As a 4-year old I was playing with my Hot Wheels on the floor of one of my father’s coworkers. His wife knelt down and asked me, “Do you like race cars?”. My eyes brightened as I looked up at her and nodded.

“Who is your favorite race car driver?”

“Dale Earnhardt”

Growing up in the South, stock car racing was a Sunday staple.  At the time, Earnhardt Sr. had only won 3 NASCAR Championships, and Dale Jr. didn’t even have his driver’s license yet.  The lady chuckled at the little asian boy in this small redneck town.  ”Really?!”  Her and her husband apparently not fans of “The Intimidator” as they went on to tell my father.

This love of NASCAR led to a love of Chevrolet.  My first car was to be a black ‘67 Camaro with rally stripes and a GM crate motor, in my dreams of course.  Our across the street neighbor owned a ‘68 Mustang Fastback and a Harley.  I wasn’t sure what the exact opposite of a Harley was, but I was certain our garage should have a Camaro and a Japanese crotch rocket.

Not many people watch their childhood heroes die.  In February of 2001 I watched live, as the Goodwrench #3 slammed headfirst in to Turn 4 at Daytona at 160mph, killing The Intimidator on contact.  I tried to watch the rest of the season as Dale Jr. tried to carry on the legacy of his father, but lost for NASCAR was gone.

Meanwhile in the “real world” my parents had decided against a Camaro, the Chevy truck we had also considered, and I had ended up with pretty much the opposite: a Honda Civic.  Appreciative of even having a car, one day at the store I noticed an issue of Turbo magazine with a heavily modified Vogue Silver Metallic Civic Coupe, just like mine, and the rest was history.  F1 and WRC were the new motorsports of choice, accented with some drag racing here and there, but now I had a money pit.  $400 for 3hp, SURE!

Today, I am an avid autocrosser, shadetree mechanic, and all around automotive addict.  My educational background is in engineering so you know “stock” is generally not an option.  My current money pit is a ‘06 Subaru Impreza WRX Sport Wagon (Project Pignose) that I am preparing to tune for E85 and that competes in SCCA Solo2 ESP.

mentalgarage.com is an extension of my unhealthy relationship with four wheels and internal combustion.  Whether it’s domestic or import, naturally aspirated or boosted at 35psi, if it has 4 wheels and is generally awesome it will hopefully be covered here.  The site covers automotive news, project research (real or “mental”), how-tos, and other automotive-related internet tomfoolery.