GUEST BLOG // BRIAN BENTHIN ON SPEC MIATA

Yep, I was that kid; the one that obsessed over his Hot Wheels. The one that at thirteen years old, would wash his dad’s cars purely for the opportunity to move them around the driveway. Actually, I’m still that kid. I just obsess over bigger, heavier cars now.

Fast forward almost 20 years and a friend who’s Ford dealership was sponsoring an open track day at Pacific Raceways asks me if I want in. I had no idea the path down which an innocent, “sure, why not?” was about to send me. Next thing I knew, I was attending race-driver schools, working corners and crewing for friends at club races. I was hooked. Again, I wanted in. I wanted to race... [read more]

While crewing and working corners for sprint races and enduros, I became more familiar with the different racing classes that are popular in my region. I quickly zeroed in on Spec Miata. It’s a great class, the nature of the cars force a focus on driver skill and there are lots of folks to race with. I won’t go too deep into describing the class or car itself, plenty of people have said it better on the Internet already. I will say that Miatas are fairly simple cars, rear-wheel drive, easy to work on, relatively cheap to operate and have amazing support through Mazdaspeed, making them an attractive option for a novice racer.

Enter TC Motorsports. I met Carlo and Jon on a sunny afternoon at their shop. I had my then four-year-old son Nathan in tow, out for a ride in our ‘65 Fastback. I’d seen them at the track, knew of the top-shelf service and fabrication they offered and that they maintained a fleet of rental SM cars and Pro3 BMWs. I stopped by to introduce myself. What I didn’t know was what great people they and the entire team are. Nor did I know that we’d quickly become friends. I’ll never forget how welcoming they were, letting Nate crawl all over their race cars and trailer even though they were trying to pack up for a race in Portland (my boy has the car sickness too, shocking I know).

I chose to build my own car, which in the end is more expensive than buying someone’s completed car. But, our racing budget is limited and slowly chipping away at it was really the only option. This approach is fine; it just takes more time and has the potential to leave you with a car that’s perpetually up on jack stands. It took me about 2 years from purchase of donor car to tech-ready racer. However, thanks to the guidance of Carlo and crew we found creative ways to keep “jack stand-itis” from happening. We segmented stages of the build to align with my budget, like completing just the back half of the cage and spec suspension first which allowed me to take part in track days and driver’s schools. Then when more funds were available, we could finish the cage, other safety items and be off to the races.

May 1, 2010. Jon Ament of TC Motorsports had completed the amazing cage in my car and he, Carlo and Taryn made sure I had everything I needed for my debut in the ICSCC novice-racing program. They even invited me to paddock with them, ensuring my day went smoothly. Finally, I was off to the races!

Getting my car tech’d and the cage stamped by Tom Olsson, the ICSCC steward was an exciting moment for me. Two years of work, planning and obsessing came together. It was legit. This overgrown kid’s 2285-pound Hot Wheel was officially a “race car”, with the papers to prove it. All that was left was to get out there and race against a bunch of other novices with similar levels of adrenaline in their systems.

Oh shit. Now, I’m nervous.

This wasn’t my first time driving the car. Hell, it wasn’t even my first time around Pacific Raceways. I even had very experienced racers paddocked with me, trying (unsuccessfully, I might ad) to convince me I was ready and would do just fine. But my mind raced, faster than any car at the track that day. What had I gotten myself into? Do I have any idea what I’m doing? Will I remember what the flags mean? When do I have to be at pre-grid? Where’s the driver’s meeting, again? How the %&#$ does this HANS work? Should I have slugged an entire bottle of Gatorade? What exactly is IN Gatorade anyway and why does it look like Windex? Did I mention being nervous?

Then I got in the car.

Jon helped me strap in for my first practice session of the day. Somehow, the butterflies went back to the hell from whence they came. I don’t know if Nomex possesses Zen-like qualities, or if clipping in a window net completes some freaky-race-car Feng Shui or what. All I know is, suddenly there was me, the car and nothing else. No nerves, no jitters, and no self doubt. The car was great, it felt good and so did I. Racing fender-to-fender came more natural than I anticipated. I was consistent and steadily improved my lap times throughout practice and qualifying. I ended up posting my fasted lap of the day during the race! I drove heads up and clean. I loved mixing it up with my fellow novice racers, we all did extremely well. When a couple folks did have an off, they reacted correctly and were predictable. I even shook my tail feathers a little exiting Turn 8 during practice. But I regained control, didn’t collect anyone and most important had FUN!

I can’t wait for my next race!

I can’t say enough about Conference (ICSCC), IRDC, it’s volunteers and members or all the amazing people connected to club racing here in the Pacific Northwest. To all you folks that make it happen, thank you. Thank you Carlo, Taryn and Jon of TC Motorsports for all your help and encouragement. I’d also like to thank a few folks in the Spec Miata community that helped me a bunch along the way; Pat Newton, Greg Bush, Jim Boemler and Antonio Garza. Finally and most importantly, a big thanks to my wife Shannon and my kids Nathan and Ava for being so understanding and supportive through all of this, you’re the best!

If you’ve ever considered getting involved with this hobby or sport or whatever you want to call it, do it! Your inner child will thank you.

Brian Benthin