Peru Champ Tour

Event: SCCA Peru Championship Tour
Location: Grissom Air Force Base- Peru, IN
Results: 4/7 (in ESP open- not Ladies) & 16/275 overall, Clint was 1/7 & 3/275.
Best beer of the weekend: Great Divide Mexican Chocolate Yeti





The next National Champ Tour event of the year was at Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana. It was such a cool experience to see an already awesome and competitive region put on a very well organized and successful national event. Having friends from all over the States join us on our home turf was spectacular! Even if we were in excessive heat warnings the entire weekend...

Leading up to this event, I had been fighting a few battles between my two daily drivers. My Mazdaspeed3 threw its A/C compressor clutch a few weeks prior on our way up to the event in Lincoln. I had been living with it, since I have a mere 7 minute drive to work. But now I had a new motivation to get it back together, and I couldn't find exactly the right part for it, so the war waged on. The Mini had functional AC, but I had previously made the decision to finally replace the leaky radiator, so it was still sitting on jack stands. Determined to have AC for the weekend, I honed my focus in on the Mini, and got it finished up after two late nights leading right up to my departure date. And it worked! AC and all! So after work on Friday, off to Peru I went!

I got in that night with just enough time to get a single course walk in before they closed the site. Not ideal, since one of my biggest goals for the year is to get to know my courses better than the back of my hand. To make the most of it, I stopped 3 or 4 times throughout my walk to visualize the course up to where I was at so I could “see it” again while it was still fresh in my mind. I found this was very helpful in remembering the course for mental runs throughout the evening.

That evening, we had a great time at a brewpub with some autocross friends we’ve known for years, and some new friends as well. I finally got to meet another Wendi Allen Scholarship recipient who I’d already been talking to for months- Lexie Murray! It was a great start to the weekend.

The next morning we got up and on-site early enough to walk the course 4 times before the driver’s meeting. After losing as a result of cones at the last event in Romulus (and all the time), I had clean runs at the top of my goals list for this event. And still not being entirely used to all the grip of 335mm of racing compound tire on all 4 corners, I was also focusing on both turning in and braking later.

Unfortunately, I didn’t drive like I was in the mindset for meeting goals. By the time I was heading out for my 3rd and final run, I didn’t have a clean run in the books. Meanwhile, Clint was killin’ it! He finished day 1 in first place and I was left unhappy with my performance. I had no choice but to reign in my last run in order to assure I stayed off the cones. So even though I managed to pull off a clean run, I drove conservatively enough that it wasn’t a whole lot of help. Reflecting on my runs later with the Indy Region Novice Chief (Matt Adams, who I also got great advice from at the TNT event in my first post), he noted that it sounded like Clint was getting on the gas sooner everywhere out on course- and probably picking up speed faster than I was as a result. OK. So that should be easy enough to add to my (constantly growing) list! Thanks again to him for the pointers!





After a scorching day out in the sun, we cooled off with some ice cream from a local shop on the way back to our hotel.

That night- and I know this is going to come as a surprise- Lexie, her teammate AJ, Clint, and I shared beers that we all brought. We carried some food back from the little diner next to the hotel and cracked into a few bottles and cans. She really enjoyed the Hopfentea (fruited berlinerweisse) and Suburban Beverage (margarita-inspired gose) I brought from work (I’m the Total Quality Manager at Perennial Artisan Ales, in case you didn’t know), and I thoroughly enjoyed the Mexican Chocolate Yeti Stout she brought for me from Great Divide! It was a much needed distraction from the negativity I was bringing on myself for my poor driving performance.

As day 2 came upon us, my goals from day 1 hadn’t really changed much, except now “gas sooner” was added. The course for day 2 had a HUGE straight section. Everyone was debating a shift into 3rd gear- an event rarely seen at an autocross event, ha. We top out 2nd gear at 69mph and 7800rpm, for reference. At the end of the day, shifting to 3rd probably would’ve been beneficial for us, but the daunting shift back down to 2nd might have ended up screwing us over anyway, since it’s not something we ever get to practice. Who knows…


I DID manage to keep all 3 of my runs clean on day 2! Unfortunately, that was pretty much the best thing about them. They weren’t particularly well-driven, other than avoiding cones. I was really struggling to stick to the best line through some major turns and I lost a LOT of time through them. I do think I got on the gas a bit sooner, but who really knows. I finished all the way back in 4th in our class. Of course, the three men that beat me were also in the top 10 for the event, and I was 16th (out of 275, and first of the ladies by nearly 60 places), so I’m trying not to beat myself up over it too bad. But I still wasn’t real happy with my driving overall, regardless of placement.


Listening to an “Autocross Talk” podcast on my way out to the event, and then reviewing our data from our runs reminded me- tightest line is almost always the fastest. Less distance = less time. It’s hard to get in your head, even when swinging a little wider might let you carry a little more speed into a turn, often at that point, you’re also sacrificing your car placement for the next element. This could add distance, or put you in a position where you can't accelerate as quickly because you're still turning in or correcting your car. My driving this weekend was a harsh, but necessary reminder that your driving line and car placement is always priority number one. Get that right, press the pedals down harder (but not faster), and you’re gold.



Starting on my way home with Zara on Sunday afternoon in a somber, reflective mood, I flipped on the AC in the Mini to cool off from another long day out in the sun. Hot air. Nothing but hot. Air. For all 5 hours of our journey. I still haven't identified the cause, but the Mini had lost AC too. It's possible that I've never been so happy to get home in my life...




Fair to say, I've had better weekends, but all I can do is learn from this, make the best of it.

Here's looking forward to the next event!