Submitted by Steve Hyatt.

You want to do what?

That is the answer I got from my wife last September. I had told Tracy that the need for speed had bitten me again.

See, it had been almost 20 years since I stepped out of the race car for a number of reasons and sold the car to my dad. I crewed for him till his racing stopped. I remain active in the SCCA and WDCR in numerous roles, but I wanted to be back in the driver’s seat.

The search for the type of racing took a long time. It was not till about Christmas that I decided on RallyCross. It seemed to allow the maximum fun for the right amount of money for our budget.

So the fun began. I started to research the classes and results of any RX, I could find. EBay, Craigslist and Racingjunk.com were the most read websites. The first event was only a month away and no car in the garage or even a good prospect. I narrowed down the choice to front wheel drive which would allow me to use my current towing arrangements and I raced a VW Rabbit and a real MINI in my club racing days. I was sure I would miss the first event which was now 3 weeks away, when a friend gave in and sold me a 1991 VW Golf GTI. Back to my racing roots!!!!

We picked the car up 14 days before the event. The new Racing Wabbit made it home with only one hitch- the front spoiler did not clear the ramps on the tow dolly. It’s a RX car and needs more ground clearance anyway.

I then remembered the problems with full time jobs, kids, the honey do list, and prepping a race car. With a lot of help from the whole family, most of the important thing got cleaned, changed, repaired or updated.

Then the weather steward gave us a week due to a huge rain system dumping 3 inches of rain on Summit Point- more prep and more details taken care of and the sorting of 3 sets of tools acquired since my racing days.

The race weekend is here and the list is long…… probably a little anal about packing tools and spare etc…

Check the list, load the truck, check the list, load the car, check the list, and leave for Summit Point. Not to insult the family, but it was good that all 3 of them were supporting club racing’s driver school or they may have seen a side of dad never before revealed.

Then the event goes off without a problem, almost; the car does great, the wife and kids get to ride and see the fun. The car decided it needed a 5 minute timeout in the middle of the 3rd run in the afternoon. It just shut off. Then as the masses were coming to push me off course to wait for a wrecker, it started and has been fine since. Who knows?

The best part besides driving the car back on the dolly with not having to fix anything, one was the huge smile on my face and the look on my friends and family as I was telling my war stories.

Have to run- the next event is only 2 weeks away and I have so much to do……

Stephen C. Hyatt