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[post_date] => 2012-05-08 22:52:44
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[post_content] => Celebrating A Decade with NICOclub
by: Brian Falla (WDracing, your Nissan Forced Induction Moderator)
For me, this year’s NICOfest at Carlisle event was pretty special. After being on staff with NICO for an entire decade, I was finally going to meet a bunch of guys that I’ve considered family for the very first time, while getting to be part of my very first autocross event. It was a humbling experience. I have never been around a better group of people in my entire life. I’m not sure if this will make sense to those who read it, but the Carlisle Event is the personification of what NICO has always tried to be. A collection of great people, from all walks of life, getting together and doing something they love. So bare with me, as I attempt to describe the sheer awesomeness of my first NICOfest at Carlisle event. This article is best if read with a Boston accent!
For some of us the event starts Thursday evening when we arrive at the Park Inn. I arrived around 15 minutes before Torry (EZCheeze15) and The Juke, which is amazing timing, considering Torry had just driven 19 hrs with a small nap in the middle, compared to my relatively short 2.5 hr jaunt. I came prepared with a cooler full of Corona, which we promptly started to consume. It should be noted the Corona was referred to as cat piss by Torry, but he drank it anyway. Apparently, anything other than Yuengling is unacceptable while attending the Carlisle event. As we discussed the drive over some cold beer, Joel (Bubba1) arrived in his track ready 350Z. The 3 of us ate dinner at the hotel bar, enjoying great conversation about beer, women and cars. After dinner Slurski (Torry when drinking) strolls up and puts the moves on our hot waitress. It didn't end well for him.
We migrated back to my room for more cat piss while we waited for James (PapaSmurf) and Ray (FrapJap) to show up. It was about this time that Torry started messing with James about having a "dumb phone". Torry and I being app-happy "smaht phone" guys enjoy hassling James. They finally arrived at 1130, and we promptly drank some more cat piss before we headed to the Hotel bar for a more acceptable beer. When in PA, you drink Yuengling, resistance is futile. Great conversation ensued until the bar closed at 0230.
Friday starts at 0630 for a 0800 show time at the track, which Joel, Torry and I were the only ones to make. On the way to the track, and much to James enjoyment, Torry's new HTC phone, the one with "the best camera on the planet", (just ask him he'll tell you), starts turning itself off. After awhile he couldn't use it unless it was plugged in. Torry and I spent the morning with leaf blowers cleaning gravel and whatnot from the track, while Joel placed all the cones. NICO runs the track for the entire Carlisle event and there is a lot of prep that goes into a track day. This being my first Autocross, I learned a lot. From tech-inspecting cars to track design, NICO takes care of things in a professional manner. As Trackmaster, Joel designed the course, and was "The Man" when it came to any decision involving how the track was run for the entire event - and he did it with a well practiced ease that can only come with age and lots of experience.
After helping Joel set up the the track for the autocross on Saturday, Torry, James, Ray and I met up for lunch as a prelude to our Yuengling Brewery Tour. Yuengling is America's oldest brewery, what an awesome title. While on the tour, Jesda and his brother Jason appeared out of nowhere. Two very cool individuals that I finally got to meet. The tour itself was a great time and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys not only beer, but American history as well. Yuengling was around before prohibition and paid witness to the Government coming in and bricking up access to their fermentation caves.
As the tour was wrapping up, I get a call from Andy (Repoman). He's about an hour out from the Park Inn and he's going to grab a keg of Yuengling on the way in. I've been friends with Andy for over 10 years, yet we've never met. So I was pretty stoked about this evening's festivities. However, before we made the trip back to the hotel, James wanted to do the Hershey Chocolate Factory Tour. Not a good time and is to be avoided at all costs, nuff said on that topic. I got the pleasure of riding in Ray's Trans Am on the way back to the Park Inn. Nothing quite like a loud 3rd Gen with the T-Tops off, carving up the mountain roads of PA to bring a smile to your face. If you don't enjoy such things, I feel sorry for you.
Friday evening is when 90% of the people show up at the Park Inn. By the time we made it back Andy already had the keg tapped and waiting. After a long 10 years, Andy and I were finally able to shake hands and have that beer we've always talked about, followed by many more. Meeting someone after "knowing" them online for so long time is a unique experience to say the least. Your mind fills in all the details you "think" you know about someone, and then you meet them. Being around Andy is like hanging around someone in the Secret Service (if the agent happened to know a crapload about cars.) Great to finally meet you brother!
