As of November 2020, I am proud to announce that I am an official NASM certified personal trainer! I’ve got the ball rolling right now with a few clients and it’s been an absolute blast teaching people how to improve their health and get stronger through resistance training. I think I finally found something that I enjoy doing on my own terms.

That said, during my studies for the certification exam, I managed to garner a partnership with RP Strength as well, my go-to for meal plans that have enabled me to both cut and gain for the Spartan Races that I’ve been doing. I recommend anyone who is already working out regularly to check out RP and integrate their meal plan with your workout plan. Because, well, you know, your results will only be better if you do something about your food too!

The year was 2012. This event was a ladies-only autox at Auto Club Speedway. Little did I know that many of these women would play a huge part in digging me out of my own self-made grave when we decided to start the Drifting Pretty Podcast this year.

Listen to all their stories. Listen to the struggles. Listen to the triumphs.

I’ve been in my own mental prison since 2015 and have only recently broken out this last year or so. The last key that blew the door open was connection to the ladies and gents of Drifting Pretty and seeing that we are not alone in our problems. I asked for help once a long time ago, and it was not met with kindly. So to talk things out finally in this last podcast episode was something I didn’t know I needed badly. The release is real. The weight off my shoulders is real.

Check out the Drifting Pretty Podcast on anchor.fm/driftingpretty and everywhere else you find your podcasts.

PS: and yes, I certainly do enjoy the movie They Live.

I am proud to announce that Fae Racing is now partnered up with Blenders Eyewear! I got bit pretty hard when I saw their Sci-Fi lenses– my first thought was, “Those absolutely fit the RX7.” Even went and bought 2 of them in the same color just because, well, I was feeling pretty good.

My review of these glasses is that for a reasonable price, you get some good looking stuff with a whole lot of variety. I have run in some of their other sunglasses through 5-mile trail runs and have found that they are reasonable in staying on my face and not totally falling off my nose. The frequency with which I have to “push the glasses back up” is not annoying to me. While this aspect is something that is likely going to be different for everyone, my experience so far has been positive. The Sci-Fi lenses come in 4 different color options– the Midnight Emmas have proven to be their most popular color and are often sold out on the website. The retro look is seriously bomb. If you’re thinking about buying them, I’d suggest picking them up before they sell out!

Use coupon code FAERACING16 for 16% off at checkout!

A simple thank you mention is not enough to express my gratitude for Steve Lepper at Gearhead’s Garage for not only getting all the safety hardware prepped but for helping me even buy this car in the first place and being a one of a kind coach and mentor.

When I bought my first gen Miata in 2013, Steve was there every step of the way, reminding me that “you won’t stay stock for long!” Fast forward to a year after and I took my first trip to MRLS for the 25th anniversary, not only to be overjoyed by my first taste of that track but also to be introduced to the new ND that Mazda unveiled during that very event.

Fast forward to a couple months later in March 2015 when I was miraculously invited to be a test driver for a secret project, something that continuously stirs up emotions when I think of it. That very project happened to be accumulation testing with Mazda’s R&D facility on the new Miata. I enjoyed the car but the thought of ownership wasn’t even in the picture.

Ultimately, it came down to Mazda North America staff members Loren Wong and Matthew Valbuena being incredibly supportive in my search for the exacting package I had my eye on. If I was going to be dumping all my funds into the first and probably only brand new car I intend to ever buy, it better be perfect. The anxious anticipation brought me all the way to a one-way plane ticket to Oakland, CA— on October 13, 2018 at 7PM, I had the keys to a 2019 Miata in Arctic White with the Brembo/BBS package and Club trim. With only a couple of hours of sleep, I took to the most scenic and unexpected solo drive down HWY 1, the first time I’ve ever even gone through there, with the top down in this new car. Needless to say, there were some emotional sobbing silly moments all bundled up in a jacket with the sea salt in the air and scent of trees.

364 days later, I’d be taking that very car through the Corkscrew, overjoyed, grateful, ecstatic, and for just enough time, a sense of peace. 

