Your First Autocross

08/25/21 • 49 min

Forty-year autocross veteran Mel Dillon joins Mark Mangicaro for a discussion about what to expect at your first autocross. In this episode you'll hear how to find events and get ready for them, what to expect when you get there, and how to get the most of of the event.
More than a dozen autocross terms are defined.
This episode, together with episode 1, "What is Autocross?", should form a solid foundation for anyone wanting to try autocross. Future episodes will cover various aspects of the sport in some detail and will assume the listener is familiar with autocross.

Previous Episode

What is Autocross?

Whether you’re a seasoned cone-dodger, new to the sport, or just thinking about trying autocross, we hope you will find something valuable in our Upstate New York Autocross podcasts. Our objective is to provide information on autocross in general with an emphasis on autocross activity in Upstate New York. The majority of the information in this episode will apply to autocross events anywhere in the United States.
This is episode one. In this episode we will briefly look at the various ways to have fun with cars in Upstate NY – including autocross, then spend most of the podcast detail what autocross is, and finally let you know where you can participate in autocross in Upstate NY and how to sign up for an event.
This episode, together with episode 2 "What to Expect at your First Autocross", should form a solid foundation for anyone wanting to try autocross. Future episodes will cover various aspects of the spot in some detail and will assume the listener is familiar with autocross.

Next Episode

The Novice Season

In the previous episode we discussed what to expect at your first autocross. In this episode we zoom out and take a look at a participant’s first season: the novice season.

Mitch Lepianka has been a car enthusiast his whole life and 2021 is the year he found autocross. Mitch participated in his first event this spring at the Oswego County EVOC facility in Fulton with the CNY SCCA where he quickly became an autocross enthusiast.

Mitch shares his experiences with Upstate NY Autocross host Mark Mangicaro. Topics include improving driving ability both on the course and on the street, car modifications, and the social aspect of the sport.

If you are familiar with autocross, you will enjoy hearing a first-hand account of how quickly the hook gets set! If you are new to autocross, you may want to listen to episodes 1 and 2 first to help put things in perspective.