pacemiataclub.org January 2021 I N S I D E P A C E F O R P A C E M I A T A C L U B M E M B E R S O N L Y It’s 2021! Welcome to a whole new world and the perfect time to introduce a whole new name, look, and editorial format for the PACE Miata Club newsletter—INSIDEPACE! I t’s also time to dust off your Miata and rejoin life by attending our annual Polar Bear Run on Saturday, January 9th. Hope to see you all there for a rejuvenating day of fun, food and fellowship. FROMHappy New THE Year! PRESIDENT (See inside for the latest news) Rick, editor With 2020 being a whirlwind of events which still seem to change every day, it is ever more important to Sandy and I that we stay on top of current events as we try to formulate a plan for PACE Miata Club for 2021. God willing, a plan we can actually implement instead of tucking away in a drawer somewhere in hopes of better days. So, as the New Year begins, stay on top of PACE Miata Club news, or contact us if your questions or concerns go unanswered. We also hope you like the new format. Questions or comments regarding INSIDEPACE should be directed to [email protected] Happy New Year, SANDY AND JOE _____________________________________________________________________ HELLO, FROM MEMBERSHIP Nina and I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous and new year. And, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! As of December 21, membership stands at 83. We hope to return to our goal of 100 members sometime in 2020. That’s all for this month and remember to… “Fly Miata,” ROD SLENKER Member Quiz: January Many of you came up with the correct answer to December’s member quiz. And, of course, the correct answer was Rick and Marilyn Yanchuleff. If that was your guess, please notify our Editor, Rick, to claim your prize. Are this month’s members: Rod Serling and wife, Carolyn; Rod Slenker and wife Nina; or, Rodney Dangerfield and wife, Joan? To claim your prizes, email [email protected] for a quick reply. Winner must be present to collect the prize. _____________________________________________________________________ BRACE YOURSELF! Now available from Good-Win-Racing, a well-known supplier of Mazda performance parts and accessories is a stronger and lighter version of their front shock tower brace for the ND Miata. Weighing only 4.3 pounds, the powder-coated aluminum RoadsterSport ND V2 features an X design similar to the brace used on the MX-5 Cup racing cars. In addition to providing access to adjustment knobs for those who have fitted adjustable shock absorbers or coilovers, the new brace is said to reduce cowl shake and improve steering response. My 2017 RF Club has neither adjustable shocks nor coilovers, and I’ve never noticed much cowl shake, but I like the way the RoadsterSport V2 looks. So, thinking it would be a nice little piece of under-hood bling, I decided to order one and see if it improved anything other than my car’s aesthetics. The RoadsterSport V2 X Brace comes with an assortment of hardware and fasteners for use during installation, and can be installed on any 2016 or later Miata, directly replacing the 3-piece factory shock tower brace. Cars not equipped with the factory brace need an additional cowl mounting bracket, which is available from Good-Win-Racing or from Mazda. Since my Miata already had the cowl bracket, installation of the V2 brace was relatively simple. No written instructions were provided, but a bit of Internet sleuthing provided a few helpful hints. Installing the V2 took less than an hour, and required only a few basic tools. As I mentioned earlier, I bought the RoadsterSport V2 X Brace primarily because I like the way it looks. I’ve always been skeptical about performance claims for products such as this, and I was not expecting to feel any significant difference in the car. However, having driven nearly 1,000 miles on a wide variety of roads since installing the V2, I’m happy to report that my Miata’s steering response is slightly quicker and the car feels a bit more sure-footed in corners. The differences are not huge, but they are clearly noticeable, and that’s more than I expected from such a minor change. And it looks pretty cool when I open the hood! More info at: www.good-win-racing.com Zoom-Zoom! MIKE CORY _____________________________________________________________________ LOOKING BACK… NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD! Considering just how bad 2020 has been, 2021 appears to be the perfect time for members—old and new—to have the opportunity to see how the PACESETTER began. Courtesy Mike Cory, have a look at an issue that published twenty years ago in January, 2001. Officially entitled “the PACEsetter,” under the leadership of Don Newcomer as club president, the newsletter was produced for many years by long-time editor, Lynne Long. For those of you who may have been part of the Club at that time, I hope seeing and reading these iconic issues bring back fond memories for you all. For others, the read should show you just a glimpse of the effort that has brought us all together the years since. That said, enjoy… (and, just a preliminary note, the February 2001 issue is not available, so in the next issue you’ll be reading March 2001. Sorry for that. Or, if any of you happen to have a copy of February, 2001, please forward it to me before February 1st. Thanks, RICK YANCHULEFF PACESETTER, a look back…to 1991 PACESETTER, a look back… to 1991 Hope you all enjoyed the nostalgia! For your reading pleasure… by Rick Yanchuleff This is the seventh chapter in the series from the coffee table book: Mazda MX-5 Miata: Twenty-Five Years written in 2014 by Thomas L. Bryant. It’s a great book that will help you understand why you enjoy your Miata so much. Should you care to read the book from the beginning via PACESETTER, (INSIDEPACE) you can reprint the past issues by clicking on the website. Miata: The Greatest Turnout in Racing I would wager that a great many people that buy a sports car gave at least some thought to what it would be like to go racing. As a teenager, I had that idea in my head, and each time I got a chance to drive my brother’s MG-TD, I would drive through areas that made me feel like I was racing. Later, during my 36 years at Road & Track magazine, I had opportunities to participate in a few races, plus I got to do a lot of track testing with my fellow editors. Having the opportunity to take a new sports car out onto a racetrack such as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California or Seattle international Raceway or Limerock Park in Connecticut or others gave me the thrills that were close to racing. Plus, I had opportunities to drive on racing circuits in England, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as Japan. Somehow when you get behind the wheel of a true sports car that has an excellent ride and handling traits and decent power, there is a thrill that comes over you and makes you want to be on the track so you can experiment with the car’s limits. Mazda Miatas/MX-5s/Eunos Take to the Race Tracks by the Thousands The Mazda MX-5 Miata’s racing career began in 1989 when two professional drivers—Kent Stacey and Scott Gaylord—took the Miata to the track. They were followed by thousands of other enthusiastic drivers who have made the Miata one of the most popular and reliable cars on racetracks throughout the United States and Canada. According to Mazdaspeed Motorsports, it didn’t take long for one of the world’s largest sanctioning bodies—Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)—to create a racing series specifically for the Miata. And the result was that it didn’t take long for the Miata to become a bestseller, for both racers and street drivers. Among those who wanted to go racing was Dan Edmunds, who had a 1990 white Miata with a red hardtop. While Dan was anxious to get on the track, SCCA Club Racing officials would not let a new car into the race, so Dan missed out of all of 1990, but then came 1991. The first two races were held in Florida in January, but in February 1991 the show moved to SCCA’s Southern Pacific Division at Willow Springs racetrack. Dan took the win in Showroom Stock B class (SSB), and that was the very first racing victory for a Miata in North America. But it was more than just a win, as Dan also lowered the lap record by two seconds, which caused some of the to grumble and wish Dan’s Miata was in SSB rather than SSC. Dan said, “I probably should have sandbagged a bit, but I was having too much fun out there!” He was identified as one of the first persons to ever race any Miata, according to Mazdaspeed, which gave Dan a white hardtop to make the car look better. Edmunds continued to race, setting a new track record at Laguna Seca, and competing in the season-ending runoffs. Today, Dan is the road test manager at Edmunds.com. As you can imagine, there were others who jumped on the Miata racing bandwagon and found themselves having the times of their lives.