THSCC Forums

It was the late 80's and I was just out of High School. The local SCCA region (Southern WV) held an autocross in conjunction with a local week long festival in Charleston, WV. Can’t remember how I found the event. I probably was just driving by. Anyhow it looked interesting so I stopped and watched.

Next thing I know I am attending events just to watch. My daily driver was a Jeep CJ5 and that was not going to be an autocross vehicle! Before long I was lusting after the Porsche 914. The club had two very rare Porsche 914-6s that participated regularly as well as one or two regular 914-4s. I started participating in the club’s active TSD rally program and was youngest person to win the TSD “Limited” class. I was also younger than the end of year trophy that given to the winner each year (our version of the Stanley Cup). I also obtained a well worn Porsche 914-4 that I started autocrossing. Never really was competitive due to an extreme lack of preparation, but had loads of fun.

This eventually led to following CART, F1 and any type of road racing on TV. Eventually I traveled multiple times to Mid-Ohio to watch CART, IMSA (in it’s prototype glory days with Porsche 962, Al Holbert, Derek Bell, etc.), Motorcycle, SCCA regional and Historic races.

This all was put on hold while I moved to NC and started a family. After nearly a decade of just watching it all on TV, I have started up again with my daily driver in STS with THSCC.

What is your story?

_________________
Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Well, I've always loved cars and racing. Had a Trans Am in high school, it fell apart during college and I got a 1986 Honda Prelude. Learned how to drive a 5spd. Got a 1991 Prelude and started modifying it after seeing some ricey cars in a magazine. Wrecked that one in heavy rain (not really my fault, but technically I could've prevented it), and got a 1994 Prelude. Modified that one a lot. Carved up mountain roads with it, then started falling in love with the Subaru Impreza RS. Ended up getting a 2001 model, didn't really modify it much - first new car, and it was pretty great bone stock. Sold the Prelude to pay some bills (I'm kicking myself now - could've had an "expendable" race car now if I'd kept it!). Started modifying the Impreza. March of last year, I stopped by Southern States Subaru to get some parts, and started talking to a guy there who had an old Beetle that he was autoxing. He told me to visit www.thscc.com - I checked out Sanford NCAC last year, and when I saw what was going on out there, I knew I had to do it. Met Tom Hoppe at a Subaru club get-together, started talking to him about autox. He was really encouraging, but told me that if I ran my car as it was then (a few power mods and stock suspension other than a bigger rear sway bar), I'd be in STS - and there was a guy named Matt Nicholson in STS, and nobody was EVAR going to beat him.

The rest is history...

I got my interest at an early age. The first autocross that I remember seeing was in around 1981 or '82. I was about 10 years old and it was in a parking lot of the mall in Wilson (may have been a THSCC event?) Living in Rocky Mount, my dad(who autocrossed in the 60's in a TR3) would take my brother, Craig(CSP73), and I to see the autocrosses at the "old airport." I remember how great it was to see the cars that I read about in magazines being run in that setting.

In 1987, I turn 16 and drooled over the then new 2nd generation Mazda RX7's. Unfortunately, drooling over them was all that I could do at the time. Instead I drove a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird. It was rear wheel drive and had a v-6 and I terrorized the back roads of Nash County with it for a few years .

Fast forward to after college when I met this great girl who I talked into buying a 1987 Mazda RX7 as her daily driver . Then I talked her into letting me autocross it. After I talked her into letting me put some KYB AGX's on it and buy some dedicated autocross tires for it, she decided that she would give me the car as it rode much rougher and she was unable to use it on about 2 weekends a month.

Given my good fortune with acquiring the RX7, I decided to marry the girl . Someone should have told me that buying my own RX7 would be cheaper than marriage. (Just kidding--at least the forum is password protected!)

I now enjoy running autocrosses along with my brother Craig and we have recently done a few track days. I am excited by what lies ahead with this great hobby.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

_________________
John E. Dawson
www.zoomcubedracing.com
'87 Mazda RX7

My love of all things racing started when my Dad and uncle took me to a drag race in St. Louis when I was about 6 or so. That hooked me hard. I started watching the Indy 500 with my Dad every year (still do to this day). Eventually, the TV would have any race on that was broadcast. It didn't matter what kind it was. Cars, motorcycles, sailboats, bicycles, it just didn't matter. I watched and went to see it all. Fast forward to July 2000, a coworker found out that THSCC was having an autox at the ESA in Aug and challenged me. He had a modded 2nd gen MR2, I had my stock Miata. We, along with a couple of other coworkers and my brother entered. As it turned out I, had the fastest raw time of our group, but our boss won based on PAX. Now I am the only one of the bunch that still races and the others have chickened out. (My brother races in Tampa)

OK, I rambled on long enough. I'm going to bed.

Through high school and college I was probably something close to your typical kid - driving way too fast for conditions, doing lots of handbrake turns, jumps, and off-road driving in my dad's VW Bug. After I rolled it, Dad decided it was time for me to buy my own car, so I bought a 74 Toyota Celica and continued my hellion ways. After college I bought a 1985 Dodge Omni GLH, which my friend convinced me to enter in autocrosses at the University Of Lowell (MA). We didn't know anything at all- most folks we driving their parent's station wagons on snow tires. Consequently, either my friend (Porsche 912) or I would usually win except when this other guy would show up with a Lancia Scorpion running Hoosiers. But what I had always loved was sliding sideways in the snow or on dirt roads.

