Mattoon Journal Gazette and Charleston Times-Courier Story on OUR Autocross

Rob Stroud of the Mattoon Journal Gazette and Charleston Times-Courier has written the following article about the CCSCC autocross at Coles County Airport this weekend.  I believe it was in today’s paper.  Best writeup of an event by an outsider I’ve seen.  What do you think?

By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, August 5, 2010 5:09 am

MATTOON – Many different makes and models of cars will race slalom style this weekend during the Champaign County Sports Car Club’s competition at the Coles County Memorial Airport.

The “Top Gun Challenge” competition will be held from approximately 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. or later Saturday and Sunday. People can watch from outside of the airport fence, or get closer to the action south of the fence if they sign an insurance waiver.

Club President Barry Rowe said “sports cars are a state of mind” is the motto for one of the club’s spin-off groups and a good description of the club itself. He said all kinds of cars run in the club’s events, including Corvettes, Miatas, Subaru WXIs, Honda Civics, and “pure racing cars” like Mauri Light’s Formula 500 race car.

“It is pretty much everything from your ‘grocery getter’ to your high-performance sports car,” said club spokesman Adrian Astorina. Participation in this weekend’s event is projected to be 40-60 cars from the club, as well as other groups and individuals.

Rowe said the cars will race one by one through the course laid out on the airport apron and taxi way. He said they will be timed to the nearest thousandth of a second and will have two seconds added to their time for each traffic cone they knock that is tipped. He said there will be multiple runs, and only each drivers’ shortest time will count.

There are many classes so that cars will not run against those that have different competitive performance levels, Rowe said. The driver with the shortest time in each class will win that class, he said. T-shirts will be awarded this weekend and trophies will be given at the end of the season to drivers who have won the most races, he said.

“We see it as less of a competition and more of place to get out and learn the limits of your car in a safe, fun environment,” Astorina said.

Astorina said spectators can ride along with participating drivers by signing a waiver and wearing a helmet. He said drivers can register their cars in advance for this weekend’s competition by going online towww.ccsportscarclub.org or registering between 8 and 9:30 a.m. at the event. The nonmember fee is $30, or $25 for students.

Rowe said the club has been holding auto cross races, rallies and social events for 54 years in Central Illinois.

“We have been running autocrosses at the Coles County airport for over 10 years and enjoy very much coming down to Mattoon for this event. It is like coming to visit old friends,” Rowe said. “We like to try various sites and the Coles County airport offers us a very smooth surface and very safe place to compete.”

Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 238-6861 or 238-6861.

Comments?