Monday, December 30, 2013

Michael Schumacher

     We hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays, looking forward to the new year coming up, and maybe reflecting on good memories of the past too.  I think it's important to try and balance how much we live in the past, present, and future, which brings up a thought today of one of the legends of motor racing.

     If you are interested in auto racing or specifically Formula 1, then you know that Michael Schumacher holds the all time record for most wins, most season championships, and many other records. His F1 career is in the past since he retired from the Mercedes team after the 2012 season, but today in the present he is very much in the news. Unfortunately this is due to a skiing accident, and Michael is now in the hospital following a very serious blow to the head.  Even though he was wearing a helmet, his condition as I write is critical, and we want to wish the best to Michael and his doctors, and certainly hope to see him recover in 2014.

     This morning the doctors had a short press conference and released a few details, but it appears that it is too soon for any clear prognosis.   NBC news story on Michael Schumacher

     As far as Nixon Motor Sports goes, in the low speed world of auto-cross we always wear seat belts and helmets and keep safety in mind, so let's keep 2014 a safe year for everyone, especially in every day driving too.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Going Pro

For the 2014 season, the #86 car will boast an upgrade to the video capture system.  This week we're putting the new GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition through it's paces and experimenting with the capabilities of GoPro's video editing software.

Major improvements over the outgoing Nikon-based system is a significant increase in resolution and clarity, a far wider angle of view, and a significant increase in frame rates.

Here's a quick sample of a few different angles during a quick drive around the neighborhood.  All shot at 720p resolution and 120 frames per second, which allows the slow-mo sections to still show up nice and clear.

Cars and Coffee Update

Well SHAZAM!  After listing that Cars and Coffee was coming to Columbia, and telling you the location yesterday, the location apparently has changed, so it will be at the Columbia Quaker Steak and Lube!  Refer to the Cars and Coffee Facebook page for further details since I have no direct connection to them.

In other exciting automotive news, today was tire rotation day on my better half's Toyota Camry! With the tires I bought from Firestone we get free rotations, so after looking forward to some great free car service and reading my latest car magazine (EVO) and reading about all the expensive cars that I can't afford, it was a real treat to find out that the tires weren't wearing evenly and that it was time for an alignment.

Good news, the rotation part was free, but the alignment involved some money changing hands.

As for the magazine, well, BMW and McLaren, Porsche, and Ferrari continue to build more cars I can't afford, so some things never change!

Today's picture comes from last summer, my photo of the Italian 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth at the American fine dining establishment Sonic drive-in.  Even the Fiat USA folks liked the international flavor of this one, and let me put it on their Facebook page too!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Cars and Coffee Comes to Columbia!

     It's hard to keep up with all the wide wide world of sports, much less every page of the internet, but today brings news that the monthly car folk get together is now coming to Columbia!  Cars and Coffee is an informal get together-hangout-coffee drinkin'-car-fans event.  NMS has attended C&C in Charlotte NC a few times and always enjoyed seeing cars from hot rods to Mustangs/Camaros, Italian exotics, British, a new electric Tesla, and etc.

     Scheduled for the last Saturday of each month starting in January 2014, the Columbia Cars and Coffee will take place on Garners Ferry Road just west of I-77, in the big parking lot in between the Starbucks, Panera Bread, and Target store.  If you're counting at home and you like the Panera Hazelnut coffee like I do, that sounds more like they should name it Coffee and Cars and Coffee to me.

     Here's the link to the Cars and Coffee Facebook page, we'll see you there Saturday January 25th starting at 8am for the informal fun! https://www.facebook.com/events/522864564475562/

Cars and Coffee Charlotte NC, July 2013
Sunbeam Alpine

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

2013 Season Report

As 2013 comes to a close, NMS has published their 2013 season report concluding their inaugural season with the SCCA.  This year Bob takes the highest position for the team, finishing 2nd place in the SCR-SCCA G-Stock class, while Brian is not far behind in C-Stock with a 4th place finish. Our team data shows both drivers exceeding their performance objectives for the year despite missing a number of events for the season.  With the logistics infrastructure now sorted out we look forward to moving into the 2nd season and building upon our initial success and learning from our experience. 

Thanks to everyone who's supported and followed along with our progress this season!


For a digital copy of the 2013 season report, please contact Brian.

Keep an eye on this site to catch calendar updates, results and all the other action coming from Nixon Motor Sports!