NMCA WEST Auto-X Autocross
Racing the Clock with Family was Big Fun at the Father's Day NMCA Auto X Event
The NMCA West Auto X program is the premier West coast series where often the most-intense autocross cars compete. Even SCCA Pro and Optima Challenge cars are also known to often mix it up for the gold. To add another element to the fun, the second day the of the two-day event, the course is run in reverse. For each of the two days, there are three sessions of three runs per driver, affording a total of up to nine runs for each driver per day.
With all that in mind, Father's Day, June 2022 was a great day at the NMCA West Auto X event where two pairs of fathers and sons were running their fast Mustangs out of the JBA Speed Shop stable.
First up of the four cars and five drivers discussed here is big pop J Bittle (also a new grandfather by the way) and son Austin, who himself is the new papa of the third-gen Bittle baby boy.
J and Austin were running their '93 5.0 LX hatch with cool patina and Sonic Blue, Whipple supercharged Terminator '03 Cobra, respectively. Son Austin was the star of the show from the JBA crew on Saturday, where he and his Terminator finished at the top of the Modern Muscle charts posting a 63.189-second time in his best-of-nine runs on Saturday, on the just-under one-mile 80-plus-mph parking-lot autocross course.
Meanwhile, J wheeled his carbureted track-rat 5.0 LX to a best Saturday time of 65.512 seconds in the Classic Muscle category.
On Sunday--with the course being run in the opposite direction for everyone--Austin posted a 63.660-second run in the Blue Cobra, while J ran a 65.804-second best second-day pass of nine runs in his Fox 5.0
Our second pair of JBA father-son entrants drove the same '18 Mustang GT track-pack car equipped with a Ford Performance/Roush supecharger. Father Todd Cameron and son Gary had good fun running their minty-fresh S550 Coyote 5.0 in the Modern Muscle category. Their best times on Saturday ended up being 64.272 seconds for Todd and 63.532 seconds for Gary.
On Sunday, the Camerons posted a 63.398-second time for Todd, while Gary ran a 62.908-second pass.
Besides the Bittles and the Camerons, there was another Fox 5.0 on our JBA team in the form of Peter Pelekis's super nice '92 LX hatch, where he was running in the Classic Muscle Pro category. Peter's Fox is a fully-prepped autocross pylon racer that he has been running with JBA for more than 20 years and his lap times reflect the car's meticulous setup. For Saturday, he clicked off a team-best 62.780-second pass and on Sunday, running the course in the opposite direction, his best time was a 63.508-second run.
The next NMCA Auto X weekend will be Sept. 3-4, 2022 at the same location at Auto Club Speedway. For participants and spectators alike, it's great way to spend the weekend if vintage and late-model GM, Ford and Mopar cars set up for serious corner-carving are your thing. It certainly is for us. --Miles Cook
Team JBA's Mustangs Best Overall Weekend Times
J Bittle (father) '93 Mustang LX 5.0: 65.512
Austin Bittle (son) '03 Mustang Cobra: 63.189
Todd (father) and Gary (son) Cameron '18 Mustang GT Coyote 5.0: 62.908 (Gary), 63.398 (Todd)
Peter Pelekis '92 Mustang LX 5.0: 62.780
(J, Austin and Peter posted their best times on Saturday, while the Camerons ran their best passes on Sunday when they switched the tires on their S550 to a set that provided considerably more grip.)
For info on upcoming events check out: https://www.facebook.com/NMCAWESTAutoX/
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