2013 Recap!

It was a very different 2013 for me.  After selling the #929Evo last fall, I had a complete of renting.  I drove a Miata, a Volvo (twice), 2 Mustangs, 3 different BMW SpecE30's and a Subaru STI rally car.  I set a track record, took 1st in a Sprint race, took 1st in an Endurance and tried some Rallying!

We started at Gateway with a NASA sprint weekend in a PTE Miata. First place and a track record.

Next up was the 1st of two 24 Hours of Lemons events.  With 65+ other cars, we turned some crazy 3-hr stints into 420+ laps over 15hrs and a solid yet disappointing 2nd place overall.


Another NASA Sprint race weekend - in a Mustang that never ran correctly followed next and definitely one of the most frustrating weekends in my race career.

A planned gap over the long hot summer months came next.  Lots of work setting up a July/August event but it all fell through.

Finally, 2 weeks before a 4.5hr Enduro at Autobahn I had lines on 3 different rides.  1 fell through, 1 was out of my pricerange and the one I went with netted me my first ever Enduro win!  In a Mustang no less...

A quick 1/2 day excursion to DirtFish outside Seattle during a weekend getaway yielded some good video and showed me the gravel stuff is crazily different than the tarmac stuff!

I had a November Chumpcar race lined up at a brand new track, but it fell through as well.  I scrambled and picked up an early December Enduro + Sprint weekend with NASA and it was pretty awesome.


Overall, I seemed to gravitate towards Enduros.  If nothing else, it helped maximize my seattime and get the most out of an event or weekend.  There were some good arrive-and-drive options, some good friends with good cars and some not so great events.

Lining up a few 2013 Rentals!

Nearing the end of 2012 I started inquiring about rental for the 2013 season.  I've gotten a lot of information from a lot of different individuals, teams, etc with a range of price structures and cars.  Matching up the offers, inquiries, prices, cars, sanctioning bodies, travel plans and a host of other variables with my available schedule and what I would actually want to drive takes some time! 

In a nutshell, a car that is going to be more competitive (ie; with a proven race history or team prep history) is going to cost a bit more.  And of course the old adage; you gotta pay to go faster - meaning renting a 400hp Mustang is usually going to cost more than a 120hp Miata.  And higher sanctioned series like NASA or SCCA with stricter prep levels cost more than say a Lemon's or a Chumpcar seat.  In addition, splitting an Enduro seat with any group is more economical as you can split the costs multiple ways; sometimes up to 5 drivers. 

One thing I wanted to do was start early!  Winter sucks.  And I've only been on the track once since July 1st!  So I looked hard at Feb/March alternatives including return trips to VIR (once in 2009) and Road Atlanta (once in 2012).  Then a much closer opportunity opened up at Gateway that I pounced on involving a NASA prepped car by a friend of mine.  After that another early opportunity for a 2-day Lemon's race was offered.  I have never drove in Lemon's, but a friend of mine has a car that usually does very well - meaning they finish!  So there's 2 early race weekends already in the plans.  More details about each to come as things solidify.

March 23-24 - NASA Central Region - Gateway Motorsports Park in STL - PTE Miata rental
April 20-21 - 24hrs of Lemons - Gingerman Raceway in Michigan - 1986 Volvo 245