> And the tire abuse! We had a couple of these at world famous El Toro
Marine
> Air Base. Where one locked up braking manuever can expose cords on a
> Hoosier in nanoseconds. The response, of course is, then slowdown earlier
> if you don't want the risk.... Yeah, sure.
>
> I went to the SD Tour last year. It was my first year in autox. Wow!
You
> mean you can have finishes where you don't have to throw the car sideways
> after the finish line? Amazing, but true.
Brings to mind the very first Solo II Nationals, running the old Mid-America
Raceway circuit in reverse direction from T7 to T1 (chicanes in the corners,
open straights). Finish line was followed by a stop box -- a row of cones
across the track. You had to stop before the row, then a worker came out and
moved the cone so you could exit.
It was maybe 50 feet. You just about had to brake before the line. Happily,
you did not also have to turn. No one really wanted to brake, but most did.
I remember Marv Schoenfeld in a BP Corvette (B Production race car running
as B Prepared autocrosser). Marv was determined not to brake until he hit
the finish. And didn't. Then locked up all four and buried himself in tire
smoke. When the smoke cleared his nose was just across the line and one cone
had, barely, tipped over.
I ran a Pinto that first year, in the slowest class, G freakin' Stock. I,
too, decided (hoped?) that I could hit the finish WOT and then stop. I was
slightly more successful than Schoenfeld. I hit the line, threw it sideways
and locked up all four in sideways slide. I ended up just parallel to that
cone wall about a foot away from it and had to back and fill 3-4 times to
get enough room to drive through the opening provided -- hoping like hell
the next car up the hill was not too close behind!
They could easily have not only backed the finish another 50 feet down the
hill, but also had room beyond the cone wall available for use as well. But
that was then (1973), this is now.
--Rocky
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