“These posts are like, seven feet in diameter concrete,” said Michael Brandt, executive head of the Automotive Technology department. “They’re so close to the course that if anybody got out of control just slightly, they’d hit one of those things and they’d probably destroy the car and injure the person. Everybody says it’s not safe enough.”

Before construction began over a year ago, the De Anza administration and project engineers attempted to design the solar system around the racecourse to allow the Autocross to continue in the future.

“The school did as they promised,” said Boris Simbirsky, an officer in the Auto Tech club. “They laid out the pillars to accommodate our course, but course coordinators decided it was still unsafe.”

The Autocross, an annual fundraiser organized by the Auto Tech club, which fetched the club up to $15,000, pitted drivers from around the area against the clock as they raced for the fastest time and cleanest lap on a closed-cone course. The club depended on the money earned from the event to fund its yearly events and competitions.

“The Autocross is our greatest [source of] revenue,” said Simbirsky.  “We’re definitely losing money on this, which means less activities for the club and less involvement.”

The Auto Tech club is developing a plan for the next year to have “more fundraisers that are less dependent on the Autocross,” said Simbirsky. “Hopefully, that will bring back a little bit of the money that we lost.”

Multiple substitute locations have been investigated, including Great America, Moffett Field, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds and Candlestick Park, but none have proven to be viable options. Most open parking lots in the area are either occupied, in poor condition, or would charge thousands of dollars to host an event like the Autocross.

Without a substitute track location, the future of the Autocross remains in question.

“We had no Autocross this year for the first time in 43 years,” said Brandt. “It might be permanent, we don’t know.”