It’s been such a long time, I think I should be goin’, yeah. And time doesn’t wait for me, it keeps on rollin.’ There’s a long road, I’ve gotta stay in time with, yeah. I’ve got to keep on chasin’ that dream, though I may never find it. I’m always just behind it…

— Boston

In motorsport, or any endeavor, for that matter, where pursuing the limit is your absolute goal, the human heart inevitably faces times of doubt, darkness, and difficulty. You think you’re not good enough, or that you won’t be able to make it, or you just feel like quitting. My motorsport career has felt this way as of late. I finally and very happily made it up to Miatas at Laguna Seca for the 30th anniversary, but before that recent event, it’s been years since I’ve been able to put my cars on track. Lastly, and quite simply, my day job is to support from the sidelines, not from the seat. It’s hard to watch life pass you by. Sometimes though, the light shines through. 

Takaharu “Koby-san” Kobayakawa is a certain someone who had a lot to do with making sure a certain 4-rotor car took the checkered first in the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans. My exacting knowledge of his accolades and history with Mazda is not the best, I admit, but this one simple fact is a very deep and meaningful one to more people than just rotary and Mazda enthusiasts. But let’s go to Sevenstock 22 which took place yesterday on the storied grounds of the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, a rotary mecca of an event that I personally have not missed since I became an RX7 owner. Koby-san was in attendance as a special guest. The sun was beginning to set and the venerated man was supposedly retiring for the day– he instead chose to continue taking the time to shake hands, take photos, and sign autographs with all the rest of us unworthy folks and fans. I made my approach with the full intention of simply saying hello and thank you.

Instead, as I shook his hand and bowed my head, the words avalanched from my mouth, “Thank you… if it wasn’t for this car, I would not be racing today.” As I attempted to enunciate, the sheer weight of the words and the meaning behind them gave me an unexpected bursting sensation from my chest. The words were more true than I was even aware of. My life would have taken a completely different path if it wasn’t for my RX7. My eyes began to mist and I managed to mumble about my 10th consecutive attendance of Sevenstock and how I was very honored about the whole thing– he shouted with surprise at the 10-year comment and beamed with pride.

He stood next to my white FC3S with a gleam in his eye and approached the door, shiny golden Sharpie in hand (this is important). He turned around and told me, “I will sign this with ‘Never Stop Challenging!” I just nodded sloppily and ecstatically in my attempt to not shed any more embarrassing tears, absolutely pleased to hear the mantra behind what it means to drive rotary. He was so happy to just listen to my short story, so happy to just shake hands and greet people. We then took a brief photo and he was off to greet yet another elated appreciator. I stood there quietly, along with my close friend and respected RX7 owner, Glen Powell and my cousin Vince, a new Miata owner as of only a few months, standing nearby grinning ear to ear at my obvious loss of words for what just happened. I felt so humbled.

Back to that golden Sharpie that was used. I borrowed it from long-time supporter of the rotary community Jorge Leal. He too had been graced with the presence of Koby-san with a signature in his RX-8. Still brimming with this sense of utter fullness in my heart, as I approached him, the two of us both recounted that same overwhelming feeling, that the chance purchase of our cars led to a life that we never thought we’d have. His friends standing nearby us just added more to the energy we were feeling that moment. If it wasn’t for the community and the connections we’ve come to share, this would all be for naught. All of the heartache would have been for naught.

I’m no writer and I doubt my words are even half-able to express the meaning of what I’m really wanting to say. Only recently, I had felt the darkness and the doubt, even forgetting about all of these really important things, these moments that define our lives. Things like the first moment I drove down the Corkscrew. Things like sitting at Mazda’s R&D office to test behind the wheel. Things like going wheel-to-wheel in a go-kart against a Grand-Am driver. Things like choking back tears during a parade lap for a beloved driver who passed on. Things like the moment I put on my big girl pants to pass tech when I failed it at the very first event I ever ran.

Every year at Sevenstock has always been a wonderful reunion with my rotary family. I bought this FC3S on June 18, 2010 (nearly a decade ago!) and since then, I went on, and still continue on, a journey I never thought I’d have. I’ve driven cars I’d never dreamed of even touching, driven at speeds and on courses I never thought accessible to me, and met lifelong friends who have become my family.

This is why I do this. This is why I fell in love with cars and racing in the first place.

Never stop challenging.