Way cool that there was a turnout to spectate an autocross.
Photography by J.A. Ackley
This is no parking lot, no race track. It’s U.S. Highway 421, a four-lane federal highway. Two shoulders. One turning lane. Typically, students drive it en route to classes at the Eastern Kentucky University Manchester campus. Last Saturday, autocrossers hustled their cars around cones on 700 feet of it in front of an audience during the Clay County Mountain Motorsports Festival.
Wait, autocross with spectators? Yes, locals came out to check out the action. And that’s just what event organizers, such as Calder Gregory, SCCA Central Kentucky Region executive, wanted.
“The event has opened our eyes into the realm of possibilities to make the world of autocross not so secretive anymore,” Calder says.
Putting on an autocross on a federal highway isn’t an easy feat. Backroads of Appalachia, an organization promoting motorsports tourism in Kentucky, West Virginia and surrounding areas, helped facilitate shutting down roughly 700 feet of highway, which required multiple levels of government approval, from federal to local and everything in between. But that legwork was worth it, according to the nonprofit organization’s Erik Hubbard.
“History was made in one of our favorite counties,” Erik says, “a rough estimate of $860,000 of economic impact to Clay County, Kentucky. I’m forever grateful to the SCCA for choosing Clay County.”
Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, who represents District 25 where the event was held, enjoyed the show autocrossers put on.
“We passed legislation last year that allowed us to do this,” the senator says, referencing Kentucky 24 RS HB 29. “If you can do it safely and not cause too much disruption, it’s worthwhile, because it brings in a lot of potential economic benefits. We’re so dependent on the coal, the gas and the timber industries, at one time the salt industry … It’s been very tough the last few years. We’ve been really trying to redefine ourselves in the way we do business, and tourism is one [of those ways].”
Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers taking in the action.
With several autocross sites closing across the country in recent years, autocross also seeks new solutions. A public highway is certainly one site possibility. When it came to the Clay County Mountain Motorsports Festival, setting up the course required a fast-acting team. In 15 minutes or so, they laid out a short course that generated times of roughly 20 to 21 seconds. Andrew Buck helped design the course as well as competed on it in his 1992 Nissan Sentra SE-R. While he prepared by looking at Google Earth, the site still surprised him.
“On Google Earth, it’s nice and flat,” Andrew says. “Then you get here, and it’s a 30-degree slope.”
Andrew Buck.
Nevertheless, organizers made it work. The course featured tight turns, some slaloms and a couple of areas to gain some speed.
“It’s like an autocross charcuterie,” Andrew says. “It’s an easily digestible autocross event. You get to turn the wheel. You get to go fast. It’s fun.”
Calder Gregory.
It wasn’t the most traditional course, but it posed an ample challenge to the most experienced of drivers. Autocrosser, hillclimber and time trialer Mark Pilson was pleasantly surprised. He had competed in street autocrosses years ago.
“This road was wider than what we had in the past, and the large downhill slope was interesting,” Mark says. “It was great.”
Overall, event organizers deemed the event a success and most racers went home happy. Will more autocrosses take place on highways? The Clay County Mountain Motorsports Festival proved it can be done. While highway autocrosses definitely come with constraints, they certainly open a world of possibilities–and with the added perk of reaching newcomers, they’re something the sport could use, too.
Mark Pilson.
Way cool that there was a turnout to spectate an autocross.
Last I knew, having spectators at a SCCA sanctioned auto x event adds $$$ to the cost of insurance.
How long before this event gets ruined by those whom got Slammed enuf kicked out never to return or "Sick Smokies " drag and drive event that on day one ( yesterday ) featured parking lot burnouts and blowing a hard red light in the middle of Nashville while doing a burnout. .. Yes it was a Mustang and yes the person filming was hating on the police for stopping them.
Masher_Mfg said:Last I knew, having spectators at a SCCA sanctioned auto x event adds $$$ to the cost of insurance.
How long before this event gets ruined by those whom got Slammed enuf kicked out never to return or "Sick Smokies " drag and drive event that on day one ( yesterday ) featured parking lot burnouts and blowing a hard red light in the middle of Nashville while doing a burnout. .. Yes it was a Mustang and yes the person filming was hating on the police for stopping them.
There's no additional cost for folks watching an autocross from outside the event perimeter.
As for morons, they're rare at SCCA events. You have to register, pass tech, and if you violate safety the club reserves the right to kick you out. And at this particular event, the road was blocked by local law enforcement, who very much seemed to enjoy participating. So should somebody get ornery and refuse to leave, they'd have been trespassed in seconds.
I wonder if we will see more of this in the future. More and more traditional autox sites are getting lost. Most parking lots are being built with curbs and small grass areas. Wide paved roads might be the next best thing.
In reply to theruleslawyer :
It certainly seems like a potentially viable path, assuming other local/state/federal agencies are cool with closing down roads for motorsport use.
The good news is that Appalachia seems more than willing to participate.
This event was so cool in so many different ways. It was awesome getting to chill with local enthusiasts with their own cars in the car show, the autocross was killer and even if it was small, it was challenging and the pivots left a constant reason to chase tenths, and the hillclimb...
Just spectacular.
In reply to ascott :
I'm speaking of the after event / surrounding area fall out not caused by SCCA racers.
Reminds me a bit of the SCCA autocross events held on the streets of Evansville Indiana and Dayton Ohio decades ago.
It strikes me as a bit odd that the idea of spectators seems strange to y'all. Our events in a town of about 30k people regularly attracts an audience, especially the events we hold at the car dealerships, since they are on busy streets.
I honestly don't even really autocross for myself, I have way more fun just taking folks for rides...
Masher_Mfg said:Last I knew, having spectators at a SCCA sanctioned auto x event adds $$$ to the cost of insurance.
The way it was explained to me when I was running our local events was that as long as you're not advertising it as a spectator event (posting flyers inviting people to come and watch, charging admission or selling tickets to spectators) and anyone inside the hot zones signs a waiver, you're good to go.
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