Photography Credit: Dave Green
We’re a bit spoiled: The kart track inside Daytona International Speedway serves as our local autocross site. Clean, permanent bathrooms with actual flush toilets sit adjacent to the course.
To find the kart track, drive toward NASCAR Turn 4 and look down. During quiet moments, the kart track seems to get lost in the infield’s vastness as if it’s hiding in plain sight.
The typical course can be run in either direction.
Central Florida SCCA, our local group, usually runs there two or three times per season, often sharing the weekend’s card with the road racers. There’s something about going to “just” a local autocross and driving out of the tunnel to find yourself competing on such storied ground.
Despite its original intentions, the kart track works well for autocross. Times usually land in the 40-second range, while the track keeps most cars in second gear while presenting a mix of sweepers, some healthy straights and a few technical bits.
The pavement isn’t new but isn’t polished, either. The curbs sport fresh yellow paint.
Not many cones are needed to define the track, meaning fewer delays to the event’s cadence. It’s also difficult to get lost; if you’re not on the pavement, you’re not on the course. (The latter seems to make the site rather novice-friendly.)
The pavement doesn’t allow for much variety, however: Choose from clockwise or counterclockwise and with or without one little section. The locals don’t seem to mind.
For us, at least, this all sits some 15 minutes away from home.
Photography Credit: David S. Wallens
This past weekend, CFR SCCA hosted a doubleheader, and we joined 145 other entries on Saturday.
Perfect weather: sunny, slight breeze, temperatures in the 80s.
Smiling faces among competitors and officials: We even had our own cheering section.
Newer enthusiasts, too, courtesy of nine Formula SAE entries.
Photography Credit: David S. Wallens
Free, cold water courtesy of the SCCA.
How’d our Garage Rescue Miata do? We had fun, enjoyed a day at the track, and drove the car home with zero issues. We’ll call that a win. (Okay, we finished second out of two in our class.)
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Comments
NickD
MegaDork
9/28/23 12:55 p.m.
Our main autocross venue is a police EVOC training site at the Oswego County airport in Fulton, NY, and it is yuge, about eight-tenths of a mile, but the problem is that the roads aren't wide enough to do more than slalom-big sweep-slalom-big sweeper-slalom. Even if you try to do offset gates, by the time you set the outer cone on the edge of the pavement and then make it fiteen feet wide, the other cone ends up in the center of the road. That bottom strip looks extra wide, but there's a huge ditch and a fence along the edge towards the bottom, so you can't take advantage of the full width. I've heard a few people in our region mention "Fulton Fatigue", because no matter how hard you try to make the course feel different, its really difficult.
There is no autox site in the Seattle/Tacoma area, so it's a drive to get to anything. No, I don't love it.
We've had Grissom as a local site for decades now. To run an autox it's a fantastic site. To spend the day at its miserable. No shade, no bathrooms, always windy and either blistering hot or super cold and rainy. It's awesome while running, but the other 7 hours you're there it sucks.
I mean it's home for the national championships so what's not to love.
I live north of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, 13 ish million people just in the LA metro area, I think closer to 30 million for the area (probably more)..... maybe one? And that one is a the California speedway (well east of LA), which is being torn down and rebuilt, and may or may not still have room for an AutoX course(?) There are some in Orange country and San Diego (south of LA), but yeah....
...AutoX on the streets is not really a thing... so I guess street drag racing?
Tom1200
PowerDork
9/28/23 1:30 p.m.
We have had access to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for 25 years now. We have it good.
It a long rectangular lot and the rent isn't cheap but we are blessed with a healthy program.
Yes, because we have one!
Duke
MegaDork
9/28/23 2:04 p.m.
BMC runs at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, MD. A local minor league ballpark that's in a great location - we draw from Philly, Baltimore / Washington, and central PA. It's 30-40 minutes from my house, which is awesome.
It's a decent size lot, except that paddock has to be taken out of that space as well. More space would be better. Orange is a safety buffer to civilian traffic.
The real challenge / opportunity is that it changes elevation about 15 feet from upper left to lower right. Those cross aisles have significant backslope that will launch a car if you don't account for them in the design. Courses usually end up being in the mid-upper 30s with no loops; in the mid-upper 40s with a loopback.
They recently built a bunch off apartments just off-frame to the left. So far management has been good about fielding noise complaints, but we'll see what happens next year...
aircooled said:
I live north of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, 13 ish million people just in the LA metro area, I think closer to 30 million for the area (probably more)..... maybe one? And that one is a the California speedway (well east of LA), which is being torn down and rebuilt, and may or may not still have room for an AutoX course(?) There are some in Orange country and San Diego (south of LA), but yeah....
...AutoX on the streets is not really a thing... so I guess street drag racing?
Just curious. Are you saying there is no autoX in the greater Los Angeles area?
I ask because it started my driving in the LA area autoX in the late 70s (pre-SCCA). We had a number of lots around there, then. I know a few are no longer there or available - but Nothing?
I'm next to Metlife which is 30 mins away and I love it. Great venue and also, it's just conveniently close to me.
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