[dogbone]

I just realized that today, this thread went past 300,000 views. Wow.

My first days on this forum in 2012 were spent trying to absorb as much information as I could from others who were willing to share their experiences. I knew nothing about motorsport. But I was hooked after my first track day!

Now, 9 years later, I'm in the midst of prepping for my second trip to COTA to compete in a time attack event. Believe me when I tell you----that is never lost on me.

This seems like a good moment to talk about the companies that are supporting me this year.

-Titan 7 continues to support me in 2021. I can't say enough nice things about T7. Great products and nice guys.

-Sparco is supporting me with safety equipment. I've been a Sparco customer for years. My suit, shoes and harnesses have always been Sparco. I've gotten to know them in recent times and they've been awesome. The director of sales and marketing has begun tracking a really nice E90 M3! (You know that steering wheel that solved my shifting problems? It came from his car.) Anyway, really appreciate the Sparco guys.

And I have a cool announcement for COTA----I've hired OG Shark Motorsport to do the tech support at COTA! Last year, Jason's tech was hanging out as a spectator and he jumped in to help me when I was struggling with tech issues. It made sense to make it official this year. And now that they have a new shop, it will be fun to get the word out on their new venture.

This marks the first time I will be adding sponsor logos to the car. Titan7 and Sparco will be on there for the year. And I will run the OG Shark Motorsport logo at COTA.

COTA is looking to be a very social event. (I'll be wearing my mask.....) Chris (fsmtnbiker) and I will be sharing a garage. It will be cool to have both E9x M3s housed in the same garage. It's looking like a bunch of people will be coming down to hang out.

Anyway, there's all sorts of stuff going as I'm trying to wrap up prep for Texas. I've decided to go down one more step on spring rate in the rear. I've got a fabrication project still going on. I've replaced the winch in my trailer this week because the solenoid in the old one broke again and they don't sell replacement parts for it anymore. Got a solar panel installed on the top of the trailer to charge the 12 volt batteries in the trailer. haha all kinds of stuff going on!

My first big hurdle is to see if I can get the car on track on Monday. Would prefer to drive the softer springs at least once before going to TX.

Man......so much to do!

(Another Colorado competitor going down to COTA reached out. It looks like we'll caravan down to TX, which is cool. Always nice to travel in a pack.)