A Sea Of Cones

I've dipped my foot in SCCA Solo 2. So far I've only run three events in the South Jersey SCCA that took place at Atco, NJ in a parking lot next to the drag strip that was featured in an episode of Pinks on the Speed channel. Solo 2 is also known as autocross.

The concept is simple enough. A course is laid out using ordinary road cones on a parking lot or other suitable area. The object is to run the course in as little time as possible. One car runs the course at a time, making the sport very safe. The major bonus is that you can run the car you drive to work. You only need a helmet. As simple as the sport is, it is both challenging and fun. It is also the least expensive way to compete in an auto sports event.

Solo 2 is mostly a test of driving skill. It is not unusual for an inferior car to score a better time because the driver has more skill. Of course this doesn't mean that a good car doesn't help. But each car falls into a class so that you only compete against other cars that are theoretically equal to yours.

I'm not as good a driver as I thought I was before I tried this sport out. My last outing was on 20060709. The course was not especially complicated, yet the first two runs I went off course. I was lost in a sea of cones. This was after having walked the course, a ritual that is required of the drivers. The purpose of walking the course is to know which way you are supposed to go. It is no substitute for driving the course.

After blowing my first two runs I had an instructor take me through the course. He drove my car while I sat in the passenger seat and managed to casually run a better time than the best time I was able to run that day. He gave me some useful tips and helped me see which cones I needed to watch out for.

For my third run, I went slow. Very slow. I wanted to at least have a time rather than a DNF (did not finish) regardless of how slow it was. Next time I run in an event, I'm going to follow the same strategy. There is actually an old saw for what I did, "slow down to go faster." And it worked. My next run was quite a bit faster even though I wasn't pushing myself hard. The run after that was faster still. Then I tried to take just two more seconds off. Instead I ended up with a slower run.

Perhaps next time out I will move up the ranks. Or not. My car is running on stock tires that suck in all weather. I also didn't work out the best line. Still, I didn't do too badly. I outran cars that should have beat me. I was on the heals of a car that has much better straight line speed than my car. I feel pretty good about how I did and expect to do better my next time out.

I used my Cannon A410 camera to make take a few pictures and some short movie clips (rather small and sans audio) of a previous event that I didn't run in because I showed up late. I think watching them will give a much better idea of how Solo 2 works. I recommend downloading the movie clips before watching them because of limited bandwidth.