AZPCA REGION AUTOCROSS SERIES

The 2022-2023 AZPCA Region Autocross Season has come to an end and the Region Autocross members are joining in on other AZPCA Region activities during the summer such as, the Driving Tours, Monthly Membership Meetings, and Porsches & Pancakes get togethers. Some autocross members are taking vacation in far-a-way places enjoying their favorite beverages in hollowed-out coconut shells with little itty-bitty umbrellas while they are lounging on the beach.

The Autocross Chairs, Rick A. and Kim K. are taking a well-deserved break from all the duties that made the aforementioned autocross season a great success. The season included an autocross event on the Roadrace course and several AZPCA Region members attended their first autocross event.

Every event achieved the maximum number of pre-entries. Some events, the Autocross Chairs allowed a few extra entries into the event and that was contingent upon the course design and the estimated lap times.

This season, several autocross season milestones were made by a few members. One member accumulated the most number (five) of “Cone Kills” in a single lap than any other member in the history of AZPCA Autocrossing. One event had the most number (Twenty-Nine) of “Cone Kills” than any other event in the history of AZPCA Autocrossing. Also, this year had the most total number (One Hundred Seventeen) of “Cone Kills”, for the season than any other season.

The “Top Cone Killer Guy” for a single event had six kills and is the same member who had the most “Cone Kills” for the season at eleven. The “Runner Up Cone Killer Guy” for the season had ten kills and this member is the same member that had the most “Cone Kills” for a single lap run.

There was a grand total of thirty-one “Did Not Finish/Course Deviations (DNFs) throughout the year. One event had a total of “nine” DNFs and another event had “eight” DNFs that were committed by four drivers in each event.

This is not a significantly high number of DNFs based on the number of drivers and laps driven for the season. A DNF is when a driver makes a four-wheel deviation on the outside of a course marker (Standing Cone) or that did not slalom when they were required to slalom in a slalom element.

Normally, a first time autocrosser will make a DNF or two at their first event. As a matter of fact, only seven of the thirty-one DNFs for the season were made by first timers. The remaining DNFs were made by experienced autocrossers.

One driver with many years as a AZPCA Region Autocrosser was the Top DNF Guy for the season with “five” DNFs, three in one event. The runner-up (“Next To The Top DNF Guy”) was also a very experienced AZPCA Region Autocrosser with “four” DNFs also had three of those DNFs in one event but, not the same event as the other DNF’er.

The season had (not including the Autocross on-the-track event), two-hundred ninety-five driver entries, not including the volunteers and “Taste of Autocrossers”, that drove a total of one-thousand eight-hundred and six laps. Fourteen of those drivers were first-timer autocrossers and several of them returned for more fun-packed competition.

There were seven AZPCA Region Members that attended all the 2022-2023 AZPCA Region Season events, not including the “Autocross On-The-Track Event”. The seven members are: Kim K., Rick A., Dave M., Jonathan B., Eric T., Garry J., and Kenny M.

Although, the AZPCA Region Autocross Program does not present trophies however, this article would like to recognize the 2022-2023 AZPCA Region Autocross “Hot Shoe” drivers for the year. These “Hot Shoe” drivers earned the bragging rights for their respective event Group “P” or “X” “Top Time” and will display a “BIG SMILE” and razz their fellow competitors before they leave for their drive home.

The “Top Hot Shoe” driver for the 2022-2023 season is Jonathan B with five-“Hot Shoe Top Times” and the runnerup with three-“Hot Shoe Top Times” is Kim K., and with a couple of “Hot Shoe Times” is Ealing J. Congratulations drivers.

This year also includes a new recognition for the drivers that were unable to keep the pointed end pointing in the intended direction of the course. In order to receive this prestigious recognition, you must at least complete a 180-degree spin whereas you are looking at where you were a few seconds ago on course and still traveling in the intended direction of the course at the same time. Four drivers will be awarded this recognition.

This recognition is named the “Snidely Whiplash Back Asswards” award basically named after the fictional character that Dudley Do-Right was pursuing and Snidely could not drive a car in a straight even if his wheels were traveling and affixed to a train track rail.

The AZPCA Region Autocross Chairs Kim K. and Rick A. would like to thank all the members who help make this program very successful. Every year the bar gets raised to be better and it is the members who make this happen.

The success of AZPCA Region Autocross Program has been recognized by other PCA Regions. As a matter of fact the Arizona Mountain Region requested the assistance of our Region to assist with their Inaugural Autocross Event that was held on June 4, 2023, at the Findlay Toyota Event Center in Prescott Valley. Details of this event will be a topic in a subsequent article.

The first event of the 2023-2024 AZPCA Region Autocross Season will be Saturday, October 7, 2023, at the AMP in Litchfield Park. The registration information will be posted on the Motorsportreg.com (MSR) site before the end of the summer.

Until then, there are numerous AZPCA Region driving tours, Porsche and Pancakes, membership meetings, and other social events to partake in. You can get all the details for those events from the Region’s calendar on the webpage at az.pca.org.