1999 Detroit SCCA Memorial Day Classic

(As originally posted to the Talon Digest)

Drive 11 hours back from Virginia, grab a couple of hours of sleep, and it's back to Lawrence tech where 11 other ESP cars are waiting.

No spins this time, and I must be doing something right, because I wind up 5th on 12, just .009 out of the trophies. I'm starting to feel like the perpetual bridesmaid.

It was unrealistic to expect that I could take the car to ESP and Pro2 having raced it in GS for 2 years and expect to start winning right away. I knew that from the start, and I never pretended to anybody (including myself) that it would be anything else. The truth of it though, is that I HATE LOSING, and I'm starting to get a little pissed off. That's good - I drive better when I'm mad, because I want it more. And when I stand back and try and assess my performance to date objectively, it turns out that we're not doing too badly. I'm right up there with the leaders in ESP (although I'm getting killed in P2) and I've already beaten a couple of very good drivers. We've come farther, faster, than I had thought we would.

However, there's still a long ways to go yet. The car has to lose a lot of weight - it's 3330lbs with me in it, compared to 2900 for an RX7 and (urk) 1500 for a CRX. In some ways, the car is faster than I am, so I have to get a better grip on my driving. More power wouldn't hurt either.

I will say this though, I get more comments from people on how the car looks than any other car in the series. Someone is always taking pictures of it (hell, I had a guy exit the freeway to come look at it) If any of you out there are doing the sponsored race team thing, go get professional graphics done!

The Harrisburg Pro is in 2 weeks. Maybe this time I can beat a CRX.