To Finish 45th Out Of 60, First You Must Finish
It was six years ago that my Neon last completed a NASA race. In the time since, I’ve raced everything from the 24 Hours of Lemons to Grand-Am Koni Challenge, Continue Reading →
Nicholas Michael Pearson, 1969-2017
I came back from Sebring on Monday night, set my phone down, and started writing a few things for the upcoming week. When I looked at my phone again it was blinking furiously with messages from people trying to reach me: via Instagram, through my brother, through mutual friends. I called one of them back. “There’s no easy way to say it,” he told me. “We lost Nick tonight.”
My God, I thought, some idiot killed him in his own car. Nick was in the process of trying to sell his one-owner 2004 SRT-4. Since he’d never harbored any ill will towards anyone, Nick always assumed the same of others. He must have let some kid test-drive the 400-horsepower Neon on those Kentucky backroads. Must have gone with him to explain how the car worked. Things must have gone wrong. For a moment, I fervently hoped that the driver had suffered unimaginable pain before dying himself.
But it wasn’t so. Nick had been training for the next BMX race on his rollers, right next to his wife on her elliptical machine, when the heart attack happened. He didn’t make it to the hospital.
Guest Post: RX-8 Rental Review!
Everybody give a big hand to “VTNoah”. He’s got a Guest Post for us. You could be next! Send ’em in! — JB
For those who are paying attention, the title of this article may have raised a red flag. “How can anyone rent a ten year old, manual transmission, rotary powered sportscar?” Well my friends, the answer is Turo. They are attempting to create the Uber of rental agencies by allowing everyday people to rent their cars to total strangers. I learned about the company via Matt Farah’s Smoking Tire podcast. Farah and his crew talk about Turo regularly so when I found out I would be spending a week in the Dallas Fort Worth Area, I decided to give it a shot.
(Last) Weekly Roundup: My Way Or The… Okay, Just My Way Then Edition
I suppose it’s true that all Ohioans eventually become snowbirds. How else to explain the fact that I was at Road Atlanta last weekend and Sebring this weekend? Naturally, temperatures back in Powell have hovered around sixty-five degrees for the whole time I’ve been gone. They’re scheduled to drop back down into the cellar right around the time my plane has to land.
This was a brilliant weekend with a spectacular pair of cars from McLaren. Can’t wait to tell you all about it. In the meantime, here are a few things I wrote earlier:
(Last) Weekly Roundup: Didn’t We Almost Have It All Edition
Well, we could have won the race. Our MX-5 Cup car, “Marilyn”, wasn’t perfectly cooperative — we lost an axle seal on Thursday and the ABS block/pump went AWOL on Friday — but we took the lead in AER’s Class 1 on Saturday anyway. In the end, it was a combination of horrible pitstops and fuel miscalculations that did us in. Still, we finished 21st out of 43 racers, 6th in class. Then we discovered that the left rear shock had given up its seal. Marilyn uses Penske 8300 shocks, and we couldn’t get a replacement seal in time to start in Sunday.
All of our problems will be fixed by the AER race at Watkins Glen in April. The only question is: How much will it all cost? And what will go wrong next?
While I look at my five-figure credit-card balance and weep softly, the rest of you can read last week’s articles!
Resist! For #laborsavings
The e-mail said,
Meetup has always served as an organizing platform for a wide range of political views, welcoming everyone from the Howard Deaniacs to the Tea Party. Meetup will always welcome people with different beliefs.
.
But after the recent executive order aimed to block people on the
basis of nationality and religion, a line was crossed. At a time when core democratic ideals feel under attack, we feel a duty to spark more civic participation.
.
Last week, we created 1,000+ #Resist Meetup Groups to act as local hubs for actions on behalf of democracy, equality, human rights, social justice, and sustainability. Already 50,000+ people have joined.
I trust that most of my readers are too intelligent, or at least too cynical, to swallow that tripe at face value. What’s really going on?
1969 Plymouth Fury III - Furious Fuselage
It’s funny, ever since I stopped regularly writing two years or so ago, I keep stumbling on old photo files and finding cars shot years ago that I totally forgot about. Whenever I see an interesting old car, I get all excited and think “I will write this up tonight! It’s so cool!” Then three or four years go by. Such is the case with this 1969 full-size Plymouth. Continue Reading →
Made In The USA, Dirt Cheap: New Balance 3040
They aren’t for everybody, but if you like the look of the USA-made New Balance 3040, today — and only today — is the day to get them at the Chinese price.
For Sale: 2004 SRT-4, Mopar Stage 3R, 330+ FWHP, One Owner
My old pal and competitor Big Nick Pearson is selling his 2004 SRT-4. He bought it about half a year after my first wife took delivery of hers, and he’s the sole owner. Details and photos after the jump.
2017 Chrysler Pacifica Rental Review
Awww yeah, Bark Rental Review back in the hizzy! I’m so relieved that I don’t have to try to take decent photos. And what better way to kick it off than with the lot poison that is currently making CDJR dealers all across America sick? That’s right, today we’re talking about the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica. I’ve had at least 3 different CDJR dealers in 3 different states tell me that the Pacifica is an overpriced floorplan anchor that they cannot move at any price.
“Nobody knows what the fuck a ‘Pacifica’ is,” they tell me. “I don’t know why they couldn’t just call it the Town & Country.” Then they mumble about the huge sticker price—although the Pacifica starts at around $28k, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with a Monroney under 40 large on a lot—and they ramble on about the death of the Chrysler brand (another topic for another time).
However, they’re missing one thing about the Pacifica. It’s quite good. No, better than good. It’s brilliant.
Keep Your Virtue Signalling Out Of My Sports
#weaccept?
What does that even mean? And what the hell does any of the blatant virtue signalling we saw last night have to do with sports?