…Push in clutch …Rotate heal over to blip gas pedal while keeping steady pressure on brakes …Select next desired gear …Let out clutch. Repeat.

It had been a while since I had driven anything but the GT-R on track so I had to repeat the above lines in my head while on track. Well, not really but I was a little rusty on the first couple of laps in our street class STI. Unfortunately our racing luck finally gave out this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The DNF that had been looming over the GT-R’s head and had been narrowly escaped in the first two events of the season finally happened. The first DNF the GT-R has ever had, and hopefully the last! The sick motor we put in the car after the failure at Buttonwillow could not quite last the two events we hoped it would and started spitting bearing debris into the engine oil. After posting a low 1:40 lap time in our first hot session in practice, a time that would have dominated the Modified AWD Class this weekend, all we could do was wonder what could have been as the GT-R sat silent the rest of the weekend.

My weekend was not over, however. Thanks to the generosity of our street class driver, Cameron Benner, I was offered his car to drive in the Modified AWD Class and try to collect as many points as possible. After only about 5 laps in the car, I was able to post a 1:47.6 to take home 6th and collect some valuable points. It felt just like home being back in a Subaru and I actually forgot how much fun it is to have to heal toe, and bang through the gears down the straight away. I have to say I was really happy with how the car was handling; great handling from the AST Suspension and great power from the COBB-Tuned Cosworth engine. A small aero tweak was all I suggested and the car was ready to go. It has been hard for me to assist Cameron throughout the year on setup with this car because I have never raced a Subaru on street tires. Now driving the car and having something to reference when speaking about setup we should be able to squeeze even more time out of our street class entry.

Now it is back to the grind as we begin the seemingly insurmountable task of completely rebuilding the COBB STI with a new cage, refreshed engine and a rebuilt transmission. We will also be pulling the engine out of the GT-R and building a new healthy unit as well. We must do all of this in time to test both cars the weekend before Redline Time Attack Round 4 at Auto Club Speedway on May 29th-30th. It will be lots of work but both cars will look to be on the top step of the podium in Fontana.