1: What was your favorite moment with Nick Flynn?

Nick and I stopped at a gas station in Topeka on our way over to Heartland Park on morning. The kid working at the station asks about the engine in my car. I told him that it was stock. He responds with a disgusted, “Oh” and immediately turns to Nick and tells him that he has a buddy who will buy his Integra (you’ve seen this car, right?) for $6,000 despite the condition because they can’t get them around there. We laughed about that the entire time that we were in Topeka.

2: Is it hard being gay in the construction industry?

I have no idea. Oh... wait. You're asking because I drive a Miata? :P

3: How many times have you wanted to smack Nick this season?

I didn't keep count. Actually, I did literally drag him away from commenting on something once this year, and I held my breath when he went up to the microphone at the Town Hall meeting at Nationals, but he ended up sounding like the most logical, thoughtful person there. Who knew? Actually, Nick's a great co-driver.

4: What's your bribe to Emily for letting you go off autocrossing so much?

Good question. Maybe I'll let you know when she cashes in that card. I hope that I'm not in for too much, but the terms of the arrangement aren't well defined.

5: Is your wife jealous of Nick Flynn?

I doubt it.

6: Would you paint your car pink and put Tampax on the side if Tampax offered you a full sponsorship?

That depends on what a "full sponsorship" entails, but I'd at least listen to the offer!

7: How many SCR households have funded your hobby?

Directly, three, and each of them are repeat customers. A fourth autocrosser is lined up for a nice project with me when the timing is right, and there is a fifth that provided a referral to someone that has turned into one of my best customers.

8: What was your favorite National Tour/Pro Solo and why?

Winning the Finger Lakes ProSolo was my favorite national event moment this year. We made a change to the shocks just prior to this event and that change made the car come alive. Plus, the course was an absolute blast to drive, and I feel that I did my best driving of the year on that weekend. I just wish that a few more of the really fast guys in ES had been at the event.

9: Favorite moment at Nationals.

Definitely not the ProSolo Finale in a two-day monsoon. Crossing the line after my first run on Day 2 was pretty memorable though. I put down a really good first run that would have been the fastest run in class that day only to find out just before my next run that I had picked up a cone.

10: To what primary factors do you attribute your dominance of the DOY points battle over the past two seasons?

Preparation and commitment. There is so much that happens before you even get behind the wheel that impacts how well you are going to do. I’m constantly analyzing how and what I am doing.

11: What do you think are the five most important things for a new autocrosser to focus on?

1. Put a reasonable setup on whatever you are driving, leave it alone, and just drive it for a while. You don’t need to mess with the car at this point.
2. Learn to read a course during coursewalks. This takes time and experience.
3. Get as much seat time as you can, but use it wisely. Try to work on whatever your biggest weakness is at every point.
4. Get a good driver to fun run your car with you in it, ride along with a good driver in his car, and get a good driver to ride along with you. You’ll learn a lot.
5. Pick someone as a benchmark, whether in your class or not. Compare your times with theirs at every event to track improvement.

Also, consider taking an EVO or other high quality school. You will learn more in one day than you would in an entire season of events.

12: What do you think are the five most important things for an autocrosser that's been doing this for a few years but still isn't winning to focus on?

1. Get in a class-competitive car that is set up well to eliminate the car as a variable. Maybe co-drive with someone better than you.
2. Take a course walk at each event with someone that is fast. Talk to them about how to approach the course and where you should be looking. One of the most important things for me is to be able to drive the course at speed in my head and always knowing where I should be looking. Try driving the course in your head at 2-3x speed. Spots where you freeze up are parts that you don’t know well enough yet.
3. Seek input from the best drivers that you can, whether that is someone like Nick Flynn at a local event or Sam Strano at an EVO school. Then, when you get input, LISTEN to it!
4. Work on driving better, not faster. Take a run, review it to decide what went right and where there is room for improvement, visualize the revised run, and then go execute it. Don’t pay attention to what kind of times other people are putting down. You’ll go faster if you focus on what you are doing, not what others are doing. You won’t go faster knowing that “I’ve got to find a half a second out there.” All you can do is improve what you didn’t do perfectly. The time will come as a result of those efforts, not from pushing harder.
5. Hit some cones. You need to learn where the edge of the car is, and the only way to get it right is to hit cones occasionally. Distance is almost always your enemy.

13: What was the tire bill, including cost of "free" tires, this year?

Four sets of Hoosier A6s, plus one set of Hoosier Radial Wets, including mounting... about $4,500. Wow. We won a complete set at Finger Lakes between myself, Nick, and Annie Bauer, and I won two others over the course of the year. Plus, the Wets will still be good for next year, and we do have a couple of partially used sets left that we’ll run locally and at test and tune events next year.

14: How much total did you spend on buying & preparing your ES car for the season?

I'm not sure that I really want to know the answer to this question, but I do have a spreadsheet. I just haven't looked at the total until now... $8,750. Less than half of that was the car itself.

15: What (and when) will be your next car for autocross?

I've thought about building a Miata for DP, maybe when the run for the Miata is over in Stock class. I know, another Miata? It's hard not to like a lightweight rear wheel drive sportscar, I know the car well, and they are easy to work on and reliable.

16: If money was no object, what autocross car would you build?

That's a tough question. DM Lotus 7, perhaps?

17: How do you focus before a big event/run?

For me, focus comes from all of the preparation. That includes car prep, course walking, analyzing a course, visualization, and mentally reviewing a run. Before I ever get in the car I’m 99% ready to go, and I typically drive the course once in my head before each run and relax.

18: Have you ever competed in an event while not driving a Miata?

Once in the four years that I've been autocrossing. At the last SCR event this year I drove Ken Gillette's Ultralite for the morning runs. Then we put it away because of brake issues and jumped in my car for the afternoon. I'm always looking for seat time in my car because the better I know how my car will respond, the better I can drive it.

19: What are your autocross goals for 2009?

Win a ProSolo Championship and a Solo National Championship.

20: Any special changes to the car during the off season?

Probably not. We've done nearly everything to the car that can be done to make it competitive, short of building the engine to the allowable limits. The engine dynoed pretty strongly, so I’m reluctant to open it up. I have a couple of very minor maintenance things to take care of, but that's it. In my opinion, the car is at least as good as any other ES Miata in the country.