Local auto-x club is on the verge of extinction

[AlarmedBread]

Bummer. We don't have many good spots here either, mostly just very small parkinglots filled with poles. Typical course here is 30seconds. :(

[Fair!]

It does suck, but welcome to autoxing. Get involved with the club to help secure new sites. Some clubs are manned by just a few individuals doing all the work and that will help contribute to it's demise.

Very true - good advice.

Google earth will help to spot something that your missing. Auto auctions, closed department stores/supermarkets, high schools. With creative course setup a pretty small lot can be fun.

We've used Google Earth to find sites, but securing new sites is getting more and more challenging. The SCCA has a good "new site packet" of paperwork and suggestions that they would probably share with your club.

In Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas we've got 7 sites, and its taken a TON of work on the part of no less than 6 different racing groups here to secure that many (most events happen at only 4 of those sites, however). Two different pro sports stadium lots, a concrete high school football stadium, a horse track parking lot, an old airfield, an equally old helicopter base, and the bus/RV lot at a local speedway are what we have.

Insurance and liability are the biggest reasons why parking lot owners say "no", but also damage to painted stripes and more importantly to the surface itself is a common cause for losing a site. We've lost a number of sites that were thin "parking lot grade" asphalt from excessive wear - the cheap stuff never lasts. Realize that paving a dozen or so acres of asphalt for normal parking use is VERY expensive (millions of dollars) and the $500-1500/month they could hope to get from your one autocross club doesn't even begin to make a dent in that cost for decades. Now ask them to pour it with higher grade/strength asphalt to twice that depth, or worse, with concrete.

When searching for new sites look at the type of use it sees now as well as it's construction: Heaving duty asphalt lots (the "Bus lot" mentioned above or former airfields) and concrete sites are best, but the hardest to find and secure. A lot of stadium lots are used during big events for vendors with tents, and tent stakes will weaken an asphalt lot considerably - we lost our biggest asphalt site due to tent pole holes then racing use afterwards - the weakened surface was shredded by autocrossers.

Oh, and some of our "local" sites are 2 hours away.

Cheers,

[DSP74]

From a competitor standpoint this is why bigger events appeal. Some sites are RELATIVELY secure places to use, and much more suited to big events. To me a two night stay and travel costs for a Pro Solo event are more than worth it. Tours not so much.

Search around and you will amost certainly find regions that have a nice mix of people, lots, courses, etc. When my SCCA membership expired I was a member of a region 2 hours or more away when there was one only 30 minutes away.......Makes it a little harder to contribute to setup etc, but there are other ways to contribute.

[BimmerTom]

Believe it or not, the best auto-x I was held at a 1/4 drag race (Knoll Gas Raceway, or 131 Raceway in Martin, MI). We never touched the drag strip, but all of the staging lanes and parking area for the trucks. It was almost a mile long and was FAST... We could even run 2 at a time. Good stuff.

[nando]

welcome to autox - I don't know if it's always been this way, but probably in our more conservative and sue-happy world we live in today it's hard to keep these sites open. Since I started we've lost 3 sites - two of them which have been used for decades. One that basically killed the local car club which had just celebrated it's 50th anniversary.

I think I'm going to end up doing less autox and more track next year - it's getting to be too far to drive for only a few minutes of racing. I do enjoy the competition, the frantic pace, and the low barriers of entry, but over an hour of seat time for a coupe hundred bucks is hard to argue with.

[Jand3rson]

Damn, and you had those neat magnets made up too?!!!11

I didn't have them "made up", I made them myself.

[makaio]

I know it's a long drive, but what about the Christmas Valley runnway? I haven't been out there in years to visit my relatives. But I don't remeber any traffic other than my dad and I in his plane.

[Dave]

There is a former Air National Guard base about 45 minutes north of Cincinnati that is used by DHL as their air hub. With them contracting UPS to do all of their air transport, that place is shutting down. So, 8,000 people are out of jobs, but it may make for a kick ass venue for the cone packers!

The Cincy Region SCCA used to have a great lot a a Ford plant, but some idiot in a 'vette launched over a 12 foot berm and took out some fencing and they lost that site. So now they have only two venues - one is the parking lot at a horse track, the other is the parking lot at Kentucky Speedway. Becuase of scheduling, they only now have events from March-early May, and then Septmeber-novmeber. Ford was their summer spot.

[DSP74]

Believe it or not, the best auto-x I was held at a 1/4 drag race (Knoll Gas Raceway, or 131 Raceway in Martin, MI). We never touched the drag strip, but all of the staging lanes and parking area for the trucks. It was almost a mile long and was FAST... We could even run 2 at a time. Good stuff.

If you don't mind PM me with more info. Club dates etc. Thanks-this is actually closer than ABC auction if events are held there still.

[Money$hit]

boycott the gay ass fair

[Jand3rson]

I fucking hate the fair. With every fiber of my being. I only go because my wife drags me there kicking and screaming, because it's fun for my daughter. I spent $100 this year in about 45 minutes, and that was when I decided I'd had enough.

[Hallen]

Yeah, that does suck. I am sorry about that. I was going to suggest checking out the Madras airport, but it looks like they have torn up all the old runway sections that were built in WWII for bomber training. If they had left that tarmac there, you would have had plenty of room.

Check out Grass Valley. That might be a good bet for you guys long term. Who knows if it will ever get off the ground, but some support wouldn't hurt. (Website is down right now. Hopefully that is just temporary)

[DSP74]

I fucking hate the fair. With every fiber of my being. I only go because my wife drags me there kicking and screaming, because it's fun for my daughter. I spent $100 this year in about 45 minutes, and that was when I decided I'd had enough.

The best is the fucking fried dough for $5 called an elephant ear. Jeeze. Talk about a cash cow.

[Money$hit]

The best is the fucking fried dough for $5 called an elephant ear. Jeeze. Talk about a cash cow.

That and dropping like $15 on the ring toss, only to walk away goldfish-less and looking like an asshat.

[Money$hit]

I fucking hate the fair. With every fiber of my being. I only go because my wife drags me there kicking and screaming, because it's fun for my daughter. I spent $100 this year in about 45 minutes, and that was when I decided I'd had enough.

Srsly, maybe you guys could invest in a really big tarp to lay down over the parking lot...

jk. But there has to be big enough lot somewhere. Gimme your coordinates and ill google earff dat bish and report back.