7 minute read
Autocross 2024 Schedule
Autocross 2024 All Set
By: Greg Hartke
Tell you what… I’m certainly getting the itch to get out to a race and get the adrenaline flowing. The racing season can’t come soon enough for me, that’s for sure! I don’t know about you, but this happens to me every year. The good news is that we’re now on the downhill side to the start of the 2024 Autocross racing season! I’ve been waiting on the folks at Prince George’s Stadium (PGS) to work on my scheduling request (they were holding off, awaiting further direction from the County) and the good news is that the Director of Ticket Operations at PGS contacted me with the needed information in early January and we began to work in earnest on the schedule. Astonishingly, I was able to close negotiations on the AX schedule fairly quickly and am now able to present the 2024 AX schedule:
PGS
PGS
PGS
PGS
-09-14
-10-19
Scheduling AX is an interesting task because I have to work around the Bowie Baysox home baseball schedule, the Aberdeen Ironbirds home schedule, other events at PGS and Ripken (of which there are many), the Potomac AX schedule, the Chesapeake PCA event schedule (to a certain extent – I only try to work around the really major events), and holidays. All these imposed constraints certainly make the task interesting. My original event schedule proposal was sent to PGS a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving to make sure we were near the top of the priority list for scheduling before the dates from the County came in. Whether that helps or not, I don’t know, but it can’t hurt.
As I was negotiating event dates, I was also told that the County was raising the venue rental fee for PGS by $250 per event, to $2750 for Saturday and $2250 for Sunday. With that information in hand, I could put together the budget for AX and found that I was able to hold the line to a fee increase of $5 per event this year. They raised the fee by $500 last year, so I hope this is the last fee increase we see for quite a while.
Our AX season can be summarized this way:
Test & Tune – a practice event for experienced AX racers only
Introduction to Autocross – our annual AX School provides newcomers the opportunity to learn from experienced instructors
7 full Autocross races
Test & Tune is an event for experienced AXers to come out, get their cars set up, and knock off the rust in what amounts to a practice event. The race laps will be timed, but this is not a competition event. I want to emphasize that the T&T is for experienced AXers only. This is meant to be a fast -paced event and there will be no Instructors available to help inexperienced drivers, so plan accordingly.
For the inexperienced, those who want to sharpen their skills, and anyone who’s never AXed before but might be thinking about trying it, note that the AX School is held at the very beginning of the season. The rationale is that we want to provide instruction early in the season so that the students who attend will have all season to participate in full race events. With no prior experience, your first AX event can be a decidedly intimidating experience and the AX School will go a long way towards mitigating that. I did the AX School (with POT, actually) before I started racing and I still recall it well. Interestingly, I was really nervous ‘til I started driving, but once I got going, I quickly calmed down.
I’ve said this before: If you’ve ever had an itch to see what your car can do when pushed to its handling limits, AX is a wonderful opportunity to do so safely and the AX School provides a golden opportunity to learn and practice important elements of the necessary driving skills before taking them out on a full course. Whether or not you actually decide to pursue AX on a regular basis is immaterial. Either way, the AX School is a unique opportunity to learn car control and can safely open your eyes to a whole new world of excitement.
Safe? You bet! The coolest part of AX is that you can push your car very hard without risking damage to the car. You’re using the car the way it was meant to be used and just about the only things you’re really wearing are brakes and tires. If you’ve never tried AX before but thought about it, you really owe it to yourself to come out and go for it. And of course, the best way to get started is to attend the AX School where you’ll get classroom instruction followed by plenty of seat time to apply what you’ve learned. And note that we really focus on the driving portion of the school.
Since the AX School is an early season event, it’s time right now for anyone with an interest to consider attending. The School is for newcomers and inexperienced drivers who desire focused instruction at the basic skills of AX. (It’s not necessary before attending an AX race, but it is helpful.) The day will begin with AX Co-chair Mark Hubley providing a short period of instruction on performance driving techniques (about an hour of chalk talk), after which the real fun begins. In the morning, students will rotate through three instructor-led driving exercises to give you the opportunity to actually apply the techniques discussed: a skid pad, a dual slalom, and a small section of an AX course where the student will learn how to find the racing line. In the afternoon, the three exercise elements will be joined to form a full AX course and students will drive with Instructors for timed racing through the course.
I’m pleased to announce that registration is open on MotorSportReg.com for the entire autocross season – Test and Tune, Introduction to Autocross, and AX#1 through AX#7:
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-TestAndTune Test & Tune (PGS)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AXschool Introduction to Autocross (PGS)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX1
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX2 AX#2 (PGS)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX3 AX#3 (PGS)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX4 AX#4 (PGS) (Sunday)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX5 AX#5 (PGS)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX6 AX#6 (PGS)
msreg.com/2024CHSPCA-AX7 AX#7 (PGS)
The cost for PCA Members is $60 for all events except for the AX School, which is $110 (with lunch provided). Upon request (send an email to autocross@pcachs.org), new PCA members will receive a discount code for one free autocross, applicable to any event except the Autocross School.
With the schedule, budget, and the majority of the off-season equipment work complete, planning for the AX School is foremost on my mind. The most important planning aspect is recruiting Instructors for the event because the number of students we can take is twice the number of Instructors. I budgeted for 36 students, now all I have to do is get the needed instructors. It’s looking a little thin right now, but I’m working on it! Invitations have been sent to the Instructors and now it’s just a matter of seeing who among our loyal corps is willing and able to come out and work a long (and rewarding!) day. One complication this year is that the date for the AX School coincides with a DE event at VIR, which reduces the pool of available Instructors. Unfortunately, the venue availability left me with no option – the date I chose for the AX School was tightly constrained.
With the schedule in place, I’m rolling on the throttle as quickly as possible to prepare everything for the 2024 season. Still plenty to do, but we’re progressing. Can’t wait for the season to start! Needless to say, the AX Team is looking forward to seeing you soon at the races!
