Events SCCA Time Trials at Lightning Last weekend was a hot one. On Sunday the thermometer was over 90º imperial (that's 32.2ºC for you Bonaparte fans). It was also the SCCA Time Trials National Tour at Lightning, at the NJ Motorsports Park.
The Clueless Racer New Year, New Racing Season As I watch the 2021 season F1 testing session at the Bahrain track, and start to get excited about the 2021 racing season, I decided to write this quick update. First, a personal note: Last season ended with a bit of turmoil in my
The Clueless Racer The Clueless Racer's Quick-Start Guide To Autocross So you want to autocross, but don't know where to start. TL;DR: All you need is a car (and perhaps a helmet). Also shoes.
Events Philadelphia Region SCCA 2020 Summer Series #7 "If anyone asks, I meant to do that." — Beto Castelo
Garage Journal Making the Garage Journal Videos Having fun is a crucial aspect of working on the Clueless Racer project.
Garage Journal Garage Journal #2 Yup, there's a new entry in the Garage Journals series. In this gripping episode I talk about the last autocross event and discuss what went wrong, how one
Events BMC Autocross III The alignment produced a very neutral feeling, and the car felt perfectly predictable, no trace of bad manners through the slalom or in the slower sectors. I felt that the car would have been there for me if I had known what to do with it.
Garage Autocross Tuning The forces should be as high as possible, adding as much speed as possible when the skinny pedal is active, and dissipating as much of it as possible when the middle (yes, middle) pedal is summoned.
Garage Journal The Garage Journals Today I published the first episode of the Garage Journals, something that, at least for the moment, I intend to be a series about plans and ideas, and whatever else
Autocross BMC Autocross II After I got back home and made myself a caipirinha I tried to get a sense of what learnings I could get from the day. And it came down to: "you gotta slow down to be fast."
Garage Upgrading Tires For autocross, or really any other track sport, grip is a key element of performance. The simplest, yet likely the most impactful track performance improvement you can make to most mass-produced performance vehicles is upgrading your tires.
Garage The Garage Habit First, fall in love with a car. Second, identify bits you wish were better in the car you fell in love with (power, response, handling, missing function, robustness, etc.), and go about improving it.
Autocross BMC Autocross I The event took place on July 18, at Leidos Field, in Aberdeen, MD (home of the Iron Birds baseball team). The day was a scorcher, with highs in the 90s (tarmac temps were at 119ºF before 9 AM).
Background The Ride(s) The FT-86s and MX-5s in my life have been ridiculously fun to toss around in the backroads around where I live, without ever even coming close to risking jail time.
Getting Started ...And Here We Are Hello, I'm Beto, and I'm a racer. And, by racer, I mean: I've got a miata in my garage, and I'm into autocross. So, a racer. It really doesn't take much.
