Not a member. (South course actually) Raced there many times.

Humble brag time? Still hold the NASA GTS4 track record standing 7 years. Look at the dates on these. Pretty proud of how long some have stood. Now of these the most "Active" courses are Road America & Autobahn. I think this will be my racing legacy more than anything else. The trophy above was a great way to sunset my "career."

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I have had an NA and an NB.
Never raced them but totally great cars.
I miss them every day.

Miatas are awesome on the track. I've never driven one, but raced against many. Just for fun, check out the bumper sticker on this one (right in front of our BMW on pit lane during 'quiet hour' at a race at Barber Motorsports Park):

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For those that havent, if you get the opportunity to try - go race one. They are easy to handle, very nimble and easy to drive. Controls are light and the car is quite forgiving.

I never felt like I was fighting the Miata - it was more of trying to find the lightest touch and smoothest way to do everything. (Except mashing the throttle hard because it doesn't do much haha)

Great to see the Miata Love.
Low HP cars are great to race.
You learn how to keep momentum up and be smooth.
You also want a reliable car that other racers are running.
You build up a great comradery with other racers when they need something.
You always help a fellow racer at the track, you never know when you need something and that person you helped has the part or knows who has the part you need to finish the weekend.

Bernie

Just remember the quote from Animal Farm with Spec. Miata!. "All Miata are equal, but some are more equal than others".
Also, there is nothing like watching 75 SM's coming into ture 5 at Road America and all of the know they can win.
I was shopping yesterday afternoon and when I came out, here is a gray Miata parked next to my car. Not unusual for down south, but this is 15 miles north of Mpls./St. Paul and it had just snowed and was close to 0 degrees F. I talked with the owner and he drives it all winter except when it is snowing or real icy.

So I tried a Miata.

I've been out of a race car since 2012, I haven't even driven a car with a clutch since 2020 when I sold the street car, since I'm now working from home.

It took me most of the day to get back up to speed, and I'm no where close to the times of a mid pack Spec Miata, but what do you want after 1 day? Blackhawk Farms, I broke 1:30, I'm not sure what my fast time of the day was, as they didn't want us to focus on times, but rather the line and smoothness, but I got a peek at a Mylaps output of our 3rd session: 1:29.7. Fast guys are 1:22 - 1:23.

I ran a driver school with Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs, 35 years after my first school with them. Rented the Miata from Advanced Autosports, as Chris said, they're a 1st class operation.

I'm not a tall guy, 5'9", maybe 5'10" on a good day, but I had a heck of a time fitting in the car. Aluminum seat all the way back against the cage, but I don't think this car had the lowered floor. I had to scrunch really hard to get in with the helmet and HANS on, so later I tried getting in without the helmet and that worked better. It wouldn't have worked if this car had a center net, but MCSCC doesn't require them. The only other issue was turn 4 at Blackhawk, if you do it right, your right wheels are up on the curb coming out of the corner. When the car comes off the curb, the cage slams me hard in the left side of the helmet. I ended up pinching the exit to avoid the slam in the head.

Didn't break the car, didn't throw up in the car (another guy did, it was hot), and I was faster than the guy in the Boxster. Hopefully I'll get the 944 ready to go again, and get out a few more times this year.

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My SM car. Unfortunately I’m missing a big chunk of the season after my heart episode… I will be back sprint racing in a couple weeks but am nervous about a 1:55 stint endurance racing.

I guess you could be like Carroll Shelby and chew on nitrate pills. :D

The SCCA Runoffs are this weekend at VIR.

52 cars registered.
27 NB2
23 NB1
2 NA6
0 NA8.

Top 5 were NB2.
The first NA car was 41st, but he did have an off, should have finished higher.

I won't spoil the finish, but yes, very equal. Of course there was the first lap incident, and a 20+ minute black flag while they fixed a guardrail.

Despite missing a bunch of our season, somehow I wound up 5th in the WCMA local championship. I did an endurance race 2 weeks ago and we got 2nd after a screw up in the pits, and I got 1st at a time attack event in the extreme class with my SM. I was in extreme because I was running race tires (they are all I have).

the runoffs race was fantastic.

I’m actually surprised the NB2s beat the NB1 cars. I thought the 99’s had a slight advantage… maybe we need less restrictor plate?

I guess the ‘advantage’ comes down to the track, track conditions, and the specific day…