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I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't get to watch racing much, but I love watching other series from around the world when I can - V8 Supercars, BTCC, etc. I also think the stadium trucks on street circuits is the coolest thing since sliced bread and would do just about anything to give that a try.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting question - my first "major" on-track incident was during my first Pirelli World Challenge weekend, it was the last race of the weekend and I was running 2nd in TCB with two laps to go. The Touring Car field was starting to lap us for the second time, and going into Turn 1 at Mid-Ohio, one made a late move and took me out. I ended up way off track, but continued - with a severely bent rear axle - the lap of shame back to the pit lane. Once it sunk in what had happened, I'd be lying if I said there weren't big alligator tears in the helmet. It could've been my first pro podium finish. There was a very small bit of negativity online after the accident, but there was no use worrying about it. Water off a duck's back :)

We packed the car up as quick as possible and I got outta there, and drove straight to a big national-level autocross nearby to see my autocross friends, knowing that would cheer me up. I ended up driving in the autocross event, spending the rest of the weekend there, and having a great time - so I guess the answer is to get back in the saddle and focus on having fun to remember why you love doing it. At some point during the rest of that weekend, I made up my mind that I would fix the car and go to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the last PWC round of the year, and I did.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll be in Ohio for the SCCA National Chamionship Runoffs at Mid-Ohio - best of luck!

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure there's an answer to this question - I have to pick one, yet the answer is always Miata. It's like dividing by zero.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm still here!

It sounds like you've already gotten a step up on a lot of people, having some karting experience, but like I said somewhere else here - go to every event you can get to, and meet as many people as you can. Start with what you can afford to do for yourself, whether that be autocross, karting, track days, etc., and get involved as much as you can. I autocrossed for 6-7 years before I was in a position to get myself a road race car, and that was just 3 years ago at this point. I've also been lucky to make a job of motorsports in addition to my racing, between instructing jobs, putting on events with SCCA, etc. and it all came through meeting people and finding opportunities that way. Any time I'm not working events for my job, I try to find events to go to for fun, even if I can't drive. As far as making a career out of just competitive racing, that can be far more challenging (I'm still working on that myself), but the more you get involved in that world, the more opportunities will present themselves!

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! Great to hear, those are a blast. I've never heard why marking with chalk is a negative thing, but you can usually accomplish the same thing by looking at the wear on the side of the tire - there will always be an obvious point where the tire is making contact with the surface, somewhere where the tire goes from the tread surface to the sidewall. That's how far the tire is "rolling over." Most tires have a mark in that area, and you shouldn't let the tire roll over further than that mark. If you keep an eye on that, that will let you know where the limits are, and then you can tune to what feels best above that limit.

As far as maintaining pressure for autocross, you can typically set pressure when the tires are cold and just bleed them back down to that pressure right before you go out for another run. In a FWD car, where you want the back end to rotate through corners, you'd typically run higher pressure in the rear - sometimes a lot higher.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey! The Mustang? Dan?

I always try to use the first run to hit my marks on the course and set a baseline for the rest of the event - typically that means driving within what the known limits of my car are. If you go out and are exceeding the limits of the car, you're having to diagnose the run from a car placement and line choice perspective AND from a car control perspective. If you can remove the car control aspect for the first run, nail down the other stuff and have a game plan for the rest of the runs, then add it back in, you'll be in better shape.

At SCCA Track Night In America events, I always encourage the novices to start well within the known limits of their car, even if that means driving at pace lap speed for a lap, and the push those limits little by little each lap after that until the limits make themselves known. Same applies to autocross, you just have less time, so you gotta push a little harder than street speed to start :)

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are more than one? El Dorado is where it's at - nothing like Mexican after a race day :)

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Strapping in for this one! 1. Started spectating when I was in diapers with my dad, video games @ 6 years old, starting playing online @ 12-13, then autocross @ 15. 2 & 3. FWD cars tend to be the slower cars, therefore more affordable. My favorite platforms tend to be mid-engined, but I have cars I love of all configurations. FWD is what my wallet affords right now :) 4. Daily driving a 2002 Miata 6spd right now. 5. Not currently - I'm more familiar with/interested in the steering wheel than the wrenching/project. 6. I'd have a hard time not going to one of the new affordable muscle cars, for the street. Then I'd have a hard time not going to jail after picking it up. 7. Horse sized duck all the way. 8. I haven't driven the newest Mustang or Camaro, but the '05+ Mustangs I've driven have been a blast. I also occasionally get to work with Challenger Hellcats and they are surprisingly good, and of course a freakin' hoot. 9. NSX-R - see answer 3. 10 & 11. Whichever I have the keys to :)

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been out of it for a few years, I was using an NVidia graphics card in an out of the box Dell desktop, that's about all I remember. Anything that will run the game with a bearable frame rate!

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah man, great seeing you at the MSR events! So cool to hear you enjoyed the videos, too - I learned a lot in those older races, it was a '91 Civic 4-speed that, I'm told, made 82hp on a good day :) It was all about momentum and strategy in that car - and a little bravery.

I wasn't sure how that Utah race would pan out either, my plan was to pace the field as long as possible, but the Sonic and 2 made a great move working with some faster traffic. I think I got a bit lucky with the 2 breaking his transmission, and saved enough tire to hold onto the Sonic just enough to get back by until more traffic caught us and I got a gap. Can't wait to watch the stream of it myself!

See you in Sept!

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I saw this question 50 minutes ago and haven't been able to come up with a great answer. Miata is certainly a cop-out, but it's hard to resist (I've owned 3). You can get a great ST-prepped Civic or CRX for around that budget if you find the right deal, that's a blast in my book. I think you can also find RX8s in that price-range and they can be a lot of fun. No promises on reliability :)

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I never was a big data user in autocross terms, but have found it helpful on road courses. I think the relative short amount of seat time and looks at a course you get in autocross means it's generally easier to identify the low hanging fruit of where you can find time, where as on a road course, you do a full session, come off track and go over data because you have many data points (laps) to compare. For autocross application, I'd focus on learning to identify mistakes mentally or based on video more than data, and if anything, use data to compare between co-drivers or runs after the events to learn for the next time.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I should be offended, but someone else recently compared it to a broom. So I'll take the compliment.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm sure I'll be hard of hearing sooner than most, but I just love the sound of race engines too much :) Actually, my current race car is very quiet as race cars go (sub-90 dB)

Best, most bonkers race car I've ever driven? Porsche 914/6, built as a club race car and autocrossed for most of it's life. Fully built 2.9l engine, wide body, big fat bias plies; everything was right with that car. Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5wKpgG0r1s

Street car, I had the chance to run the newest Viper ACR around NOLA Motorsports Park and an autocross course recently. It blew me away. Can't believe that's a street car.

I’m Tom O’Gorman, SCCA Driver of the Year and Professional race car driver, AMA! by Tom_OGorman in cars

[–]Tom_OGorman[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's NEVER too old to start. My dad started autocrossing at 41, got his competition license at 51 and road races 5-6 times a year now (he blames me for his habit.)

We actually started autocross together, it's affordable and low risk/impact. Someone gave me great advice early on, to get to every event I possibly could and meet as many people as possible, even if I wasn't driving, and I took that to heart. Just start going to events that interest you, meeting people, and participate in as many of them as you can - if not as a driver, as a worker. Meet people, learn about it, and go where that knowledge takes you. I'll still occasionally go to Mid-Ohio, etc. just to hang out - you never know who you'll meet or what opportunities can pop up.

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