May 6th, 2001 (NHSCC)

Well, my collarbone has been mending at a pretty good clip, and I had been able to drive around the streets for about 10 days before the event, so I figured I'd give it a go and see what happened. A friend of mine with a GS-R from the DC area come up for his first AutoX, and we had a Phoenix Yellow ITR join the fray. Both Vin and Yos did great for their first Autocross, and it seems they've both caught the bug....I wonder if the ears on the bean-counters at the TireRack perk up every time someone becomes an AutoX addict and starts to think "I need some Race Tires...."
As for the actual racing, I was pretty disapointed with my performance...my shoulder was a little sore through the slalom, but other than that there were no physical problems...my brain, on the other hand, wasn't engaged...forgot to walk the course alone, and got pretty lost on the first run, forgetting about the slalom entirely. Second run was inevitably slow as I tried to find the course, and the last two I just couldn't figure out a fast line for the car. Oh well, lesson learned: ALWAYS WALK THE COURSE ALONE at least once... Matt was kinda stuck at the exact same time for all four of his runs, but he had the satisfaction of a great fun-run time. It was a pretty tight course, almost entirely 1st gear...lots of rev-limiting on this day! I think we all earned sunburns on this day...but it was so beautiful! Check out results at This Location.

Insert theme from JAWS here...

One of each! Well, unless you count the different body style in 97 and the slightly different black in 2000.

They're giving these Type Rs away when you get your oil changed at an Acura dealer.

They've Spawned!

We're hoping to have 20 'tegs running by the end of the season.

(The Count) ONE! ONE INTEGRA! HAHAHA. TWO! TWO INTEGRAS! HAHAHA. THREE!..

We've got mad integras!

S&M racing in da house, Matt shows us his IQ...

One of these cars is doin it's own thing, one of these cars does not belong (what's with the Sesame Street train of thought?

Matt trades his R for a ride in a 'Stang...he forgot to turn of the traction control and was REALLLLY happy about it :)

WOoooaaah Nelly!

We all remember what happened the last time the Germans and the Japanese got together... (I'm going to hell.)

Probably one of the coolest sounding contraptions on the planet, the Twin-Turbocharged Mazda rotary engine.

Burnin a LITTLE bit of oil...shoulda grabbed a pic of his first run, the parking lot looked like London during the Industrial Revloution.

Vin and Yos help us box in Matt's friend's 'stang.

There's nothing quite as cool as a race-prepared Porsche 911

Wow, a legitimate action shot! This 'Vette is in the process of killing the one of the starting gate cones, seen crushed behind the rear tire...an automatic Off-Course, but still a cool pic!

My buddy Vin gets into the throttle on his GS-R

Vin was renting the helmet to see if he liked it...the fumes of whatever they used to clean it were...interesting.

Vin cranks it to the right

Vin takes to the cones like a fish takes to a frying pan. Wait...

Yos starts learning what the Type R is all about

After a run or two we could hear that distinctive "BWAAA BWAA BWAA" noise that means "Shift now!"

The proud papa in his baby!

Mmm....Corvette Z06...mmm...titanium exhaust...

That's all folks! Next race is North Hills on the 20th, hope you can make it!

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