I Have a New Addiction. And It Has an "X" In It.

People who are addicted to cigarettes want to smoke more.
People who are alcoholics like to drink a lot.
People who are addicted to AutoCross can't stop thinking about getting faster.

Yes, that's right. I'm now addicted to AutoCross, aka AutoX. For those of you who thought I was talking about ecstasy, aka "X", WHAT KIND OF PERSON DO YOU THINK I AM? jk xD

Anyway, getting back on topic: yes everyone, that's right. Three months after my first attempt to AutoX in November '08 and my ignition coil burning out on me, rendering my car immobile, I got my shot at redemption, and in the words of the Davis Motorsports Club president, Alex Kang: "Wow. Wow. That was REALLY good. I am at a loss of words right now." Just goes to show that it's not the car, its the driver :)



It was a beautiful day for AutoCross. DMC was meeting at Oakland Coliseum at 0800, so I was up nice and early.

Honestly, I didn't sleep straight that night at all; I was way too excited, haha

After washing up and getting dressed, I hopped in my car, set up the GPS, stopped by the local donut shop to grab some food for the team...

And after that I was on my way to Oakland.

Greeted on arrival by Alex himself


Everyone was just hanging around for a little while, emptying their trunks and getting ready for the course walk

Soheil was snackin' away


DMC was rollin' pretty deep that day...


Map of the course (it's a lot easier than it looks)


Had some fun trying on everyone's helmets


The DMC stickers came in, we we were all enjoying ourselves putting them on


Reppin' it

+10 hp? hahaha

After the line had died down, we all lined up to sign up for our run groups; Alex was working the table at the time


I signed up for Run Group 4 with Soheil and the other half of the team. Alex put me in as H-Stock #2, when really I should have been in STS since I have sport suspension. Indicated on the side of the car with masking tape (which I still haven't taken off xD)


DMC created a contingency system that involved us estimating the times that we would be beaten by. Today it would be me and the Camry vs. Nick and his BMW E30.

A real sports car vs. a family sedan? Nick decided he'd be faster than me by 7 seconds or more, but I figured I might be able to get within 7 seconds of him ;)

Boxing picture?

Nestor vs. Nick

Later that afternoon it was out to the grid.

I had to come within 7 seconds of Nick's ~51 sec third run.

Apparently my car was be most comfortable/easiest to sit down in

That's pretty much what it was made for, heh

All lined up...


And ready to go...


VIDEO:

Pretty self-explanatory.

The best thing about not driving a real sports car is that everyone expects nothing from you, and as a result, you can surprise a lot of people. I actually beat out a few S2000 guys with my first run time, despite it being my first time ever doing AutoCross, and having two passengers (which adds an extra 300lbs at least, haha) Looks like I get the contingency points this time around :)

Car and Driver


Davis Motorsports Club team picture


This may not be what Toyota had in mind when they were making ads for the Camry, with the caption, "Oh, what a feeling!", but it was definitely a great feeling to finally get to AutoCross.

The next AutoCross event is on February 22, 2009 @ Oakland Coliseum, so if any of you would like to join us, come on out. And remember, it's not about what you drive, it's about how you drive it ;)

-nesqu!k