Here are some pics from Chad's and my trip to VIR this weekend...

The Paddock... great setup!


My bedroom for the weekend


Chad leading the pack


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The M3... minus the bumper, radiator, etc hock: hock:



Yeah, you told me so... I had it towed to Charlottesville before I ran out of AAA miles... I have it at a body shop there to find out what kind of $$$ we're talking to get it fixed up. Didn't look like any frame damage, suspension damage or engine damage. The radiator was busted and of course hood, fendors and bumper will have to be replaced. We'll see. Good news is I don't have another race until next season :?

Right Click Save As

What a big .... um... storm:

Clicky
2002 Z06 Corvette, 17,xxx miles, $35,000? Sound reasonable? I'm thinking there must be a catch, despite what the dealer says in his description heh.

There's a used 2004 for ~42k too from another dealer, so I guess that's pretty reasonable.... but I thought that seemed kind of low.

well haven't officially started but lets say yesterday was interesting. I went from miserably trying for a part time job and getting a server job at Friday's to finding a "real" job later in the day.

many of you know the Depew's. I've been good friends with Mark and his dad races (sometimes) with the H1 honda challenge group. its the yellow and blue ef civic. anyways he has a business in Annapolis called Chesapeake Smart Homes. They do high end home theatre, security systems, movie theatre rooms, etc. The business is growing a ton and he was looking for a people person to act as a consultant for clients and show them the basic packages during initial meetings. Hes always said I could work for them and happened to work out last night. I'm going up this coming week to get a feel for things and see if it works out.

anyway, I'm pumped about this and think it will fit me nicely. I'm close to NoVA and hopefully will have an income to pay loans and work on a track miata!

Need one for one weekend to build the work bench - rather not waste $50 on something I'll use once. NoVa area please

First off,thanks to RJ for telling me about this forum.


EVENT:26th Annual MDA Charity Car Show
DATE:March 3,4,5 2006

IÔÇÖm on the committee for the MDA charity car show,and IÔÇÖd like to ask for help from anybody who would be willing to support a good cause.First off,let me say that I know that car shows suck-I hate shows myself,but this is a little different.In it's 26 years,this car show has donated over 1.3 Million dollars to the MDA to help with research and treatment.Also,this isnÔÇÖt your average show-it consists of around 100 of the finest cars from the region ranging from Street Rods,Hot Rods,Motorcycles,all types of Racecars and even a few high-quality Imports.It is held indoors on two full floors of the Roanoke Civic Center.This is considered one of the premier shows in Virginia.The majority of the committee members are old-school type guys who only know old cars.In the few years that my friends and I have been involved,weÔÇÖve been working to get more cars that interest a younger crowd-namely imports.

Now to the whole point of this post-IÔÇÖm trying to find a few Hondas to be in this show.There are very few imports in this area worthy of being included.IÔÇÖd love to find a few people willing to give a little time to help us out.We need NICE cars-excellent paint and lots of performance mods-not your average show car with big body kits,huge wheels,etc.We want to present people with a look at what real import performance cars look like-no F&F crap.Of course,IÔÇÖd love to have true race cars also-dragrace or roadrace.If you would like to consider submitting your car for consideration to be included,please keep in mind that you will have to be present around 7AM Friday morning to get your car parked and set up inside the civic center.The car will be inside,in it's spot all weekend.You must then be at the civic center at 5PM on Sunday to get the car out.Of course,the facility is guarded at all times during the event.

We also have an opportunity to provide some help for any Businesses that may be interested.

We offer advertisement of your company name as a ÔÇ£Supporting SponsorÔÇØon our main newspaper advertisement for a minimum $25 donation.The show advertisement runs as a half-page ad in the Roanoke Times(the largest newspaper in SW VA)in the week leading up to the show.We are also looking into providing links to out patron sponsor's websites on out webpage.

We offer booth spaces at the show for any business wishing to advertise or sell products at the show.These spaces range from enough room for a small display,to room for two cars or more.Prices range from $150-$225+.There is a page on the website that outlines booth size and costs.

We are also always looking for major sponsors for the event.These donations range from $1000-$4000+.This will get your name on all advertisements(various newspapers within a 200 mile radius,The Auto Trader,HemmingÔÇÖs Auto News and local TV and radio spots).The publicity per dollar we give you can't be matched.

The show will be held on March 3,4,5 in Roanoke,VA.
Of course,anybody that lives out of the area who would like to help will have a place to stay for free at my house or with fellow Hybrid members.

Please see the website for further info,and feel free to contact me for any questions or for more info.Applications for car entry,supporting sponsor and booth space can be found on the website,or I can mail them to you.


More info:


http://www.mdacarshow.com/
http://www.mdausa.org/

THANKS
Chris

So what are you folks up to this winter? Prepping for next year's race season? Conducting perfectly legitimate business transactions in order to fund more b00st? Trying desperately to bury another dead hooker in the crawlspace?

I need to fix the Z. Get it started again, find out why it hesitates so badly, and fix it. Then, maybe sell it, and use those funds to buy a prepped E30 racecar. Or an NSX so I can rule H1 Or keep it and put a bit more $$$ into coilovers and brakes so that it can put all that power to use on the track.

The Lightning needs a lot of love (as usual). Front suspension, tie-rod ends, steering box, etc... Shocks all around (maybe something nice for towing). I'd also like to go ahead and put a real hitch receiver on it, and a brake controller. Need to fix the A/C too, but its hard to get motivated about it when the temperature is below 75.

