Things I learned in autocross this year

Use more gas and more brakes. Actually, just tap the brakes. It’s not a track, the speeds aren’t that high, the braking zones aren’t big. Oregon Raceway Park is a fantastic track. It’s in Grass Valley, OR which is perfectly named. It’s a lot of grass, in a valley. Talking to strangers about cars is half the point. The other half is mostly about solving a new course in a limited time and somewhat about picking up cones other people knock over. Sometimes, strangers and friends alike will feed you before/after you drive, it’s hard to beat that. Don’t drink fizzy beverages immediately after standing in the sun without anything to drink. Weather patterns in legit, ski-able mountains make no sense if you’ve spent most of your life in the plains of Texas. Whatever kind of variance in temperature and conditions you could imagine in a day, double it. Autocross is a tires game. Better grip makes for greater confidence makes for better times. But, when they say the best upgrade for your car is a…