Click here for NICOfest Carlisle Part II
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012
[post_excerpt] => After being on staff with NICO for an entire decade, one of our moderators gives a first-hand account of the festivities... You don't want to miss this!
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[post_content] => At about 2000 we walked over to TGI Fridays for dinner, all 45 of us. It was barely controlled chaos in the bar room as the wait staff did their best to keep up with orders and track down people that refused to stay in one seat. Something known as "Purple Drink" showed up in front of me, who am I to turn away a free beverage. It's hard to describe the emotion that was stirring as the evening progressed. There seemed to be a buzz in the air that can only come from good friends that haven't seen each other in a long time. Hand shakes and hugs were passed around freely and everyone's face was decorated with a perpetual smile as each of us had our own mini reunion. The good times continued into the morning hours.
After dinner there was some shenanigans. I had just finished getting a refill and was exiting Andy's room when this greyhound, a real one, just walks up to our little group and starts hanging out. Turns out Scott and his girlfriend Tiffany brought their dog along for the trip. I only mention this because the dog is wearing one of those shock collars that they use for training. Let me say this right up front, Tiffany is a professional when it comes to her dog. Torry on the other hand...not so much. So as one would expect, the collar was removed from the dog as soon as someone realized what it was, and then it was on Torry. The game being, guess what number she's shocking you at. It has a range of 1 to 127. She would start slow, let you get a feel for it, then increase the amperage as you continue to guess the number. It has a trigger, so each time you increase the amps, she just hits you with it. There's no steady rise, just "are you ready" BAM. The funny part is that Torry is pretty close to the number each time and Tiffany is totally selling him. The next thing you know she's got him over 100 and each time she pushes the button he's like, "ok ok ok...ahhh...103". I think he maxed out at 120. Even funnier, after having just watched Torry get electroshock therapy we had several other guys basically forming a line to try it on next. I should mention that Tiffany is pretty hot. Perhaps having a hot chick strap a collar on you is appealing enough to endure a little pain for.
Click here for NICOfest Carlisle Part III - The autocrossing begins!
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 2)
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[post_content] => Saturday starts with breakfast at the Middlesex Diner for most of the NICO staff. You just can't have this many cool people sitting around a table, sharing great food and drink and not enjoy yourself. I walked out full and happy for $6.50, that's with 3 coffee's. Great Diner!
Trackside by 0800, time to walk the track and make sure everything is ready for the event to start. The Carlisle Event staff are excellent people to work with at every level. Any request or suggestion was met with an immediate resolution, everyone just seemed to be passionate about whatever it was they were doing. Friendly professionals at work. This may be my first time here, but NICO has been handling all of the track action, for the entire event, for the last 6 years. At this point it's a well oiled machine, which really says something about our staff and the members that volunteer. Quite simply, NICO rocks.
Cars started lining up for tech around 0930. Quick thanks to James Horne (greenblurr93), another resident expert, for walking me through tech and explaining some of the track lingo. Tech was not taken lightly I might add, NICO makes sure safety comes first. At this point, the staffers and volunteers that make up the NICO family just continue to shine. We're not just doing the tech inspection, failing you and making you go to the back of the line. We're doing spot repairs and quick fixes on everything from battery mounting to leak troubleshooting - and making friends with new people at every turn. Car enthusiasts of all levels lined up their cars for as many timed lap sessions as they could get in before we switched from autocross to drifting.
In my humble opinion, if you're new to autocross there isn't any better place to be then doing "corner" duty. This puts you right out in the middle of track as the drivers rocket through the cones as fast as possible. Your job being to relay how many cones are hit so a time penalty can be assessed, and of course picking up the cones. I like being close to the action because you have to be alert. Everything is in a constant state of urgency, if that makes sense. You had better be paying attention, something I learned real friggin quick. I was just setting down my camel-bak when "The Blue Evo" comes through what I would consider a fairly high speed set of cones, I believe Chicane is the correct verbage. Anyway, he enters the Chicane ballz deep in the throttle plowing through cones like it's Death Race 2000. He's starts grabbing brakes and counter steering but he was already in the grassy area where it might as well have been snow. Anyway, I zigged as he zagged passing between me and my camel-bak by a few feet. He was the first of several cars that ended up spinning through the "in field" portion of the track. For me it just added to the overall experience. To think that at the beginning of the day I was asking if I could bring a chair out with me, James (Papasmurf) was like..."uh, dude, I don't think that's a good idea". Probably saved me a free trip to the ER. One bad thing to point out, not sure I'll be able to look at drag racing the same again.
