Anyone know of any autocross tracks near Chicago?

[J312]

I know its cold, but I just wanted to start researching.

[J Tyler]

http://www.roadamerica.com/

Think of it as a big autocross with curbs instead of cones!

[J312]

Looks pretty cool. Thanks!

[bluemoon]

Road America & Blackhawk Farms in Wisconsin, Gingerman Raceway & Gratten in Michigan. All comfortable driving distance (3-hours or less) from Chicago.

[snkeyez95]

Do it! Loads of fun.

[J312]

Sweet. I'll have to check these out when the weather warms up. Thanks!

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by J312

I know its cold, but I just wanted to start researching.

Contact Windy City BMW http://www.windycitybmw.com/
Excellent Club and we do a few tracks a year.

Road America no more starting this year, but we get to GingerMan in South Haven, Mi in June and Putnam Park towards Indianapolis in August.

Don't try a track if you don't want to go back again and again. It is very addictive. Windy City also has an autocross season in which you can participate with other BMW's in the Chicagoland area.

[JB135i]

If you are new to autocross then may I suggest the following-

http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo/

This is an AUTOCROSS, not a road course event. There is a HUGE difference.

The details are not up yet, but the event you should consider is the "Learning Curve", on April 4 and 5. This a two day event for people new to autox. On Saturday morning there is a classroom session until about lunch time. After that you will drive (and be intructed on autox driving) on two "half size" autocross courses.

On Sunday, they merge the two "half size" courses and you will run a full course. With, and if you are doing well, without your instructor.

The student to instructor ratio is usually 2 students to 1 instructor. This is a FANTASTIC way to get your feet wet, and to start off with good habits.

I have been and instructor at this event for a couple years. I don't know if I will be this year yet. My student last year at the Learning Curve got Rookie of the Year for the Chicago Region!

If anyone has any more questions, post up here or PM me, and I will try to answer them.

Here is a thread about the Learning Curve from another forum.

I am the OP in this thread, JBS2K-

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...ic=572788&st=0

There are a few other links in this thread that will be of interest too. Car classing, a thread from NASOIC, results, etc.

If a couple of you 135/128 guys are interested in attending I may try to be an intructor again, as they try to match people up with same/similar cars.

I only drove in the Learning Curve last year because, frankly, I really don't care for the 135i as an autox car. Some people like/love it for this purpose though, so don't let me discourage you from driving your car. It's just a personal thing. Because I only attended one event they may not want me as an instructor this year, and I wouldn't blame them I guess.

[J312]

Thanks for the autocross info. I didn't see any prices on the website. How much does the two day "learning curve" usually cost?

[JB135i]

Last year the Learning Curve was $120.00. Not bad for two days of driving instruction and tons of seat time, 2 lunches and good reading materials.

The instructors are all unpaid. They (we) do it just to help out. And we get to drive for free too

For a more advanced school this is also available-

http://www.evoschool.com/index.php

They say level 1 can be for complete rookies, and I suppose that's true, but imo it would be better to have driven a few events first. Only personal opinion but I think you would get more out of it. If there is NO Learning Curve type event in your area I would not hesitate to jump right into their level 1 class though.

They offer several diffent classes all over the county. I took the level 1 class. I was going to take level 2 the next day but it was pouring rain so I said screw it LOL.

Level 1 was good. It expanded on what I had learned at the Learning Curve and what I had picked up along the way. Including some bad habits

We had two main instructors, one was excellent, the other not so much. But such is life. Beyond the rain, instructor 2 was an additional reason I chose not to hang around. Listening to that guy while standing in the rain = a crappy day. He obviously was an excellent driver, but he had almost zero teaching skills and he mostly talked about his-own-bad-self (yawn).

[J312]

Thats a pretty reasonable price. Thanks.

[J312]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

Contact Windy City BMW http://www.windycitybmw.com/
Excellent Club and we do a few tracks a year.

Road America no more starting this year, but we get to GingerMan in South Haven, Mi in June and Putnam Park towards Indianapolis in August.

Don't try a track if you don't want to go back again and again. It is very addictive. Windy City also has an autocross season in which you can participate with other BMW's in the Chicagoland area.

Thanks!

[mpwrd3]

The Learning Curve http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo/2009/learncurve.html is April 4 & 5 and I know there are still some spots open. It's a great way to start autocrossing.

There are a number of Chicagoland clubs and I run with almost all of them during a season.

Venues include Route 66 in Joliet, Miller Park in Milwaukee, Maywood Il, Toyota Park and some others.


Here's a list of some clubs that host autocrosses:
http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo/index.html
http://windycitybmw.com/Calendar/Calendar.aspx
http://tsscc.org/
http://scscc.net/
http://www.audichicago.org/
http://www.chicagovw.org/

[bradford]

Highly recommend the Audi Club autocrosses at Maywood Park. Lots of runs compared to other car clubs, and great group of people.

Also, for tracks there is Autobahn in Joliet. They're a private club, but car clubs host regular public events there. The South and combined tracks are great.

[J312]

Thanks for the help!

[davemohan]

If you are looking for something a bit more interesting than the typical SCCA autocross, check the MCSCC (Midwest Council of Sports Car Clubs) at http://www.mcscc.org/

They run a "high speed autocross" series that basically consists of one timed standing-start lap of an actual track. Most events are run at Blackhawk Farms, roughly a 2 mile course. I competed in these events for about 5 years in the early 90s, and I understand they are still going strong.

They have their own classes, and they can probably fit just about any car into one class or another, almost "run what ya brung". Well run events on a track out in the country as opposed to a parking lot or airstrip. And best of all: NO CONES!

Now if only I could find something similar in the Charlotte area!