The WRX needs a good cleanup, a little bodywork (thank you, mailbox), and pending funds availability, a rear swaybar/endlinks and maybe something in the power department. Unlikely though, considering the busted nature of the other vehicles...

The bike gets left the hell alone.

The Gravely (my lawn mower) gets a complete rebuild. I've got the parts, just haven't the time to clean up the block and install everything. This might also be my excuse to buy a parts washer and some precision measuring tools. I'd really just like to take the entire thing apart, clean it all up and remove the rust spots, and repaint it bright red

Most of you guys know that this past weekend at Summit Point was my first wheel to wheel race. First off Id like to thank all the people that watched me, rooted for me, asked how it was going etc. It was really nice to have people there interested in the race and how I was doing.

Here is the weekend report:

Saturday
Drove the car to the track. I really shouldnt have bought that new sparco, its friggin tiny. My ass fits in it (barely), but my back and shoulders do not. 20 minutes of driving and my back feels like maengs mom right after DP thursdays.
The first thing that is so different about racing is the free time. No students, no jumping from car to car, and unfortunately, not much track time either. 1 20 min practice, 1 15 min qualifying, and a 20 min race.

The comp school I did back in july prepared me pretty well for the transition between HPDE and racing, so I really wasnt even that nervous on saturday. Which was odd, I felt like I should be nervous, or at least super excited or something.
So the first practice session went by pretty smoothly. It was quiet, because most of the honda challenge field was still wrenching on their busted-ass cars. Chris Snobeck introduced me to racing with some nice hard bumpdrafting down the front straight
I qualified pretty well on saturday. 4th out of 9. Happy with that.
The race comes, and MAN what a thrill. There is NO anticipation and excitement quite like coming around turn 10 in formation waiting for the flag to drop.
Unfortunately, when the flag did drop I must have been napping, because I got rolled pretty hard. Rookie mistake. Someone told me Kaan said at the time "we need to teach him how to street race" :lol:
Passed by 1 car in T2 then another car in T3. Both of which I out-qualified. d'oh! Most of the rest of the race was un-eventful. Traffic put a gap between me and any other SMs, so I was pretty much driving by myself. Even after a restart due to a flipped neon, there wasnt much action.
Finish: 5th place out of 9. Not too bad for my first race, but I had a ton of areas to improve, and I went about concentrating on those that evening.

Sunday
Practice: Another pretty quiet session. I like sharing a run group with honda challenge. Their cars are too busted to practice.
My preparations from the night before paid off because I was flying. Car felt great, the air was cool, the track had tons of grip, and my mental prep from the night before really helped me pick up speed through 3 and 10. The time sheets came out after the session and I ran a 31.7. Faster than the 2 guys leading the points championship . If any of you know Chris Snobeck, you can imagine how bad that bugged him. He wouldnt stop talking about it!
Qualifying: Awesome qualifying session. Had some cars to run with and push me. If felt like I picked up some speed but the times came in and I ran a 32.something. Hrm. Qualified 5th out of 10. Wait, who was the new driver that showed up? Former ITA champ Jason Meise, in a pro built car w/ sunbelt engine. shit. He didnt have a qualifying time so he would start at the back though.

Race Intent on not making the same mistake twice, I NAILED the start, all over the ass of the car in front of me, and if he had even given me a sliver of room Id have taken it. I didnt give up any positions on the first lap, and if I was more agressive I probably could have picked up one. For about 5 laps I was hanging with the lead group, with a great fight with the car in front of me. We had left all of the other cars way behind....
I had some great opportunities to pass the car in front, I got beside him a few times in T1, and also in T3 and T10. Just couldnt finish off the pass, and I blame that on going into the corners a little too slow (since going in side by side and offline is slower) this is a rookie thing and Im sure Ill get a better feel for it
then....Meise caught up with us. So now its a 3 way fight. Fun!
I was actually a little surprised that he wasnt faster, we would pull away from him in a few spots on the track.
Then...trying to get alongside the #5 car in front of me going into 6 I go in too hot and locked dem shitz up BAD. Could barely keep it on the track, and around goes Meise. Crap, 6th place.
For the remainder of the race we battle, which was a lot of fun. I had better exit speed out of T10 than him, and got a good draft to pass him in T1, but he got back beside me and I backed off in T3. Not quite comfortable enough yet to pass or go 2 wide through 3 at that speed! The #5 car slowed down a lot (not sure why) so we ended up passing him, and I finished the race right on Meise's bumper for 5th place. Fast lap for the race was 1:31.9. Again I thought it was faster but Im pretty happy with that, considering I planned on being happy with 33s!
I had a MUCH better time in the sunday race, really had an absolute blast. There isnt anything like this, folks.

Here are some pics and a video of the sunday race. My server crawls, so if anyone can mirror it, Id greatly appreciate it.

right click, save as, and it come back to it when you wake up tomorrow morning. ( divx codec required )
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://evan55.homeip.net:8080/images/Summit%20NASA%20race%2010-15-5/Summit_SM_race_10-16-2005_pass2_DIVX.avi">http://evan55.homeip.net:8080/images/Su ... 2_DIVX.avi</a><!-- m -->


T3 in practice


T10


no weekend is complete until you throw the shocker



strapped in and ready to go