So Many Car Things To Share
Where to begin? Over the few months, it's been cars, community, track time and so much more. I've been focused on growing this movement, by continuing to show up in more spaces. From Washington State, Monterey, Laguna Seca and Sonoma Raceway, it's been a road paved with good times and people. Please read on!
The Ridge Motorsports Park with Ongrid
On a very thoughtful, maybe insightful whim, I decided to make a trip up to Seattle and spend two days in Shelton, WA driving The Ridge. It's a track that I've only barely driven before, and wanted to really take some time to learn this complex and rewarding road course. Full of elevation, decreasing radius turns and a tight and technical corkscrew, it appears easier to drive than it looks.
I also had the chance to truly test the gen 1 BRZ with an almost stock set up. The only modifications are high temp brake fluid and stainless steel lines. At stock, on old OE tires, it held up well enough but I would regularly hit the limit of what grip the tires had left. Old, all seasons are a definite negative for any track day.
Mind you, if this is your first time out, don't worry about it! With all the information you process while driving AND learning a new track, the line is more important.
I've got some high performance EBC brakes, along with camber bolts and rear lower control arms on the way to help get more stopping power and camber out of this platform. Tires will be next!
What should I get?
Monterey Car Week(MCW)
MCW remains one of the biggest and most important car events world wide. It started as an extension of the Pebble Beach Road Race, and is now a greater celebration of racing, brands, and the car community. I've been attending for the last three years and I'm always meeting new people, seeing dream cars and watching actual historic race cars make their way around Laguna Seca.
Aside from the races, the manufacturers had displays of their own around the Bay. I attended the Bentley X Race Service event and entered stunned by the design, beauty, and detail for every part of it. The location itself was photo perfect, the food was great, the coffee energizing and the vibes were immaculate.
GO TO MCW IN 2027. No joke, you can sit down to grab a drink and within minutes your dream car will drive by. 15 minutes later, another one might! It's that stacked with cars. Please try to go!
Enablers Meets
One of my favorite organizations, Enablers Garage, has been hosting a killer set of events lately. Recently, They hosted an evening/night meet at the Prescott Market in West Oakland. Which, in my opinion, shows that Oakland is a high value destination for car fans and those that want to build community. Prescott Market itself is also a goldmine if good times and food. I extremely recommend you go to Cafe Noir for all of your dining desires, they have some of the best food in the area.
They also hosted a meet at Alameda Brewing inside and in their back lot. The aesthetics of it all was 10/10, along with a rotating set of must see cars that blew my mind. Yes, my favorite car there was the Tommy Makinen Evo. What a rare beast!
Official Start and JB Today Studios
I've never attended a meet at JB Today Studios, but it was co-hosted by the Official Start Racing team. They are dedicated to getting you, yes you, on track. They also provide media services along with instructional and motivational videos to help you on your journey. With that, JB Today Studios is a car sales business that had some of the most impressive American cars on display.
The Bay Area is very Euro heavy, so it's nice to visit a shop that had an impressive selection of American legends.
Gridlife + Fast In Fast Out + Miata Reunion + VALT
I feel like sometimes I'm doing way too much. So why not attend four events in one weekend?
The biggest weekend win? 3 seconds off my PB at Sonoma Raceway with FIFO. Am I still slow? Yes. Did I push myself a little harder each lap. Yes! I'll have another post getting into more details about the actual track day later.
With Gridlife and Miata Reunion joining forces in 2026, it was truly the ultimate combination for Mazda, Miatas, drivers, racers and fans! Miata reunion always brings about a great crowd of fans from all over the US, while Gridlife Laguna is the culmination of the entire racing season for that organization.
It's two major events in one and absolutely blew my mind on how well coordinated everything was. I will be back next year.
Finally, a very chill and very needed cars and coffee with VALT Auto Club.
Did I have a few great months of car activities? Yes, and I'm looking forward to many more before the end of the year.
Talk to you all soon.
