The Cone Geek

 On September 22 2024, I had my first parking lot autocross, and it was a great experience. I was a little nervous coming into it because I had never driven a cones-only autocross, and this added a new layer of complexity. Racing on a kart track like Daytona allows you to memorize the corners and the racing line by navigating inside the tarmac. Cones have infinite lines. Since all of my racing experience has been in actual tracks, this was completely new. It was a lot more demanding than expected, but luckily I made it through. Tracking cones is a lot more demanding than I expected, and at least for now, my brain isn’t fast enough for me to think about the line and also look at other sources of feedback, but I am sure as I get more experienced I will get better at this. This race was the debut of the ApexPro data system. I would love to say that it was a spotless debut, but it wasn’t. I had a lot of trouble getting the video and the data to work at the same time. This meant that I ...

  In the competitive world of autocross, finding speed isn’t just about raw power—it's about precision and data-driven decision-making. The real secret to becoming faster lies in understanding the subtleties of your driving and the dynamics of your car. As I dive deeper into autocross, I’ve realized that the most crucial investment I can make isn’t in the car itself but in improving the driver—me. By leveraging data, I can fine-tune my performance and make every run count. The Power of Data When you break down a lap, there are several key data channels that can help you understand where you're gaining or losing time. Here’s a closer look at the main channels I focus on and why they matter: Speed: This is the most straightforward metric—how fast you're going at any given point on the track. But speed alone doesn’t tell the whole story. What’s important is understanding where you’re carrying speed and where you’re losing it. Speed data helps you evaluate your braking points a...