You could get a ride-along with one of several , what I would consider professional, drivers. If you've never had a ride-along with a really good driver, I highly recommend it. I thought I was a good driver, right up until I rode with Torry a few times. Turns out I'm pretty much just a novice. That's ok though, I'll be remedying this as I don't plan to miss a single track event for the rest of forever.
As the day progressed, a friendly rivalry started between James Horne and Torry Skurski (EZcheese15). James was driving a track ready RX8 with R compound tires that belonged to his girlfriend Jenn, who is also one hell of a driver, and Torry was driving his Juke...with all-season factory rubber. At one point during the day, there was quite the crowd watching from the hilltop overlook. There had been several slower cars making passes, as we welcome people from all skill levels to take their turn on the track. The crowd was growing kind of restless, then they see Torry's Juke come up to the starting line. From where I'm standing on the track I can hear them giving the Juke a hard time... Until Torry rounded turn one, tires ablaze in smoke and rocketing through the first Chicane on 3 wheels. The entire crowd went into shock for about 2 seconds, followed by loud cheers as Torry ripped through the course driving the Juke as if it were supposed to be autocrossed by design. Torry kept cutting consistent 1.06 times for 2 laps. But he couldn't catch James as he was running right at 1.0 minute passes in the RX8. The battle continued through to Sunday, read on.
Click here for NICOfest Carlisle Part IV - DRIFT action!
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 3)
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[post_content] => After a couple hours of open autocross we switched to open drift. This entailed moving the cones off the track and letting the drift guys abuse the track as they saw fit. The track at Carlisle is pretty narrow with 90* turns at all 4 corners, That didn't deter the drift guys from diving into the turns as fast as they could, often landscaping huge swaths of grass from the edges of the track and shedding body panels in the process. The guys that came out to drift this year did so in spectacular fashion, much to the viewing pleasure of an ever increasing crowd. It seemed like every time one of the cars would enter the track they wouldn't leave until they had destroyed a set of rear tires and were forced to limp into parking on nothing but wheel. Some of the better drift drivers were also giving ride-alongs, if you had enough balls to strap in. A better time couldn't be had anywhere at the event.
We made seamless transitions from drift to autocross all day long, ensuring the most track time possible for everyone. We saw all shapes and sizes this year. Andy hit the track with his pristine 745il several times, disabling more and more safety gadgetry with each run. I believe he improved his time by close to 12 seconds by pulling fuses and unplugging sensors. He finally exited the car with a smile after after cutting a 1.06. For some perspective, James and Torry both ran several 1.06s throughout the event and the Beemer outweighs the Juke and RX8 by over 1000 lbs. Kraut engineering for the win.
Kevin (Heavy) ran his 1st-generation Lexus LS400, stereo blaring, body rolling, tires screaming in protest as he hurked the wheel back and forth. It was like watching someone navigate a party barge at speed. Impressive.
Click here for NICOfest Carlisle Part V - MORE car show shenanigans!
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 4)
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[post_content] => Since it was Mother's Day Weekend, one of the drifters brought his Mom out for a spin. She was clearly apprehensive after having watched the event all day and seeing how fast people were entering and exiting portions of the track. Then he mentioned that his bumper might catch fire, since his exhaust was dumping into it. This didn't help anything as she promptly freaked out at the thought of the car catching fire. He assured her that everything would be fine and after several long minutes of coaxing, she got into the passenger seat. After 2 hot laps around the track, it caught fire anyway.
At some point during the day, Andy, Sean Dragonetti, his beautiful fiancee Amy, and I commandeered a golf cart and I toured the fairgrounds portion of Carlisle. There must have been 5000 cars parked in perfect rows. All encompassing is really the only phrase to do this show justice. Sean and I rode in the back, calling out the nicer rides and enjoying some good laughs over the more "creative" ones. There was eye candy in all forms.
If you weren't having a good time, you were doing something wrong.
