Autocross, or "solo" as termed by the Sports Car Club of America, is a contest that rewards the competitor's driving skills combined with the handling characteristics of the driver's car. Drivers are timed through a pre-determined course with slaloms, sharp turns and straight-aways marked by orange traffic cones indicating the racepath. Only one car is allowed on the course at a time, and the winner of different car categories is crowned based on the official times registered upon completion of a series of runs through the course.

Members of the Guam Region of the SCCA and other autocrossers have been setting up courses and racing at the parking lot of the racewaypark for years. I was referred to one member, who initially gave me information on race dates and times and necessary items to race.

A few days preceding my actual venture to the raceway park, I could hardly contain myself. Would I drive fast enough to be decent? How many cones would I knock over by accident? Should I keep the air conditioning on in my car? Should I race with a full tank of gas or will that make my car too heavy? Will I get two wheels off the ground like in the photos I saw on the Internet? What if my car doesn't even get approved to race? I just really did not know what to expect or how my car would react to the course.

The day of the race, I decided not to eat anything in the morning in case my car agreed with the course and my stomach did not. At the course, I met two of the race coordinators who accompanied me in a walk through the course prior to the practice runs. I became acquainted with the course's gates, slalom areas and the overall path.

One tip I was offered was to look ahead a couple of cones to know what to expect while driving, so as to avoid making last second maneuvers with the car, which may cause me to either hit the cone or not follow the course properly. It was good advice, as it is something I generally practice

navigating around imperfections along Marine Corps Drive.

One other intimidation factor I faced at the course was the line of suped up 350Zs, Imprezas, Eclipse Spyders, and others waiting to practice on the course. If their nice paint finishes didn't catch my attention, the roars of their engines did. The beauty of autocross is that regardless of the car you choose to race with, gaining the fastest times is more so based on the driver's skill in handling the car and the course than the power packed under the hood and other installed add ons for better handling. Cars are also separated into different categories based on degree of modification. Some people, like me, brought their daily drivers out to the course.

After filling out a few forms and paying a fee, I opened my hood for the engine check and overall car check. With approval granted, I made my way to the line of cars waiting to practice the course. I donned my loaned white speed racer helmet, complete with the red stripes.

When the car before me completed the course, I approached the starting gate and decided to first get intimate with the course – to determine when I would be able to literally put the pedal to the metal and where I might want to take the speed down a notch.

Next time though – there'd be no reason to be overly cautious or slow. As I approached the starting gate again, I turned on the camera mounted on the passenger's seat of my car, which served a dual purpose – a remembrance of the view from my windshield of my crazy car adventure and also to take my unofficial time on the course. Even as the rain poured, I sped through the course, maneuvering through the slalom area and navigating the turns eventually leading back to the starting gate where I'd exit the course. The footage revealed I completed the course in 1 minute, 29 seconds, considered embarrassingly slow to seasoned autocrossers, who

finish a course in under one minute.

In my next run, I changed the song in my car, approached the starting gate with an increased determination and shaved off about six seconds from my unofficial time. Mother Nature helped me out, too, since it wasn't pouring rain during this run.

With increased confidence, I went one last time determined to shave off more time. Completing the course this last time around, I clocked in unofficially at 1 minute, 21 seconds. And that's with my air-con on, too. With more practice, maybe I'll eventually get under that one-minute mark.