Mazda Champion: Gretchen Austin

The SCCA Tour events and the The Tire Rack Solo National Championships have a two-day format, where competitors test their skill on two different courses and the times are added. So while quickness is an important factor, so is consistency. One good day and one bad day aren't going to cut it; it's a lesson Gretchen Austin has had to learn the hard way.

"Twice I've had day one leads of over a second that I've lost on day two," she says.

Austin entered the second day of the 2014 SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Neb., four-tenths of a second behind her co-driver Katie Lacey in C Street Prepared – but ahead of two former national champions.

"Knowing that day two was a totally different day, I just gave it all I had and managed to get just enough to get ahead of Katie and take the national championship," Austin says.

Austin took the victory by 0.176sec, thanks in large part to the power of positive thinking.

"I'm a figure skating coach by profession," she explains. "I've got competitive skaters. I've been talking the whole year to my skaters about mental attitude and how that can affect your performances. I had been awfully discouraged about losing big leads in the past, and I had a group of students that were having some difficulties with their competition. I made it a project with my skaters, and I said we're going to change the pattern this year. We worked on the mental aspects – visualization and positive attitude and those kind of silly little tricks you hear about. Not only did my skaters turn themselves around, I had a better year too. I really do believe in the mental part of this sport and tried to incorporate it more into my own driving."

Austin began autocrossing about seven years ago, after her husband had started a couple years earlier. She went to a novice school and was hooked; her first event was a National Tour in Milwaukee.

"I've always been a leadfoot, so being able to actually do that legally was kind of the first intrigue. Really, just pushing myself, pushing my own limits, too. I never really had the chance to push a car to its absolute limits. I find myself learning so much every single year, and I'm still learning. You're never going to be the best driver, there's always something new to learn. That's been keeping me interested all these years," she says.