I like how the paint damage on the hood blends in with the clouds.

As if to bring the season around full-circle, yesterday it rained Biblical quantities of water down on our last autocross of the season… for exactly the duration of my heat.  Given my general predilection for going bassackwards from time to time, it should therefore come as no surprise that my first run ended in an epic off-course excursion.  It was not my best outing in recent memory, but it wasn’t that bad, either.  And I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was this time last year.

Since I last posted, I’ve made it to four more events.  At the first one of these, I drove like a total eedjot and at one point became so fixated on my tachometer (the course necessitated an excursion into 3rd gear at one point) that I drove past an entire slalom without looking.  DNF.  Oops…  I then spent the remainder of the season trying to close the gap with Don Gawf, one of the local STS regulars.  I never quite got there, but I kept making progress — at least until Don bought a shifter kart and started running in F125.  I’m in a predicament now, because unless some other middle-of-the-pack drivers start running in STS next year the only people I’ll be chasing will be National-level drivers with better-prepped cars.  Depending on how things shake out monetarily, I’m considering doing a light SMF build (primarily a VTEC head swap) and running in the Street Tire index class next year. It all depends, though.

In the meantime, it’s time put away the summer tires, track down some cheap junkyard-special shocks and springs to abuse for the winter, and start making plans.

Always look ahead…