Autocrossing with your kid

I just spent the whole weekend having a blast with my 15 year old son. He got his permit a few weeks ago. Got it on a Tuesday and was autocrossing on Sunday!

This weekend our region did a novice school. He was a student and I worked as an instructor. What a blast! Spent the whole day together laughing, having a great time. Then yesterday we raced together. He improved a lot and for a kid who's been driving for three weeks I think he did great! He drove agressively enough that we cooked our tires. Going to have to get a sprayer.

That's about as much fun as I've ever had. If you have kids and they show any interest in racing with you, get them started. It's more fun than you can imagine!

I got my daughter started the season after she got her real license. She's got 8-10 events under her belt now, plus a Street Survival school. We just ran on Saturday with our local club.

I keep telling her she's not obligated to come along but she keeps insisting it's fun and she wants her own helmet. She had a riot at the Street Survival. We usually manage to arrange run groups so that I get to ride along with her at least once, and try to make it so we can work together if possible.

It's definitely great bonding time plus she's good pit crew as a bonus. I wish I could get my wife to try it.

making me wish I had a kid

One of the clubs I run with allows kids as passengers so long as they have a properly fitting helmet. My 10 y.o. got to ride along (I called him my navigator/co-driver just to make it seem more official) and we had an absolute blast. I probably dialed down my driving a bit because he was along, but honestly, I'm out there for fun not competition anyways. We ended up getting edged by a tenth of a second for first place, so I think he may have even learned a bit of a life lesson from the whole thing. The best part is I feel like I'm spending quality time with my family (my younger son and wife came out to watch) rather than leaving them for a whole day.

My son was required to be on the autocross within 2 weeks of getting his license. He went on the course not being able to shift very well and came off with a very good understanding.

He spun it. And then he spun it again, this time in a big way. He came out grinning and he's the only one of my kids that didn't go out and promptly wreck their car on the streets.

He was actually pretty good.

I've been doing this with my daughter for a couple years now. We share my Miata which is now her dd. In the local autocross club there are several father/son and/or father/daughter teams. One these days she'll beat daddy.

kazoospec wrote: One of the clubs I run with allows kids as passengers so long as they have a properly fitting helmet. My 10 y.o. got to ride along (I called him my navigator/co-driver just to make it seem more official) and we had an absolute blast. I probably dialed down my driving a bit because he was along, but honestly, I'm out there for fun not competition anyways. We ended up getting edged by a tenth of a second for first place, so I think he may have even learned a bit of a life lesson from the whole thing. The best part is I feel like I'm spending quality time with my family (my younger son and wife came out to watch) rather than leaving them for a whole day.

that's is what I want to find. and will they allow them in a booster seat?

Our region allows riders over 12. My daughter will be able to join the fun next month! And I did get my wife to start driving. She'll finish her first full season this summer.

My baby seat even SAYS Recaro on it.... that has to be safe, right?

Also, once he's old enough, my kid will be behind the wheel of a car at a competetive event. And when his idiot buddies challenge him, he will tell me, and I will offer them their entrance fees to the next autox event. I believe I got that idea from someone here.

In reply to scooterfrog:

Not sure if they would allow a booster seat passenger. At (almost) 10, my son is big enough he doesn't use one anymore. My 7 year old would LOVE to go, but I've already told him he's got to be big enough to ride without a booster before he can ride as a passenger. I may, if its OK with the club, take him on a "fun run" at about 1/2 speed after the event some time, but, IMO, competition driving puts too much lateral load on a small body on top of a booster seat. I'm just not sure a kid who's too young ride without a booster would have the core strength to deal with it.

If you can find a club that allows kids to ride, it really is a lot of fun. I gave my oldest a simple checklist to go through before each run, and got a "cone report" from him after. He also checked times between runs. I think it made him feel pretty important and made for a fun family event.

(Edit: BTW, I had to ask the safety steward before I knew it was OK. They don't necessarily advertise that its OK, probably so they don't have 20 kids running around in the paddock area during events.)