Miata Mailing List: September 1998, Message #217

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 YOU MIGHT BE A RACER IF.......

 - You think the primary purpose of wings is to PREVENT flight.

 - You take your helmet along when you go to buy new eyeglasses or
 check out cars (seats).

 - You feel compelled on a road trip to beat your previous best time.

 - You are happiest when your street car's tires are worn to racing
 depth (wear bars showing).

 - When something falls off of your car, you wonder how much weight you
 just saved.

 - When you hear 'overcooked it', instead of food you think 'off the
 track'.

 - You change engine oil every other week.

 - You sometimes hear little noises from your passengers when you get
 on the throttle right after turning in.

 - You thoroughly enjoy showing the tailgater behind how to drive
 around a highway off-ramp.

 - Your racing budget is one of the big three -- mortgage, car
 payments/maintenance, dating.

 - Your email address refers to your race car rather than to you.

 - You walk proper lines through the grocery store.

 - You've been known to yell "It means 'check your mirrors' dammit!" at
 your television.

 - You've paid $4.00 a gallon for gas without complaining.

 - You buy new parts because you don't know where you put the spares.

 - You bought a race car before buying a house.

 - You bought a race car before buying furniture for the new house.

 - You're looking for a tow vehicle and still haven't bought furniture!

 - You find that you need a new house because you've outgrown your
 garage and the neighbors are threatening violence if you park one more
 vehicle on the street or in the front yard.

  - The requirements you give your real estate agent are (in order of
 importance):
      1) 8 car climate controlled garage with an attached shop.
      2) Outside parking for 6 cars, a motorhome, a crew cab dualie, a
           28'enclosed trailer and a 34' 5th wheel.
      3) 3 phase 220V outlets in the garage for your welder.
      4) A grease pit.
      5) Convenient to a hazardous waste disposal site.
      6) Deaf neighbors.
      7) Across the street from a paint and body shop.
      8) Some sort of house with a working toilet and shower on the
         property somewhere -or- hookups for the motorhome.

 - You measure all family acquisitions in terms of the number of race
 tires that could have been purchased.

 - You know well that Orthodontic work is the equivalent of three sets
 of tires

 - You sit in your race car in a dark garage and make car noises and
 shift and practice your heel and toe, while waiting for your motor to
 get back from the machine shop.

 - You look at the purchase of tools as a long term investment.

 - Your wife says, "If you buy another set of tires, I'm getting a new
 mink."

 - Your garage holds more cars than your house has bedrooms.

 - You have enough spare parts to build another car.

 - More than one racer supply house recognizes your voice and greets
 you by name when you call.

 - You have car parts in your cubicle at work.

 - You think the last line of the Star Spangled Banner is: "Racers,
 start your engines!"

 - If you can't remember when you last worked on weekdays and rested on
 weekends.

 - You're registered for wedding gifts at Pegasus and Racer Wholesale.

 - Your Christmas list begins with another set of BFG R1's and Pauter
 rods (and your 'significant other' knows what these are).

 - After your answer to "What did you do this weekend?" the next
 question is always: "And you do this for fun? Right?"

 - You have a separate drawer for 'garage clothes'.

 - Your reading material in your bathroom consists of auto parts and
 racing supply catalogs, several books written by famous drivers, every
 book Carroll Smith has ever written.... and 400 car magazines, none of
 which have centerfolds.

 - People know you by your class letter, car number, and car color.

 - People know you by your "off"s". "Oh, you are the one stuck in the
 mud at ButtonWillow last weekend!"

 - You talk to other cars on the road, calling them by the
 manufacturers name.

 - Your first date involves asking her to crew for you.

 - Your criteria for selecting a significant other include auto repair
 skills. Air tools optional.

 - Your friends don't recognize you without a helmet and driver's suit.

 - Your family remembers your hair color as "grease".

 - You plan your wedding around the race schedule.

 - You astound the clerk at Sears by bringing in a snapped breaker bar
 every other week or so.

 - You remember the dates and details of every race you've ever been
 in, but can't remember your phone number.

 - Your family brings the couch into the garage so they can spend some
 time with you.

 - You complain when cars in front of you on highway off-ramps don't
 stay on the line, causing your exit speed to drop.

 - A neighbor asks if you have any oil, to which you query, "Synthetic
 or organic?" and they reply, "Vegetable or corn."

 - You give out Summit Racing's number when a friend asks for the best
 hardware store.

 - You refer to the corner down the street from your house as "Turn
 One."

 - You look at the fire hydrant at that corner and see an apex marker.

 - You enjoy driving in the rain on the way to work or school.

 - You always late apex the intersection and try to pass a few cars
 coming out.

 - Everywhere you go, you try to find the fastest line through the
 turn.

 - You always do a toe & heel downshift while whoever might be your
 passenger gives you a real funny look.

 - You can't stand anyone telling others how to drive. Of course, you
 are the best.

 - You can't stand understeer.

 - You always want to change something in your street car to make it
 handle better.

 - You will gladly pay up to $8 for a quart of engine oil.

 - You hate long distance driving, but you will gladly drive 800 miles
 to the race track.

 - You think that traction control and ABS are for those who can't
 drive.

 - You've ever tried to convince your wife you needed that flow bench
 to fix the air filter on her station wagon.

 - You save broken car parts as "mementos".

 - Your last several freeway forays included just brushing the curbs as
 you apexed the on-ramps perfectly....

 - You've found your lawn mower runs pretty good on 108 octane gas (but
 doesn't particularly care for alcohol).

 - The local tire shop won't honor the tread life warranty on any car
 you have been within 50 yards of...

 - The shop manager at your local car dealer mutters "dear Lord" under
 his breath after he sees the size of your exhaust piping.

 - The local police and state Highway Patrol have a picture of your car
 taped to their dashboard.

 - You spend more time polishing your exhaust tip every day than you do
 bathing.

 - Instead of pictures in your wallet, you have timeslips.

 - You would choose a roll bar over air conditioning if it were an
 option.

 - You enjoy driving through wet, empty parking lots and using the
 emergency brake to kick the back end out.

 - White smoke coming out from under your tires is a common sight.

 - You consider the redline a "conservative suggestion" and the rev
 limiter "a fun limiter"

 - You spend more on insurance premiums than on food.

 - Your idea of a good time is sitting around figuring out gear ratios
 and the ideal final drive ratio for given situations.

 - When someone refers to "The Good Book", you think of "The Auto Math
 Handbook"

 - When someone asks where you went to school, you reply, "Skip
 Barber".

 - You have racing shops programmed on on your speed dialer.

 - You own five cars and only one of them is street legal.

 - You know the 1/4 mile times and skid pad numbers of your riding
 mower and want to improve them.

 - You've embarrassed your significant other at least once by insisting
 on wearing your full face helmet while driving.

 - You know the "racing line" of every turn in your daily commute,
 including your alternate routes, and practice hitting them every day.

 - You quote your street tire wear life in weeks rather than miles.

 - You regularly live test your rev limiter on that straight that's a
 little too long for 2nd but not worth going into 3rd for.

 - You've started looking for sponsors for your daily commute.

 - You've slalomed in a construction zone, and counted your penalty
 time in the rearview afterwards.

 - After you tell your wife where you'd like to go on your vacation she
 answers: "Why... is there a race there?"