys I know speak poorly of autocross, my assumption is that they're not good at it - so it's a waste of time to stand in a hot parking lot for half a day for 3 minutes of drive time.
TBH that sounds like lot of rationalization. I won my club autocross championship and still think standing in a parking lot all day for 3 minutes of drive time is a bad deal time wise. But, Of course the only reason they don't like what I like is they are bad!
If we want to make equally snarky assumptions about autocrossers, we can say they are only doing it because they can't afford to run road courses. I know 100% that's true for some people I know but also that some people genuinely enjoy the competition and more frantic pace.
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