I started working part time at the local speed shop www.zensport.ca . The were sponsoring an import car show/drift event at the track and I was invited to attend. We all met at the shop at 7:30 am and had a "spirited" drive to the racetrack. Now I am normally a very conservative driver but I kept getting stuck behind slow people and I just had to catch up. The car this season has been running awesome and it felt good to open it up a bit on the highway and let the girl breathe. The highway at this point has 3 northbound lanes and with just a little pedal and plenty of space between myself and other traffic the car leaped forward like a like an Olympic sprinter on steroids and easily reeled in the rest of the pack. When we arrived at the track we set up the display and 14 cars all with Zensport Decals flanked the booth. The cat was surrounded by civics, skylines, 240's, RSX's, Porsches, RX-7's and 8's and a host of others all done up to the nines. The P-car stuck out like a sore thumb.
The drift cars started practicing around 8:30 and kept on going throughout the day. One of our customers was in the event and was drifting for his first time. Unfortunately he was unable to get some good drift tires before the event and ended up getting traction when he shouldn't have and put the car into the wall. It was a shame to see the car so destroyed but fortunately he walked out of it without a scratch.
The Pantera got LOTS of attention and the event organizers thought it would be a good show to set up a drag race between the my car and one of the higher powered drift cars driven by Reo Baird whom I can say knows his car VERY well and drives it like it was a part of his body. Quite the skilled driver. I was somewhat intimidated but agreed to the race. Reo said his boost controller was not working so he was running a little less power than he should be. Ok so I have a fighting chance now. Come time for the showdown we warm the car up and the guys tell me to take a lap or two around the oval to warm the tires a bit and get a feel for the track. Ok, lets be clear here. I have NEVER had my car on a track much less pitted it against a race car in front of stands with a whole bunch of people watching. I was about as nervous as I could be and wasn't quite sure what was expected from me. Well, relax and enjoy it is what I decided to do. I slowly drove around the track and lined up behind the drift cars. At this point the officials cleared ALL other cars from the track and waved me on. I eased into the throttle and was going at a fair clip into the first corner I or at least I think I am. The car is GLUED. No tire squeal no slide just G-Force pushing me into my seat bolster. I could get used to this. I exited the corner with a bit of throttle. My car has no front sway bar so it had a nice easy push to the outside of the track. At this point I was on the straightaway just in front of the stands. Not to disappoint I pinned the throttle. The car screamed like a banshee and the boost came on like a rocket. Before I went on the track I had asked my buddy how much more traction to expect on the track and he told me it would be a fair bit stickier than the street. Well, somebody forgot to tell my car that. The back end gave that tell-tale shift and the revs came up a little quicker than they would normally. I feathered the throttle and shifted to third hit the other turn on the oval a little slower than the first as I was starting to ease off as I still didn't know exactly what was expected of me. It was a short stint but the most exhilarating drive I have had yet in the car. Once I got back to the pit I was told that the track officials had called off the drag racing because of insurance issues. I was a bit let down but was still high from the first run around the track.
I parked back by the booth and relaxed for the rest of the day. Little did I know the excitement was far from over. Throughout the day I happily answered questions about the car and was quite elated to see the reaction people had to the car. Namely the kids. Everyone had good things to say and certainly made me feel that the ten years on the car was well spent.
At 4:00 it was awards time. The first few awards went to cars in our display and and certainly belonged there. The cars around me may not have been labeled exotic but could certainly have fit well with the name. The fit and finish on these cars was incredible. At the end of it all 8 of the 14 or so awards went to cars in the Zensport display. Best interior went to a Gold/Orange civic that had an engine bay to rival anything I have seen before and threw down dyno #s over 300 HP. Best all wheel drive went to a beautiful black Nissan Skyline with over 300 hp as well. Best Audio Video went to an awesome black acura RS-X with a stereo that could blow eardrums of anybody in a 20 foot radius. This is where it got interesting. I got called up for the best custom performance engine. I found this quite amusing as a ford push rod V8 motor was crowd favorite at an import car show.... A few more awards went out to for some other things like best drift teams and best vendor display which we kinda had no chance for. At the end of it all they announced the best of show. Now I love my car and I think its great but not a best of show kinda car. I see unfinished interior, 6 year old abused paint, scratched windows and other things. Apparently other people don't see these things. I got called up for the award. I was a quite shocked and sounded like an idiot up on stage as the announcer asked me questions about the car and I was surrounded by trophy girls (what a wonderful thing, good thing Janis didn't come.
After the awards were over people started to clear out a bit. I took my leave as my wonderful wife was at home with my two kids. One of which was sick. I took a conservative drive back home and put the cat back in the garage with a quick pat to let her know how proud I was. After filling my wife in on the day I sat down on the couch and replayed the day in my head over and over. It was a good day.
Blaine
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