Chesapeake Region
Autocross In Review Words: Greg Hartke; Photos: Ricardo De Leon
I’m happy to say that the Autocross season is now officially in full swing! In typical CHS fashion, as of 2 weeks before AX#1, we had 23 drivers registered (the registration cap is 65) and I was (as always) getting panicky. With 1 week remaining, we were up to 44 and I was fervently hoping we would fill the event. Then of course, boom! 21 entries in the last week and we easily filled the registration. Happens every time and I get panicky every time. You’d think I’d know better by now, but I never seem to learn. ;)
After the AX School was held in early April (reported in my last column), AX#1 was held at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie, MD on Saturday April 16th. As I mentioned, the registration was full (we had 65 drivers) and the weather was great – it was a bit chilly early but warmed up nicely as the event proceeded. Mark Hubley delivered the AX trailer as usual and, as has been the norm lately, John Cho showed up early to help CHS AX Co-chair Brad Martinez build the course. John was incensed because he forgot his spotlight, but when I asked Brad if he wanted my flashlight to reference the course map while he and John built the course in the dark (we start well before sunrise), he said, “For what?” Oh, to have young eyes again. ;) It was a big course and took Brad and John quite a while to put together, but they got it done in good order. In the meantime, I set up and assembled all the other equipment, including the new stand for the timing board after one of the old ones was broken in disassembly after the AX School two weeks previously. It was already broken and had been for as long as I’ve been Co-chair. It always required careful treatment, so after disassembly when packing up after the AX School, it was just “brokener”. ;) I built a new fixture out of PVC the day before AX#1 and was pleased to see that it worked fine and, in fact, better than the old one because the new fixture had better alignment. In hindsight, the old one should have been replaced long ago, so its demise after the AX School was a good thing.
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