Thanks to ETRSCCA an autocross will be available for Dragon attendees.

The autocross will be held in Blount County, about 30 miles from Deal's Gap, at the William Blount High School parking lot (see driving directions from Deal's Gap below). This event will be held on Saturday, May 6. There is enough room at this venue for 50 MINI or Mini participants. Costs for pre-registered participants will be $30 with an additional charge of $10 for those registering the day of the event, if space is available. The local SCCA club running the event will also participate (not all MINIs) for a total number of around 75 to 80 cars. The usual SCCA rules will apply regarding safety and tech on the cars. The SCCA member in charge of the event is a MINI owner and autocrosser(scottgib here on NAM). Online registration is available through myautoevents.com. I will keep an updated list of registrants here in the thread also.

You must go here to register ----> http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/frmEventDetail.Show?psevent_id=5058&psrnd=.5240302 6708325060467128327499232924061

MINI registration is capped at 50 entrants.

Novices are very much welcome at this event. Please ask any questions you might have.

Present entrants ---30






---Donna

To get to the autocross venue from the intersection of 129 and 28 (Crossroads of Time) head north on 129 until reaching Hwy 411. Turn right on 411 and travel 1.8 miles. Turn left on William Blount Dr and travel 2.1 miles. Turn right on County Farm Rd. William Blount High School is 219 County Farm Rd.

 

Will there be plenty of room for spectators? Fee to watch?

 

No fee to watch. Spectating is just fine. I haven't looked at the venue but it has been used by ETRSCCA a number of times before.

 

I'm up for it!
Sounds like alot of fun... an almost all MINI autocross.
Now I gotta pack light to fit my AutoX wheels.

 

Count me in! I'll be driving from the Houston National Tour straight to the Dragon and will have the tire trailer and all. Maybe this will quench the itch to use the R-compounds ON the Dragon.....

Donna, if you want, I'll post something about it in the Solo II forum, I'm sure several people would love to come for the mostly MINI autocross.

 

LOL, ok you just ran everyone else off.

It's open to MINIs and Minis coming to the Dragon Run and to ETRSCCA members. I just thought it might be something you guys would want to do. A big thanks to Scott with ETRSCCA for agreeing to it. He does say this parking lot it a bit abrasive, though.

If it doesn't fill up I might run Celeste. Warning though, I am TERRIBLE at autocross.

 

Would this be for experienced autocrossers, or can interested people who might want to try it compete, too, without getting run out of town?

 

I wasn't trying to run everyone out, I just excited about autocrossing. I may just run the street tires, who knows. Somehow I'm guessing that there will be very few stock MINI's running anyway. It'd be perfect for all those that get some mod's done on their MINI's Thursday and Friday. The Dragon is a great test of the MINI's, but autocrossing is even better. Feel those rear sway bars in action !

For all of you interested people, come out whether you've autocrossed before or not. I guarantee you'll love it!

 

This would be the BEST place for those who have never autocrossed to do so. You are surrounded by all your favorite MINI friends.

 

I don't know what to think, myself. I just thought I would throw it out there and see who was interested. Celeste has zero mods. Not even a sway bar......lotsa fun body roll on her.

 

This is intersting, I always wanted to try autocross. I don't know the rules though..

 

And once again I post as my husband. This was really queenB

This would be a really good time to try it out. Like I said....surrounded by your closest MINI friends. There will be a walk through the course with novice drivers only to help you out. There are really not a lot of rules, just enough to keep us all safe. I joke alot about getting lost in the cones (I have done it ) but you really can see it when you are in it. It looks harder to do from the sidelines.

 

Will we need helmets and such or just our MINIs?

 

You will need a helmet. Here is a link to the Novice Handbook on the ETRSCCA website. You may find it helpful. I'll also see if Scott with ETRSCCA can hang out here a bit to answer questions too. He is the one with a MINI.

http://www.etrscca.org/soloii/handbook/handbook.htm

 

Hi,

I am Scott, the Solo Chair for the East TN Region of the SCCA, and an old fart that has a couple of original Cooper S's and now have a 2002 MCS.

We attempt to run very safe and fun autocrosses.

The Mini is one of the few cars that is very good at autocrossing right out of the box with no mods. Just add some air to the tires. (Do this before coming to the site, or bring a compressor or tank.) I ran three years bone stock. Most any car is fun to autocross that doesn't have a high center of gravity like SUV's, 4X4 trucks, etc. So don't worry about the mods. I will say that Dunlop runflats are not very sticky though.

FYI, my 2002 MCS now has camber plates, adj. rear bar, and a Quaife. I now run STX class. I run on Hankook "street" tires or Falken Azenis. The other Mini in our club is Curt B's 2005 MCS that is stock (or at least was the last time I saw it). Curt will also be at the event probably with his wife who co-drives.

We have some loaner helmets, but maybe not enough for everyone. We do require helmets with a 1995 or later Snell SM or SA rating. DOT on the helmets means nothing to us.

Everyone on site will be required to sign an insurance waiver, driver or spectator.

For these events to work, everyone will also have a work assignment when their run group is not active. We will have experienced autocrossers with all of the novices if they are assigned to ******** cones.

I will check back on this forum and will be happy to answer any questions.

 

2 people ready to sign up. Both Stellina and Streghina would love to autox.

Donna thank you for posting and get it started I don't think it will be difficult to find 50 people among MINI drivers.

Do you know how many heats are they planning to do? Also, helmet loaners available?

MD STREGA2
DC STELLA
PS" did not see the posting from scottgib. One more question :SCCA discount applies?

 

I have a helmet...how about loaner tires?

 

Loaner tires -- ha, that is a wild and crazy thought.

BTW, you should know that the lot we will be using is a little on the abrasive side. I have autocrossed on much worse surfaces, but do expect some tire wear.

 

So far that would be

Audioman
Miniwildcat
Welshmenwillnotyield
Lastrega +1
tsukiji?
plus a few maybes at this point?
queenB (planning on running the classic, will give up my spot if we fill up)
trick

Scott what would be the minimum number of participants needed to be able to do this and cover expenses?

 

If anyone has questions about rules/classes for their MINI just post here or PM me. Basically, if you have a pulley you're in Street Mod (SM), if you have no pulley but any suspension mods besides shocks you're in Street Touring Extreme (STX) D Street Prepared for Cooper S or Street Touring Sport (STS) or F Street Prepared for Cooper. Other wise stock Coopers are in H Stock and stock Cooper S's are in G Stock. STX and STS require Street tires while SM, DSP, FSP, HS, GS are open to all DOT tires such as Hoosiers or Kuhmo V710's.

This would be a great event for anyone that has never autocrossed and again, feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to answer them, or refer you to Scott the Solo Chair who I'm sure knows more than I.

Also, I don't know what ETRSCCA normally does, but if they allow riders I'd be happy to ride with anyone if they wanted. When I started out, I had as many experienced autocrossers ride with me as possible, it's a great learning tool.

 

I think a preregistered minimum would be 25.

 

We do allow riders, and can probably supply a few experienced coaches. Miniwildcat is one of the best and I look forward to seeing him run.

 

Interested!

 

Sounds like fun, count me in too

 

Count me in! I've always wanted to try the autoX, and with the MCS I'm sure it will be nothing but fun. Just let me know about registering.

Question for Miniwildcat........I'm driving an '06 MCS with the JCW package that came factory on the car. The only thing else I'll have on the car is possibly a rear anti-sway bar and maybe even the Alta intake system. What class would this be considered?