At some point I found out that my dream sport sport actually existed, and it was called Pro Rally! Not only that, but a coworker of mine was doing it in a VW Rabbit GTI! I crewed for him once, navigated for him once, then decided it was time to build my own car! I built my GLH into a rally car and did that for 5 or 6 years before moving down here (from NH), and pretty much giving up rally driving for autocross.

I guess I told a bit more than strictly how I got into motorsports, but there wasn't really a clear line. Hope I didn't bore y'all too much...

_________________
Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

my dad autocrossed with thscc ages ago. i went with him to a couple of events and liked it, but i knew nothing about cars...11 or 12 years passed and ummm...lets see, about a year ago i got my GTI (previous car, Honda CRV ). I found out that a guy at my work, Tom Freeman, did autocross so i thought i'd give it another try. i really haven't learned much more about cars, but they are fun to drive.

_________________
05 MCS

My father took the family to a Drive In movie theater (if you don't know what that is, ask your parents) around 1955 in Albany, NY on a Wednesday night. The movie was right next to a 1/4 mile paved track that ran on Wednesday nights. The Drive In was closed so the track could use the theater for a parking lot. I guess my father was hooked because I don't remember going to the Drive In movies again. Every Saturday night was at a race track. He eventually got involved as a part owner of a car and all I knew was race cars from then on.

I spent the next 45 years working on cars, working on race cars or watching race cars (oval, F1, Sports cars, whatever). I took my kids and half of their freinds to races when they were growing up (Aaron, did we take you to your first race??).

The only downside is that I did not get behind the wheel until 3 years ago. Wish I had done it sooner.

I'm in motorsports? Imagine that....

I liked cars as a kid. Loved to draw them, read about them, that sort of thing. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford a car as a teenager (my own fault, I s'pose).

Fast forward about, oh, 18 years. It's October 1996, and I've just moved from the booming metropolis of Havelock, NC (wonderful place, if you're an 18-year-old Marine) to Raleigh. Bought my first copy of Grassroots Motorsports. Found out about SCCA (yes, I know). Met the infamous John Davison (didn't meet The Bobcat 'til later), who told me about THSCC and autocross.

Got inspired to buy a Formula Vee. Scared the crap outta myself with it several times - August 1998, February 1999, and one other time which I mercifully have forgotten - and became a minor THSCC legend, I must immodestly say, as a result.

Still planning to actually race, "one of these days"....

Jon (aka Link)

I'd always been a car guy. So in college, I worked a bunch during the summers and bought a 1988 CRX Si. Wonderful car. Except this pesky squeaking from the cargo area.

So I posted to Brown University's "HONDA-L" mailing list looking for a fix. I get a reply not with a fix, but an invitation. It went something like, "Hey, if you bought that car from a young couple starting a family in Raleigh, I'm Arthur, Valerie's husband. There's an autocross school this weekend in Rocky Mount, that CRX would be a great little autocross car, you should come out."

And so it began. I think the next thing I did was go to Bondurant school, then I didn't do much. Started autocrossing the Integra GS-R (which I bought brand new...) and learned about Car Guys through I think Mark Senior. Went and did my first track school in November of 1998 and it was game over for Karl. About two months later the car had roll cage number one in it thanks to a bunch of help from Mark Vitacco.

The evil, time-and-money consuming habit of driving on track, and later on, racing, took over my life. Evenings were spent in the dark, in the rain, in the parking lot of the apartment I was renting, changing tires and brakes.

The next step was obviously racing. Scared of what I'd been led to believe was rough driving in SCCA Improved Touring races, me and a buddy in Atlanta invented the Honda Challenge program that NASA features. Two years later I actually find myself a little burned out on the whole motorsports thing and have recently been enjoying some time away from it.

_________________
Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

My uncle had a 65' 327 Impalla SS and used to like to scare the shit out of my aunt driving 100mph. Then a kid in a mini bike passed my house
and the June 1967 issue of HotRod fell out of his back pocket. I read it
cover to cover about 100 times. My dad started taking me to NY National
Speedway when I was about 12. Got a '70 SS/RS Camaro when I was
17 and started doing the Street Racing circuit in Broklyn. My mum was really worried about street racing and eventually it became apparent why,
so before my luck ran out, I started driving to NY National and won G/SA
a couple of times with the Camaro. Started working on
cars with I was 14. By the time I was 16 they would actually start and
run better. I got into road racing via helping a friend build a B/P Corvette
to TIme TRial at Bridehampton. As I look back my parents were very supportive of my racing. Probably because the racers were not into
the drug sceen and it was leading to an interest in engineering

I still have that issue of Hot Rod.

Mark V

_________________
Mark Vitacco
THSCC TT Chairman
mvitacco@bellsouth.net

I used to race motorcycles and thought of cars as something to tow the bikes around with or to run light to light everynow and then. Then one day I met Dave Blum..... then Bowie Jr...... then Ron Spencer.....then...........