Well, first let me say that there are a ton of people I want to thank for this past weekend's fun.. and I may forget someone, so a big general thank you to everyone who helped out this past weekend.. it was awesome..

ITR Expo 03 was my very first experience on a road course, and I must say, it's something I'm NEVER going to forget. I have drag raced and autocrossed before, but this blew all of that out of the water. I'm totally hooked. That nervous feeling the first time out on the track quickly was put at ease by my knowledgeable instructor and the beautiful piece of machinery I was fortunate enough to be driving. The feeling that first time I came over the hill and down through turns 7 and 8 onto the backstretch in 3rd at WOT and the feeling of working over and over to nail the brakes, downshift all the way to second and slam through turns 10 and 11 are two of my most memorable moments on the track. That, and at the end of the 2nd day when after 5 sessions that day my brakes were starting to go and my front left tire was overheated and i hit the brakes to go into turn 1 and the car started squirming all over the place.. Good thing the day was over.. hehe..

Overall, I thought the ITR expo was 100% awesome. I came with a lot of wondering and expectations and left totally satisfied. I had such a good time, I woke up Monday morning to go to work and still was smiling. And there are 3 main reasons I think it all went so well. #1 - The organizers. This event was meticulously planned and ran by a number of great and responsible people. Without their hard work, it couldn't have gone off like it did. #2 - The ITR owners. I met so many cool people this weekend, it's going to be hard to shout out everybody. Not to mention the comradery. I saw so many R owners helping others out for absolutely no reason other than pure kindness. Lending parts, tools, time, know-how, and support to those who were in need. That was something really special and shows how tight-knit of a community we have. #3 - The Beaver Run staff. They had the track in what seemed like excellent condition and were there to help when needed. I wish them the best of luck in continuing the building of their track and facilities.


My list of thanks:

Jon Felton, my instructor - Man, you taught me so much this weekend and were incredibly patient with me in the spots/times I was having more difficulty in learning something. You showed me how to handle my car like I never had, not to mention how to begin to understand what the car's feedback is telling me. I look forward to learning more from you at future events. And thanks for lobbying for my extra sessions. All track time is time well spent. And $1 rolling rocks and random chicks posing on the miata made it all that much more fun!

JohnnySpecV - Thanks for coming along and helping me out man. I hope you had fun and enjoyed your ride along with Bryan, even if you do drive a nissan..

MD/DC/VA crew - Thanks for waiting for me at the mall. Ahem. Seriously, there are too many to name. We had a lot of fun this weekend. The hotel bar was definitely the spot to be. Lol.. Paul's pics are priceless.

Trey, George, Brian, Bryan, Lance, etc - Excellent work on getting this whole thing to work and work well. You guys made this weekend an excellent one.

The sponsors, especially jackson racing - For giving away TONS of cool stuff. Including the nice little $1k gift certificate for a blower. And for bringing all their cars, tools, parts, etc. down. Made it so much cooler.

Willard - For letting me hop in his R for the ride of my life. I hope I didn't hurt your seat from hanging onto the underside so tightly. Hehe.. It was awesome to get a ride on the track in a similar setup car to see how it REALLY can be run, even if we did get cutoff.

Mike M - for bringing the spoon bling down, somehow.. and for being the motivation for our little trip to the Crazy Horse..

apexii - for buying a car 48 hrs before the expo and running the hell out of it all weekend. And for accidentally loaning me your jack and tools. Lol.. It was good to meet you man.

Christian and his pit crew - For allowing me to eavesdrop all day in the paddock sunday and learn more about ITBs and AEM EMS than I ever thought I could. Sorry your car couldn't be out there more, I know a lot of people really wanted to see it run, especially you guys.

Now, onto the pics. I've got about 100 in my imagestation. Some of them are borrowed by others, but most were shot by JohnnySpecV and I. Here's the album:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290348901

And a couple random pics that I thought were cool:

MD/VA/PA caravan getting off the turnpike


so many Rs!!


Mike M making the spoon R go "vrroom" lol


the spec miata aka ferrari


my R. finally posting a pic of it. and no, I still haven't washed it. Hehehe..



Thanks everybody! See you all at Expo 4! (C'mon Vegas...?)

 

Nice story. Can't wait to track the car myself.

Mike looks likes he's having lots of fun

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B2FiNiTY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mike looks likes he's having lots of fun </TD></TR></TABLE>

Look at every Pic of the Spoon ITR with someone In or Around the Car, Not a grim face in the crowd Its one of those cars that just makes you Smile

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mstewar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">MD/VA/PA caravan getting off the turnpike
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just curious as to how many Rs were in that caravan?

I just got through checking out most of the Expo 3 pics and videos. The expo pic with all the cars lined up was incredible. I've never personally seen more than 3 Rs in one place. I hope to get to Expo 4 in AZ.

 

Nice integra!!!

 

whoa, back from the dead

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WTypeRogerX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Just curious as to how many Rs were in that caravan?

I just got through checking out most of the Expo 3 pics and videos. The expo pic with all the cars lined up was incredible. I've never personally seen more than 3 Rs in one place. I hope to get to Expo 4 in AZ.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I forget how many but we had to b rolling like 40 cars once we all met up.
all yousaw in the rear view were R's

 

Hey I think that pic of the CW R with te-37's is mine. AWESOME!!!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mstewar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Willard - For letting me hop in his R for the ride of my life. I hope I didn't hurt your seat from hanging onto the underside so tightly. Hehe.. It was awesome to get a ride on the track in a similar setup car to see how it REALLY can be run, even if we did get cutoff.</TD></TR></TABLE>
glad you enjoyed it.

sorry if I acted crazy and tired.. it was a long weekend.

 

Ah, the memories
Greg - who can't wait for #4