Controversial??

[Brian Minkin]

Okay, time to add my two cents.  AX is a great way to learn car control and begins to teach you the limits of your car.  I strongly recommend that any one considering starting in DE do some AX events.  However the skills required to drive safely at speed on a road course take far more training and practice than becoming proficient at AX.  Leave Nascar out of the picture for the time being but I will say that I do have a great deal of respect for them as well after having driven the Tri Oval at Pocono.  AX is fun, safe and even for the most competitive drivers has very little risk of stuffing your car if you make a mistake.  Driving at speed on a road course is full of risk and requires a vast array of learned skills.  Like AX you get faster with seat time and practice but it takes much more time to get fast.  On a road course the level of concentration, smoothness and consistency are much more intense then AX and the price you pay for a mistake is very large.  Taking those road course skills back to AX will make you a fairly fast AX driver if can stay on course.  Both events have their place in a car clubs activities and I believe that doing both even after a person has transitioned to DE will make you a better driver at both AX and DE.  Seat time and the continual training of your senses are priceless.