Let's highlight things before things get a little "interesting." I picked this S2000 up in 2012. It had 127k miles and some signs that it wasn't up to par in maintenance, but it was $8,000 bucks, so it's best to take small losses and do the maintenance myself. It is a Honda, after all. Side note: can we go back to those prices? I bought this thing to be my autocross car while I built my S14, known as NODRIFT. Fast forward a few months in, and it quickly became apparent that I couldn't afford to have two track cars. The 240 had the pieces to a built SR and many quality parts. The combination would have made a lethal weapon, but when it's in pieces, it's hard to put the dream into reality. I remember opening the garage and saying, "Whichever one is running or can be running for the cheapest gets to stay." I said, "I'm giving up on the 240. I've gone too far." The part-out commenced, and to this day, I regret selling that car. Now, you would think that with the pain of going too far and getting over my head, I would calm down and not do it again. Well, you bet your ass I didn't. Bridging Dreams and Realities I started chasing multiple things at once from 2013-2014. I still wanted to build a gnarly timeattack car to compete with Global Timeattack. Visualizing taking down the Evasive S2000 to claim "the fastest S2000 in the country." On the other hand, I also had a local guy, Austin Cabot, who was super quick. He competed with NASA in what was called Time Trials C (It's roughly TT4 now). Those are two drastically different builds. For Timeattack, you need all the power that the horsepower gods intended you to have. In TTC, you had to balance which modifications to do to stay in the class and run hohos (Hoosier Racing tires). I chose both, which leads to being subpar in both. I ran into real-life problems, trying to find where I fit career-wise, so the car and racing got pushed back. Austin had moved on to other racing when I was ready, so NASA didn't seem that fun without chasing him. Plus, the big aero and turbos were calling me. Unforgettable Battles For 2015, I prepared to take things more seriously, a new local time attack series formed with everything I wish Global Time Attack had. A small organization called GRIDLIFE. I focused all my attention on their track battle competition and placed third in the season. By then, the car had some decent aero, 2-way coilovers, and as many off-the-shelf suspension components as I could afford. I blew up one diff and went through two engines, but I had so much fun and competitive. I never was very close to winning, in any case. There were some supercharged M3s and Corvettes that were just that tick faster. Turbocharging the F20C In the 2015 offseason leading into 2016, it was apparent I wanted power. That was the bait to make me go off the deep end. I spent a couple, a bunch of thousands of dollars on the S2. I ended up turbocharging the stock F20C. With a GTX30, it made some jam. It had one map at 14psi, making 400~ to the wheels. Mid-season, I upgraded to a GTX35, which produced 470~ to the wheels. Dealing with teething issues from a fresh turbo build was a headache. I wasn't as competitive as I thought I could have been, but something awesome happened. Something Professionally awesome. From Chat to Crew On a trip back home one day in early 2017, I stopped to talk to Mike Lewin from Professional Awesome Racing. If you ever speak to Mike in person, you know you are in for a long but educational time. Hours later, I ended up asking a simple question. "Do you have room on your team?" He said, "I'll talk it over with everyone else, but I think it'll be a good idea." Jump forward a few months, and Mike and the Pro Awe crew were my closest friends. We were so close that everyone felt comfortable talking shit about things I did in my car and how they were surprised I didn't die. They were joking in a laugh-out-loud, but no, seriously, how are you not dead type of way. With their help, I ran a faster lap time around the Gingerman raceway than I ever had, which made me set a new goal. I wanted to be the fastest S2000 in the country again, especially around Gingerman—high aspirations, I know. Pro Awe boys also didn't tell me that joining the team involves a spicy, firey initiation fee. Fire and Fraternity The boys didn't tell me that being in the gang means you have to do certain things. A car catching on fire is one of them. The Pro Awe Evo has been on fire multiple times, so it's a cresting similar to being branded by a fraternity. In late 2017, The S2000 caught fire at Autobahn. The fire was a packaging error I had made. I had placed the catch-can where the OEM battery used to sit, a seemingly convenient and out-of-the-way spot, making it easy to empty. However, I never anticipated how much oil it would collect during long sweeping turns coupled with each lap taking over two and a half minutes. During one fateful session, it overflowed and spewed oil onto the glowing orange turbo manifold. It's much easier to understand the gravity of the situation if you watch the video Turbo S2000 Car Caught Fire!, capturing the ole shit moment from my Go Pro. From Flames to Perfection It fundamentally altered my mindset and the way I approached racing. I transformed into a bench racer, "meticulously" analyzing every detail and overthinking every modification. Before stepping on the track, I became obsessed with ensuring the car was fast and safe. I … Continue reading Up To Speed On The Our S2000
