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Up until a couple of months ago, I didn’t know what autocross was. It turns out that autocross is when you drive your car really fast and try not to hit the cones that are set up on the course. Looks easy, right? Not so much. I went to watch the racers from Autoports Northwest, who race the first weekend of every month, at the Deer Park Airport. Everyone in my Mazda Miata club was invited, and I figured it would be fun.
I watched as these people enjoyed the challenge of driving an automobile obstacle course as fast as possible. Some people spun out, demolished cones, and smoke came out from underneath their tires as they chirped and squealed. I even got to go for a ride-along which was kind of like a ride at a theme park.
The coolest thing about this for people on a budget is, you can actually go to watch this for free. You can pack a picnic lunch and go sit in the spectator area or even in your car. You can bring a lean-to and set it up on the side of the course back a safe distance and enjoy watching these people race their cars. People watch the Daytona 500, and spends tons of money to go to the Indianapolis Speedway, so why not watch this? I’ve been to the Grand Prix — and you see those cars for about two seconds as they speed around the track. In this case, you get to see them for a lot longer. And, some of these people are real racers and have real…
