Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Charleston SC: How Hot Was It?

It was so hot that, well, it was really hot in Charleston last weekend! About as hot as these two drivers burning up the course in the Miata!

Jason Rucker and Brian Nixon, smart to be in the shade!
Saturday's version of hot saw the NMS team driving at the Charleston Coliseum with the South Carolina Region of the SCCA, and we're happy to report a very good driving day all around! In the NMS-South Miata, Jason Rucker and Brian Nixon took 1st and 4th in PAX time out of all 113 drivers, and an outstanding 1st and 3rd in their Pro class as well!

Over in the GS class, the NMS-North FIAT Abarth brought home another first place (in a class of only 2 cars) by going 0.061 of a second faster than the 2nd place VW GTI! That's pretty darn close! The FIAT didn't crack the top 5 overall like Jason and Brian, but taking 18th PAX fastest out of all 113 drivers isn't too bad either. Kudos to the Miata guys, they win the 2016 NMS title over the Fiat guys for team bragging rights. Good luck to Brian and Jason at the SCCA National Championships in Nebraska next month!

Brian Nixon and Robert Nixon at the Tire Rack Street Survival

Sunday was also hot, but very rewarding as Brian and Robert both served as instructors for the Tire Rack Street Survival one day school. On Sunday we didn't teach speed, we didn't talk racing, and we didn't ask the students to be race car drivers. We only asked them to learn how to be better and safer drivers for the rest of their lives. This cool school is designed for young drivers under 21 to bring their own cars out to an empty parking lot and get personal instruction and practice in how to safely operate their car. Beyond basic driver training, the Street Survival is aimed at teaching the limits of safe driving in different exercises that focus on single aspects such as; straight line braking; braking while turning; the feel of going too fast in a skid pad circle and how to control the car; avoiding hazards in the road; and how to manage weight transfer to smoothly steer the car left and right.

Students signing in Sunday morning

The final exercise required the students to navigate a curving course (in the empty parking lot) while trying to send a text message. I know my student thought they could do this easily, but as soon as they started texting they totally lost focus on driving the car and went off course. The way I like to explain it is that we want students to make lots of mistakes in school so that they don't make those mistake in the real world where it can cause damage and injury. Thanks to the BMW Car Club of America and the Tire Rack company for sponsoring these educational events around the country. You can probably find one near you on their website schedule too, try Googling for Tire Rack Street Survival.

Yes, even a 1958 Edsel can autocross! 

The great results from Saturday really tightens up the Pro class points for the year, with some very competitive Miata drivers leading the way, Marty Bull and Jason Rucker fighting for 1st, and Brian Nixon and Kyle Ray-Smith going for 3rd, despite some serious leg surgery for half of Kyle's legs!

Tire Rack Street Survival

We'd like to share some links to other people's photos of the events this weekend, so click away for more info at each active link below. Like normal, you can always go to our favorite links on our NMS page to find the SC Region, SCCA, and other cool car places in cyber space. Mostly I'd recommend you check out the great camera work of HMDB Photography's Brad Baughman to see lots of great shots of smiling drivers from the Tire Rack Street Survival school, and also his shots from Saturday's autocross.

SC Region SCCA event results from Saturday: Results LINK

Video of Jason's fastest run on Saturday33.858: YouTube Video

Video of Brian's fastest run on Saturday34.172: YouTube Video

Video of Robert's fastest run on Saturday 35.758: YouTube Video

SC Region Points so far in 2016 with the NMS Miata in Pro, NMS FIAT in GS: SCR Points 2016

SC Region event photos by Brad Baughman and HMDB Photography: HMDB Photography

Tire Rack Street Survival photos by Brad Baughman and HMDB Photography: HMDB Photography: Street Survival

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