Saturday at the track ended with a photo shoot involving Pro Drifter Matt Predmore, his awesome RHD S15 and Stacey Acevero. Matt used to run D1, but is in the process of getting all the licenses and qualifications to run the Formula D Pro circuit. Dude is wicked cool. Stacey (SentraStace) needs no introduction. She's been with NICO for quite a few years now and she's not easily forgotten once you meet her. She's so hot my tongue seemed to swell up whenever I got to close to her. The photos came out fantastic.
By the time the photos were over, my "beer low" light went from 'flickering' to 'on and steady'. Time for more Yuengling! After a quick shower I strolled on down to Ray's room where a large party of people had gathered. Ray just happens to be a professional chef, and was making dinner for everyone in his hotel room. He brought a large electric griddle and proceeded to cook 15 lbs of fresh-off-the-boat scallops and fried rice for all present. How good can scallops be out of a hotel room? Wicked good. I finally feel like one of the "cool guys" for having been in attendance. Of course the room smelled like a giant whale vagina afterwards, but the taste reminded me of visiting the New England coast during the summer. Thanks for the food and memories buddy!
Click here for NICOfest Carlisle Part VI - The Afterparty
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 5)
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[post_content] => The drink flowed and everyone was enjoying themselves. NICO members basically take over the entire facility for the weekend. So you have lots of people, with tons in common, all in one place, with a keg of Yuengling. Everyone breaks off into their respective cliques, usually by make and model, which was pretty funny. To me, the gathering felt more like a family reunion would, if everyone got along. Surrounded by friends and enjoying great food and drink, I couldn't have enjoyed myself more.
There are many memorable stories from Saturday night, too many to list actually. But here are a few of the highlights...as best I can remember anyway.
It was around 2200 when someone launched a rocket from the parking lot in front of our rooms. When I say rocket, I mean the kind that you ignite with a friggin' car battery. This thing rips off into the atmosphere, then Security showed up forcing everyone to make a quick Irish exit.
Another highlight for me was watching Consequence Connect Four, which is basically a harmless game of Connect Four - but with harsh outcomes for the loser. Brian Gabel (LongBeachCoupe) is the leader of the Altima Coupe crew on NICO and a master manipulator. These guys are playing Connect Four and drinking beer, the next thing you know, Brian has the winner pulling facial hair from the loser. Then chest hair, then pubic hair and finally one guy gets his nipple slapped. Guys will bet over anything.
Ouch!
One tradition for the NICO staff is to drunk dial those staff members that aren't in attendance. This time we took it to a whole new level by having some drunk Skype video with Andy (Ozzie), our resident Australian. Of course this got everyone talking like they were doing an Outback commercial. OY FUKKA!
I crashed at about 0200, I can't be sure, things were a bit hazy by that point. I do know that 0630 showed up way too damn early the next day. This was remedied by more great breakfast at the Middlesex Diner. We had a good 12 of us make breakfast, everyone in different stages of hung-over. James didn't even look at the menu, he just held his throbbing head and asked for "something fruity". Again, great conversation over good food as we relived the prior nights festivities.
We rolled over to the track at 0800 and pretty much started the open autocross session right away. Sunday brought a close to the competition between Torry and James Horne to see who was going to wear a dress the following year. After allowing Torry to drive the RX8 a few times, he was able to click off a 58.53 beating James' best time of 59.28. The two could have gone back and forth one-upping each other all day, but James was gracious in defeat and promised to wear the dress next year. At this point I'm going to mention how good of a driver Joel is. This guy I just met, Josh Sheets, has a sweet black Nismo Edition 370Z. It's a lot of car for this short of a track, but he's letting some of the better drivers test her out. Having never driven the car before, Joel goes out and runs a clean :57, capturing the fastest time of the event. Two seconds faster than an RX8 on R-compounds. Let that sink in for a moment. No one timed Joel when he ran his own 350Z earlier in the weekend, a car he's been autocrossing since it was new. One wonders how fast that time was.
50 Years of NICO.
After another day of autocross and drifting, things were starting to draw to a close for me and I couldn't help but reflect on the last 10 years I've spent with the NICO family. Because that's really what it is, and what we're about, family. A decade of life that started for me when I was living on Okinawa and I needed information about Skylines. Next thing ya know, some fool makes me a Moderator and introduces me to greatest group of guys I'll ever have the privilege of knowing. You simply can't get a more diverse group of excellent people together, in harmony, like the staff and members that run NICO. To me, the Carlisle NICOfest Event is the pinnacle of 10 great years in this family. I'm already looking forward to next year, I hope to see you there.
