Cone Killer

Waiting to go again.

Waiting to go again.

This past October, I had the chance to attend a two day autocross event. I’m embarrassed to say that it was my first time aiming my bumper at cones in about four years. That means it was my first event with a big hair drier bolted to the side of my engine. You know, the one that’s been there for over two years.

Oh well, better late than never.

The really FAST way to warm your magnetic numbers.

The really FAST way to warm your magnetic numbers.

The autox was held at our local road course, NAPA Speedway (which used to be called Sandia Motorsports). Events at that track haven’t always been the most fun. For years, all you could do was put out cones and let folks slalom on the straights. But last winter, the track added a number of crossovers to link various parts. The result is pretty damn fantastic.

As for Sharka and me? We did okay. 3rd out of 5 on the first day and 3rd out of 4 on the next day. I was rusty and Sharka was nearly uncontrollable (WAY too much power for the amount of rubber), but we had a blast. A BLAST!

Photos!

A million thanks to my buddy Tom for shooting all of these and forwarding them to me. Having so many pix of me driving Sharka is my favorite thing ever.

After the start.

After the start.

Accelerating down the hill.

Accelerating down the hill.

ME!!!

ME!!!

Zoom zoom!

Zoom zoom!

Pivot Cone.

Pivot Cone.

Nearing the finish.

Nearing the finish.

My favorite of the bunch.

My favorite of the bunch.

Perhaps you noticed the crudely taped-on #10s? Worst magnetic numbers EVER. They met a horrible end when the day was over. The ones that managed to stay stuck on the car got balled up and set on fire. I ran the next day with some old #2s that I found in the garage. The 2s were a huge upgrade.

Thanks again for the pix, Tom!

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