Triple-duty Miata racer from Missouri has won four national championships in SCCA RallyCross, including the 2014 PR-class title. Rupert Berrington Image

There is no doubt that the Miata does many things well and makes an excellent racecar and autocross vehicle, whether in spec trim or in an open class. However, it’s not the first car many might think of for going quickly on dirt.

When F Production Miata racer, D Prepared Miata autocrosser, Spec Miata builder and mobile dyno operator Sam Henry heard his region was going to be putting on some RallyCross events, a cousin to autocross but on non-paved surfaces, he was interested. He had a Miata tub – “that had maybe been hit one or two many times to be a good road race car” – and a bunch of parts. He put it all together and did so well he decided to take it to the RallyCross National Championship and won. Four attempts later, he has four national titles, including 2014 in the Prepared Rear-Wheel-Drive class.

Now, before he started competing on pavement, Henry raced motocross; so dirt is not foreign territory for him.  But another big factor in his success, he says, is consistency.

“In RallyCross, one of the things that helps me is all the runs are cumulative,” he explains, meaning that it’s not your best time on the course, but the times of every run added together that determine your standing. “Maybe I can’t always turn the fastest lap, but I’ve always been  consistent driver. That helps. Plus the motocross experience, I think, helps me look for the line a little bit.”

Consistency aside, Henry almost made on major mistake in the 2014 contest that he says gave him a pretty big scare: “I stopped on course for what I thought was a downed cone. As I came to a stop, I realized the cone wasn’t truly down. I lost a lot of time at the end of day one and it made for a tight shootout on day two, but we pulled it out,” he says.

Henry says he enjoys sliding the car around in RallyCross, a technique that will cost time in autocross or road racing – not to mention eat tires – but is the quick way around in RallyCross. Even with that difference, though, the same qualities that make a good racecar for pavement also translate to RallyCross, making the Miata an excellent choice. In fact, Miatas won every rear-wheel-drive class at the national championship last year (RallyCross has three classes within each drive category – all-wheel drive, front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive).

“The Miata works well because it is lightweight and has four-wheel independent suspension. I do think there’s something to having a small, lightweight car with independent suspension,” he says. And light is what he would recommend someone start with if they were building their own RallyCross Miata.

“Start with a lightweight model and focus on the suspension. Obviously suspension travel is necessary to smooth out the bumps, but don’t go too far away from what a Miata does really well, which is the handling. Don’t make the car too high in the air. I think there’s a lot to be said for keeping a Miata where it handles really well, and I’m willing to trade ride height and smoothing out the bumps for better handling,” Henry explains.

Henry’s Miata has Koni shocks with a coilover kit and modified bumpstops for a little bit more travel. The hardtop is required in RallyCross, but the rest of the car is pretty close to stock. He adds that power is not as important as in other forms of competition because the surface is traction limited.

RallyCross is a blast, he sums up, and not that difficult to get into, he says: “Just go do it. Put the best tires on the car that you can and go give it a shot. It’s really not that much different than Solo and it’s a lot of fun.”

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