Poll: Planning for the future AX

[Larry Herman]

Having been an avid autocrosser in my youth, I remember those Sundays well.  Running your car as fast as you could make it go, and spending the day socializing with your friends.

In seeing today's autocrosses, at least around the Phila area, I feel that they have lost that atmosphere.  The first aspect is the time board, which was updated minutes after
your run.  You could gather there to check on times, trash talk your opponants and jaw with your buddies.  And you had plenty of time to do so, because your runs were usually about 1.5 hours apart.  But it was worth it, because each run would take 50, 60, or maybe even 70 seconds.  Those courses were long.

I think that things started to fall apart after the heat system was instituted.  Yes it was nice to come, run, and then have some of your day left, or spend the morning the way you wanted to, and show up at noon to take a few runs, but I think that this was the beginning of the downslide of autocrossing. Once you lose the direct competition and then the social atmosphere, you only have the runs left.  And as the sites got worse, and the courses got shorter, I think that a lot of participants lost interest.  Add the draw of DEs, and it is little wonder why our autocross program has suffered.

Long courses, time boards, and one run group, in my opinion, is the way to restore autocrossing to what it once was.