It was supposed to be an ice race, but the recent stretch of warm weather meant it was more of a slush/snow/ice/water/gravel race. Regardless, it was an absolutely amazing time!

During the morning, Protege2886, Aero, and I piloted Caboose (#33) through three single-car practice sessions around the snow-x track at Capital City Speedway. Caboose was riding on brand spanking new Continental Extreme WinterContact tires and the difference was remarkable — we actually had some control!
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Joel Stein: My Prius Problem – TIME. A truly great and amusing article that every “eco-snob” should read.

All you can do is scratch your head.

Event 1 took place on January 16. Shawn did a write-up here. Event 2 was today, but I skipped it on account of being sick.

Less than two years ago, we welcomed Zhaan into our family. Zhaan’s arrival set-off a chain of events that led to the acquisition of many tools and jacks, the purchase of Ginger in October 2008, a summer spent doing autocross and lapping events, and most recently, the acquisition of Private Caboose for snowx. Zhaan was the first car that I ever drove in competition and in her six event career, we managed two podiums. With all this history, it was with a heavy heart (more…)

Holy Shit. Schumi is back: Schumacher signs with Brawn-Mercedes!

Tonight, Jeff and I agreed on a name for our new NX 1600. After careful reflection, and in consideration of its colour, condition, and mission, we have christened the little NX, Private Caboose. Yes, we named him after the lovable, if idiotic, Blue soldier from Rooster Teeth Productions’ hit series, Red vs. Blue.

After a few evenings of scouring the net, Protege2886 and I have procured a 1993 Nissan NX1600 for the purposes of improving our winter driving skills through participation in the MCO 2009-10 SnowX series. Yes, the car count is now 2.5 for our household, but this one won’t be insured or plated and cost us a grand total of $350 dollars, so $175 each. Her suspension, steering, and engine seem good and solid, aside from an exhaust leak that we will have to patch. Other than that, there is some rust from the trailing edge of the doors and through the rear wings, but nothing too bad. Remember, only $350.  Electrics work fine, T-top doesn’t leak, and interior is clean and even has a really cool electronic dash.

The car is currently still at the former owner’s house. All we need to do now is coordinate trailering the car to our rental property, complete the basic prep work (interior stip, check brakes, etc) and then wait for snow, at which time, we’ll be trailering her to track at Capital City Speedway where she’ll spend the winter. Needless to say, we’ll be begging the other partner at bdubracing.com (Shawn) for help with the hauling.

Here are some pics:

Just added some pics shot by Tony Collins to my earlier PMG post. Here’s a sample (post-processing done by me, not Tony).

Thanks to James & Tracey for letting the conehead crew back into their home for Festivus 2009. There was Rockband on Wii, (more…)