About Autograss Racing
Autograss racing is supposed to be Britain's cheapest form of motor sport, but as in all forms of motor sport it can be as cheap as you like or as dear as you want! It takes part over a season which starts in early March and ends towards the back end of November, but it has been known for some mad soul's to race on New Years day but this is not recommend for the faint hearted! It takes place under the guidance of NASA, no not the space agency, but the National Autograss Sports Association Ltd who decide the rules which cover our sport. Belonging to NASA are 21 Leagues which are located in England, Wales, Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland and belonging to these leagues are over 50 different clubs to which approximately 5000 people are members off!
To become a full member with a racing licence costs £40, but categories exist for Men's, Ladies and Juniors racing licenses, but the ladies can also race with the men by taking out a Men's license for the year and we have had quite a few really quick ladies showing the men how to do it, and taking the titles at the big race meetings and National finals which are held during the year! You can also join and become Marshall's and Mechanic's and also help out in organizing the clubs at local levels
Racing takes place on a 440yd oval track ideally on a grass surface, but within a meeting we soon get down to the mud underneath leaving a surface which when dusty conditions prevail needs watering to keep the dust down, which can only be described as like racing on ice! Autograss is a non-contact form of motor sport (Yes I know for those of you who have attended this may come as a shock, but yes it is supposed to be non-contact but when 10 class 2 all arrive at the corner at approximately the same time it is hard for a bit of "door rubbing" not to occur). And racing takes place with Class racing ie all cars with the same limitations imposed on them from a straight line start to Open racing from a staggered start so that the faster cars are handicapped to try and get all the cars to cross the finish line at round about the same time!
Racing takes place every weekend from March to November with local meeting run where the man in the street can quite happily compete with a £25 scrap car with slight modifications and have a good family day out without braking the bank! After getting your racing license, the average cost for a days racing is approx. £5.00 entrance fees per person and then a signing on fee of £3.00 together with a couple of gallons of fuel and you have a days racing for about £10 excluding travelling costs, but there again there are usually two or three tracks within a 60 mile radius of you home unless you are extremely unlucky! so you can start racing very cheaply!
Of course at the other end of the scale you have your National racers who spend ridiculous amounts of money on these cars and travel to the big meetings which are held later in the season and usually are held over two days with two heats one day and a third heat on day two and those lucky enough to have qualified for the finals. But these meetings are definitely where to go to see the top boys play which include the Men's National finals held in August and the Ladies and Juniors have their own National finals held in September each year and "The British Autograss Series" held over 5 rounds all around the country.