I have another race coming up at the end of August, so I'm preparing for that.  Hopefully, I'll fare better than 12th!

In other  news, I got to see the "Transformers" movie. I liked it mostly for the humor and special effects. Plot wasn't that good, and the acting was *meh*. Regardless, I think this is a movie I'd own on DVD, just to watch the cool CG. =)

 Since it's been a while, I guess it would be nice to post a few pictures from the Monterey trip Grace and I took late last year.  I'll be posting more pictures of recent stuff we've done...I just haven't had enough time to upload them.  Enjoy!

Here's a picture of Laguna Seca near Monterey, CA.  It's got a bunch of fun twisty turns for race cars to run around on!

Grace got a few signatures from the race-car drivers.  Notice the cool red ear-muffs... =P

Pictures of just a few of the different types of vehicles that were racing that weekend.  Some are exotic vehicles that you normally wouldn't see on the road.  Others are typical sedans and coupes you can buy off the showroom floor... Acura TSX, Mazda 6, Audi A4, BMW 325i, Pontiac GTO....just to name a few.  There were even little go-karts racing there.  Those things can hit 100 mph on a straight section of the track!

We got to get pretty close and personal with the race cars, and even some of the race-car drivers!  Also, just a side note about these race cars.  As with many racing series, many car manufacturers take what they learn from their race-car technology, and apply them to the common "street-car" we see on the roads every day.  For example, this red and silver car seen below is Audi's R10 prototype race car which utilizes TDI (a turbo-diesel injected engine) technology.  Turbo-diesel injection technology was first developed for Audi's race-car in order to maximize fuel efficiency and power output.  Audi has so far won practically every American Le Mans Series race using this new TDI technology in the R10.  This technology, proven  reliable in tough conditions such as endurance racing, is then put to use in normal street cars such as the Audi A4 and Volkswagon Jetta.  So if you ever see new technology being introduced in the auto industry...you can be assured that it most likely had been born and tested on a RACE CAR.  =)

BIIIIIG TIRES.....these are about TWICE as wide as our regular street tires

And of course, the finale in the Winner's Circle.  These guys raced for 4 hours straight into dusk.  The winner's ceremony was held immediately following the race finish.  One note about the American Le Mans Series is that these endurance cars are usually designated to run 4 to possibly 12 consecutive hours of racing depending on the venue.  The original "24 Hour Le Mans" race held in France is LITERALLY 24 hours of straight racing.  There are three drivers per car who team up and switch driving shifts every few hours.  Driving on a dimly lit track going well over 150 mph gets really disorienting for the drivers as well.  Since I'm an avid racing fan... I felt the need to be disoriented myself after watching racing the whole weekend!

Check it out....I've been racing my rental car for 6 hours each way.  =)