Chesapeake Region
Autocross Update By: Greg Hartke; Photos: Jim McKee OK, I admit it. I must have jinxed us. I had been gloating recently about having nothing but dry weather for our 2023 autocross races, so of course the weather gods had to punish me for the affront. Chesapeake PCA Autocross #7 was held on Saturday, October 7th and we had some showers for this one, though fortunately it didn’t rain all day. Racing in the rain has its interesting aspects, but setting up and taking down all the equipment in the rain is a total PITA. The good news for the AX Team was that it started raining about 8:30 AM (after everything was set up) and stopped a bit after noon (well before we had to pack it up), so it wasn’t too bad. Interestingly, when I left our Sykesville home that morning, it was drizzling, but when I arrived at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie at about 4:40 AM, it was clear and stayed that way for quite a while before the showers and clouds moved in. Could have been a lot worse! This race was shaping up early to have a very strong attendance with a substantial waitlist. Unfortunately, the forecast spooked a few and we had some late cancellations that required me to do some fancy footwork to get folks off the waitlist and into the event. Sounds easy, but finding last-minute replacements is not easy and cancellations also require a close examination of the work and driving assignments to make sure the heats remain balanced and the skilled worker positions remain filled with the proper people. Come Saturday morning, we had 67 drivers registered (the registration cap is actually 65, but I make concessions at times and usually add extras to account for the inevitable no-shows), which looked like a healthy turnout for the last event of the year. In the end, we actually had 60 drivers show up to compete. As usual, set up went quite smoothly with AX Team Members John Cho and Phong Nguyen helping in their usual fabulous way to get everything ready for the race. (Pinto Soin was sick and unable to make it to this one. He was not a happy camper and I certainly missed his help!) Co-chair (and course designer) Mark Hubley arrived with the trailer, dropped the cones on the course, then headed home with his truck to get his car while John and Phong put together the course and I got to work getting all the rest of the equipment set up. They were almost done building the course when Mark returned and he proceeded to go through the entire course to make sure it was set up the way he wanted. Once Mark was done with the course and I got most of the equipment set up, it was time for us to do the
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