August Autocross Report Volume II

Paul Knowles finishes another run in the Porsche Cayman

The day before the big eclipse, it was a hot day at Pungo for the August TSCC autocross. My favorite part of autocross is hanging out with friends, car people, and trying to drive faster. For this event, my friend Richard Viglucci came out to watch some autocross and ride along in the FIAT. We've done a little work on his 2010 Camaro in the past, so as you can see he has great taste in RED CARS that pretty much match the RED FIAT! 

Richard Viglucci, 2010 Camaro

A nice cool total eclipse of the sun in Virginia would have been nice while out in the sun Sunday, but I guess you can't have everything you want in life. It also would have been nice if my GoPro camera started on Sunday so that I could share some video with you, but that didn't happen either. Our technical engineer back at NMS-North HQ has determined that the fault was due to what they call "Operator Error", "Lack of recharging", and a bunch of mumbo-jumbo like that, all pointed in my direction. Maybe I should read the owner's manual. Or get a new engineer. 

TSCC President Brendan Long leads the driver's meeting

It goes without saying, but I'll have to say it again: MAN IT WAS HOT AT AUTOCROSS!

NMS and Richard at the Driver's Meeting Volume II

On a positive note, it was another fun day spent outdoors, with a few clouds but not enough! I am proud to again claim FASTEST ITALIAN again, and of course SLOWEST ITALIAN car of the day too!

Fastest British Car of the Day: Jaguar X Type

In the jam-packed H Street class, congrats to Jeff Yatsko for taking first, and Tony Mester for finishing 2nd in our class. The FIAT came home way behind these two guys in their Kia Forte, so way to go! Unlike most events with few HS drivers, we had 4 HS drivers in the regular class, and 7 more HS drivers in Novice class!

Factory Five 818: Built with Subaru power

My five runs were all fun, although I self-destructed on two of them by hitting a cone which cost me my fastest run of the day, and then on my final run my brain disengaged and I shifted in the wrong place to destroy my time. Despite feeling like I left plenty of time out on the course, I finished in 20th PAX overall out of the 69 drivers, so maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. That faster by 0.4 seconds run with the cone penalty would have been nice though! To show how competitive the times are, that 0.4 seconds would have bumped me up three places higher on Sunday overall. Of course every driver could say the same, so I won't cry too much about my own mistake in a coulda-woulda-shoulda.

Tony Mester ready for another run in the Kia Forte

Now that we've completed our August event, I need to get the NMS FIAT into at least one more TSCC event this year to meet the minimum 6 events required to compete for overall placing. So far it looks like September will work out OK, so right now I'm planning to be in South Carolina to see Brian in the Lemons race on the weekend of 16-17, with the next TSCC autocross on the 24th. Driving is fun! You can find out what else we're up to on our Driving Schedule page.

Most Italian Car of the Day!

As an extra safety message from my friend David Smallridge, be careful out in the sun, use sunscreen, wear a hat, and always be on the lookout for any odd changes in your skin that just might be cancerous. David shared his story of surgery recently to take care of a bit of melanoma, so I'm glad that he is doing great right now. He keeps getting faster in the BMW too.

Factory Five Roadster

You can check out more information on autocross at the club website and find all the event results: TSCC

To find some autocross action near you, go to the SCCA or NASA links on our website.

The Factory Five website is at: FACTORY FIVE