Road Race Geek
Two years? Dean Case signed me up. Didn’t even ask. He just told me I was a member. Also that I was the only speech major.1) How long were you involved in SAE/Cal Poly?
The auto crosses. Though technically hosted by the Cal Poly Sports Car Club, we were all SAE guys. I had an old CHP car with 50-series Comp T/As and Bilsteins so I had to run in the same class as the Camaros, Mustangs and the “new” C4 Corvette. I finished 2nd behind the Vette. I couldn’t afford new tires, so I only ran the one event. That was a good car.2) What’s your favorite SAE memory?
Freelance car photographer & motor journalist. Also teach photography twice a week at Santa Monica College.3) What are you doing now?
Oh God. Do I have to answer that? Let’s just say its not unusual for my wife to walk thru the office/third bedroom ask if I’m actually working. I spend a lot of time with emails and on the phone. A few times a week, I actually have to use a camera or write something. The rest of the time I stay in my jammies.4) What’s a normal day at work like?
5) A few words on your Civic, your website and the racing you’re involved in.
Ah, something I like talking about.
I bought the Civic new when I was back in school at Art Center (Photo major). I left it stock and just beat the hell out of it for 275,000 miles as a daily driver. In 2002, the guys at HASport put a non-VTEC Integra engine (B18b) in it for a story in Sport Compact Car. I took it to the CA smog ref for a smog certification and the whole deal. It was bitchen. What Honda should have put in it in the first place. But one thing led to another. We kept making it better and better on the track and worse and worse as a DD. (Spherical bearing suspension joints and race valved coilover shocks are not the best ways to impress your wife with your vehicle maintenance prowess.)
After nine whole years without a car payment, I got a new daily driver (Golf 2dr, TDI 5-speed) in 2003. The roll cage and my my first “racing incident” came shortly thereafter. I rolled the thing on its roof, qualifying in the first event I took it to at Thunderhill. That’s why the roof is orange. I fixed it myself and new I could never match the paint on the rest of the car. (I should also note that its a little scary how little time it takes to cut an entire roof off a Civic at the pick-a-part with only a hack saw…)
I’m in my third season, now. The car is still a work in progress. As I learn more and find the time to improve things, I do. What I can’t do, I try not to worry about. I’m in it for fun, so the only races I really lose are the ones where I don’t have a good time.
I started a blog this year where I’ll be writing about it all throughout the season. It’s at http://roadracegeek.blogspot.com/
Do what you want. Do it well. And read The Richest Man in Babylon.6) and any other words of advice you’d like to pass on
Also, if know you want to go racing someday, warn your wife before she’s even your fiance. Then you’ll both know she knew what she was in for.
Thawley