My Career (to Date) as an Automotive Journalist: The Beginning

In 2012, I was working a desk job that I hated.  I realized whenever I had a free moment I was reading about cars, watches or menswear.  In fact, I started this blog about those three exact things.  I knew I had to make a change.

I already had my bachelor's degree in management and a brief check of the classes I would need to finish to get a second degree, albeit an associate degree, at Austin Community College revealed I only needed nine more hours!  I soon enrolled in an online continuing education class that would teach me how to write for magazines, quit my soul-crushing flunky position and turned in all of the required ACC enrollment paperwork.

One of my classes - Critical Issues in Journalism - was on-campus and taught by a local news anchor.  He was so passionate about politics and the history of journalism that I felt kind of lucky to be in the class.  Even if I don't share your interests, I can absolutely respect and smile at your enthusiasm.

When it came time to write my term paper, I was, at first, tempted to write about Richard Nixon, whose career fascinates me.  However, I didn't want to write about Watergate or all of the hackneyed topics associated with "Tricky Dick."

I was going to go out on a limb and try to start my automotive journalism career early by writing about the media biases and practices applied to and exploited by the late John Z. DeLorean.  (That A-quality paper can be found here.)

Notttt you!

My second class was News Writing I.  Luckily, I was able to take it online.  That didn't make it any easier, though.  Some of the assignments were real nail-biters.  My failure to grasp certain points in assignments was reflected in my grades, but I didn't make those mistakes again.  I ended up bumping along and learning my way to an A. 

I soon got involved with ACC's student newspaper, the Accent.  I proposed writing about male campus fashion, an interest that was not represented at the time.  (The next semester I would write an automotive journalism article for them.)

I finished the semester with As in both classes and by writing about another one of my interests: James Bond.  My review of the movie "Skyfall" would lead to my winning 2nd place in Critical Review from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.  (The awards ceremony took place in April of 2013.  I had no idea I was even up for an award, so I didn't attend it.  Ah, regrets...)

I had no idea how career-shaping my next (and final) semester would be.  And you won't know until you read the next installment in this series (coming soon)...

"Le Mans" Movie Night at the Long Center

     After much weather-related going back and forth Thursday night, my friends Dan and Sarah and I went to watch a free showing of the Steve McQueen classic "Le Mans" on the lawn in front of the Long Center.  I thought it would get rained out, but that didn't happen.  However, the rain that did fall earlier brought a stretch of severe humidity in its aftermath.  Ugh!  

     I think others had my same fear.  I thought there would be a ton of event staff and patrons there, but the potential for rain must have scare a lot of them off.  There were two race cars present and a few girls in skin-tight red dresses handing out World Endurance Championship flags and pocket notebooks before the movie started.  Yay for swag!

     On the way to Sandy's Hamburgers, we came upon a Ferrari FF parked at the bottom of the stairs of the Long center, courtesy of Ferrari of Austin.  I must say, it's certainly a departure from traditional Ferrari styling and body styles - and that's not a good thing.  I couldn't seem to find an angle from which the car looked good.  I never thought I'd miss the 612 Scaglietti.  However, it was nice to see the 651-horsepower oddity "in the metal" for the first time.

     After dinner and returning to our cars to pick up a folding chair and a blanket, we walked back to the lawn and discovered the Long Center started the movie early.  We probably only missed five minutes or so.  It was just as well that we did.  "Le Mans," while rife with what I would imagine were cutting-edge filming techniques and breath-taking crashes (no CGI in 1971),  failed as a movie.  There was very little dialogue, no chemistry between Steve McQueen and Elga Andersen and too many shots that lasted WAAAAYYY too long.  "How many shots of the crowd do we need?!  We get it!  They're there to see the race."  It almost felt as if the director was going to spend the 24 Hours of Le Mans just showing audiences people sleeping on the ground and guys in weird hats.

     Despite that, my friends and I had a good time, especially once the air cooled and the breeze rolled in.

     Did any of you catch the "Le Mans" showing?  What do you think of the movie?  Who's going to the races at the Circuit of the Americas this weekend?

I Went Back to School...for the Second Time

As part of one of my upcoming freelance articles, I went to Driveway Austin on Saturday to take part in its Foundations of Road Racing course...in my father's stripped-down 2003 Toyota Corolla.  *sarcasm* Whee!  *sarcasm* 

Since I'll be doing a separate piece on the course for my local paper (stay tuned to Watches, Whips and Wardrobe for that article), I'll keep things here brief and simple, but I will give you a little eyecandy that won't be in my newspaper story.

My main take-away from the course was that you should do four things (among others) when you drive around a track, as well as public roads:

1.) Consider where (front to back, side to side) and when you transfer the weight of your car, which is shifted around by throttle, steering and brake application and affects your tires' grip.  If you don't manage your car's weight shifting properly, it can work against you and slow you down.  It can even make you spin out.  I should know.  It happened to me!
2.) Always look ahead.  If you're approaching the entrance to a curve, you should already be looking at the apex.  When hitting the apex, look for the exit.  Connect the dots as you go.
3.) Strive for consistency.  Dissect the track into sectors, then give yourself goals for each one.  Once you're able to meet those goals, you can start knocking off lap times very close to each other.
4.) Be smooth.  Never jerk your steering wheel, stomp your brakes or jab your throttle.  All of those actions can upset your vehicle's balance by shifting its weight in counterproductive ways.

A couple of tips from yours truly:
1.) Drink plenty of water.  You will sweat it out, especially if you keep your A/C off to be gentle on your car.  Intense concentration and nervous energy, combined with plenty of leg, foot, arm and hand movement and blistering track temperatures of 140 to 150 degrees will leave you a perspiring, stinky mess...and a smile on your face.
2.) Remove anything that can move around or make distracting noise from your passenger compartment and your trunk.  I made the mistake of thinking my trunk wouldn't be a problem since its contents couldn't shift and hit me.  There were gobs of my dad's tools and gardening and building supplies in there which I had to unload in front of my fellow students.  Not cool.

Now for that eyecandy.  When I was in pit lane, I had to move my car so that the track crew could unload a storage container.  Once its doors were swung apart, I got a glimpse of the candy red, wide-ended beast within...

Of course it's red!

Hmmm...  This doesn't look like a street-spec 458 Italia...

This car must be a real "Challenge" to drive.  (Wocka wocka!)

 

As you might expect, this Ferrari sounded amazing.  My classmates and I got earfuls of its loud, angry V8 wail.  Just by watching it dart and jink around the track like a 4-wheeled laser beam, you could tell its suspension must have been as stiff as a jet fuel martini.  The driver had to have been rattled, but I'm sure it was worth it.

I got a nice little surprise at the end of the day.  Driveway Austin's owner, a former Le Mans racer, gave us all our own mementos to commemorate our day at the track...

What about you all, readers?  Do you have any performance driving training?  Any plans on attaining it?  Feel free to share in the comments section.