Today I went out to the old Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, CA and watched the Fresno Chapter of the San Francisco Region SCCA do some autocrossing. The purpose of my trip was to pick up some Z wheels from a fellow Datsun racer, Steve Carlson, who was out racing his prepped 240Z. Steve’s car is a regular in the Central California Solo scene, and he set fast time of the afternoon while I was watching. Sporting a potent 2.8L, a well sorted suspension, and weighing in at under 1900# makes his Z something to be reckoned with.
My path into roadracing did not come through autocrossing, as many of my competitor’s did. I never quite understood getting just 5 one minute laps over the course of an afternoon. I came from racing motorcycles, and just always enjoyed getting hours of seat time. But after seeing today’s competition, I think I understand the allure a little bit more, and might just have to give it a try some day soon. And getting to check out all the historic Air Force aircraft at the Castle Air Museum while I was there definitely made my day. Now we’re talkin’ some horsepower!
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