> Autocross is fun to watch. I've seen it on TV a few times on Wide World of Sports, but not lately.
> I've also watched it live. They had one in the parking lot of a closed outlet mall not far from here and I was close enough to see the expressions on the drivers' faces when they spun out. They ran a lot of VW Rabbits and English cars. I saw one driver rip the transmission out of an MGB. Talk about facial expression!

talk about either a sucky driver or a pathetically maintained car! I've been autocrossing for. . hrm. . . i guess that would be 6 or 7 years now, and I've NEVER seen a tranny ripped out. Of course, I did once see an idiot crash into a light pole because instead of autocrossing his miata like he should have, he thought he'd take a fun run in his mom's Sunbird. . . Cornering and sunbirds do NOT mix :P



>Those Rabbits would go around a turn on three >wheels.

been there. . . done that ;)



>
> I like stock car racing because it is so complicated. The casual viewer misses most of the good stuff. They change the air pressure in two tires a pound or less and the car takes on completely different handling charactistics. The pit stops alone are more exciting than a drag race. Some forms of racing don't even have pit stops unless something breaks. The rules, both written and unwritten, are complicated, too. You can bump another driver on the straight and nobody cares, but tap him going into a curve and you cause a big wreck and get mean-mouthed in the interview. But I wish the number went with the driver instead of the car owner. Number 21 could be David Pearson, Dale Jarrett, Michael Waltrip or any number of other drivers. It's the same with number 11. Half the drivers out there have been number 11 at one time or another.
> Howard


yep, I agree on the minutae being interesting -- - although the tire pressure issue is the same in ANY form of racing. I was at an autocross with a guy once. he had an identical CRX to me, including the same tires. He had a busted pressure guage, so what he thought was 32psi on the rears was actually 39psi -- - the difference was incredible! He spun out three times, and was wildly fishtailing on all the other turns. Deflate the tires to proper pressures, and suddenly ALL problems are gone.