NMS South - Coming Back Strong for 2016

I last wrote back in November about the 99 Miata getting a low mile replacement motor for the paperweight I had created back in June with the Tidewater Sports Car Club in Virginia Beach. Well, we hit a major snag in the most unfortunate series of horrifying discoveries that ended with a conclusion that the "new" motor was worse than the original.  After a pretty stressful off-season and several trips to the machine shop, the old motor is now anxiously awaiting re-assembly this coming weekend when the team makes a final push to get the car ready for the first SCR-SCCA autocross on February 21st.

Although the Miata looks like it's jacked up about 6 inches and ready for some off-roading, this is actually how the car sits without a few hundred pounds of engine and transmission.

In future posts, we'll bring everyone up to speed on the Miata's progress, but in the mean time the Buccaneer Region SCCA had their first autocross yesterday and it was time to shake the rear wheel drive cobwebs loose.  Fellow SCR SCCA driver and newly-formed LeMons race team co-driver, Jason offered me a co-drive in his 07 Nissan 350Z and I was happy to take the wheel.  After 6 attempts, Jason came out ahead with a final time good for 3rd overall and I was 1.3 second back and in 10th overall PAX position out of about 76 drivers.  We had a ton of fun and are fully re-energized to get the little red car back on it's feet.

Just a few of the awesome SCR SCCA folks I get to race with and who have helped make the Miata come together and push me to be a faster driver.  I again found myself driving an orange car.

Coming up in 2016, NMS South is looking to fine tune the 99 Miata and take it all the way to Lincoln, Nebraska for the annual SCCA autocross championship in competition with top drivers from across the country.  I'll also share more information on the development on the 24 Hours of LeMons race team and our 1972 Dodge Coronet race car and see what other low-buck car fun we can find.