Comments? Questions? Want to see more pictures? Click here for the NICOfest Carlisle 2012 Discussion Thread!
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 6)
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[post_content] => Celebrating A Decade with NICOclub
by: Brian Falla (WDracing, your Nissan Forced Induction Moderator)
For me, this year’s NICOfest at Carlisle event was pretty special. After being on staff with NICO for an entire decade, I was finally going to meet a bunch of guys that I’ve considered family for the very first time, while getting to be part of my very first autocross event. It was a humbling experience. I have never been around a better group of people in my entire life. I’m not sure if this will make sense to those who read it, but the Carlisle Event is the personification of what NICO has always tried to be. A collection of great people, from all walks of life, getting together and doing something they love. So bare with me, as I attempt to describe the sheer awesomeness of my first NICOfest at Carlisle event. This article is best if read with a Boston accent!
For some of us the event starts Thursday evening when we arrive at the Park Inn. I arrived around 15 minutes before Torry (EZCheeze15) and The Juke, which is amazing timing, considering Torry had just driven 19 hrs with a small nap in the middle, compared to my relatively short 2.5 hr jaunt. I came prepared with a cooler full of Corona, which we promptly started to consume. It should be noted the Corona was referred to as cat piss by Torry, but he drank it anyway. Apparently, anything other than Yuengling is unacceptable while attending the Carlisle event. As we discussed the drive over some cold beer, Joel (Bubba1) arrived in his track ready 350Z. The 3 of us ate dinner at the hotel bar, enjoying great conversation about beer, women and cars. After dinner Slurski (Torry when drinking) strolls up and puts the moves on our hot waitress. It didn't end well for him.
We migrated back to my room for more cat piss while we waited for James (PapaSmurf) and Ray (FrapJap) to show up. It was about this time that Torry started messing with James about having a "dumb phone". Torry and I being app-happy "smaht phone" guys enjoy hassling James. They finally arrived at 1130, and we promptly drank some more cat piss before we headed to the Hotel bar for a more acceptable beer. When in PA, you drink Yuengling, resistance is futile. Great conversation ensued until the bar closed at 0230.
Friday starts at 0630 for a 0800 show time at the track, which Joel, Torry and I were the only ones to make. On the way to the track, and much to James enjoyment, Torry's new HTC phone, the one with "the best camera on the planet", (just ask him he'll tell you), starts turning itself off. After awhile he couldn't use it unless it was plugged in. Torry and I spent the morning with leaf blowers cleaning gravel and whatnot from the track, while Joel placed all the cones. NICO runs the track for the entire Carlisle event and there is a lot of prep that goes into a track day. This being my first Autocross, I learned a lot. From tech-inspecting cars to track design, NICO takes care of things in a professional manner. As Trackmaster, Joel designed the course, and was "The Man" when it came to any decision involving how the track was run for the entire event - and he did it with a well practiced ease that can only come with age and lots of experience.
After helping Joel set up the the track for the autocross on Saturday, Torry, James, Ray and I met up for lunch as a prelude to our Yuengling Brewery Tour. Yuengling is America's oldest brewery, what an awesome title. While on the tour, Jesda and his brother Jason appeared out of nowhere. Two very cool individuals that I finally got to meet. The tour itself was a great time and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys not only beer, but American history as well. Yuengling was around before prohibition and paid witness to the Government coming in and bricking up access to their fermentation caves.
As the tour was wrapping up, I get a call from Andy (Repoman). He's about an hour out from the Park Inn and he's going to grab a keg of Yuengling on the way in. I've been friends with Andy for over 10 years, yet we've never met. So I was pretty stoked about this evening's festivities. However, before we made the trip back to the hotel, James wanted to do the Hershey Chocolate Factory Tour. Not a good time and is to be avoided at all costs, nuff said on that topic. I got the pleasure of riding in Ray's Trans Am on the way back to the Park Inn. Nothing quite like a loud 3rd Gen with the T-Tops off, carving up the mountain roads of PA to bring a smile to your face. If you don't enjoy such things, I feel sorry for you.
Friday evening is when 90% of the people show up at the Park Inn. By the time we made it back Andy already had the keg tapped and waiting. After a long 10 years, Andy and I were finally able to shake hands and have that beer we've always talked about, followed by many more. Meeting someone after "knowing" them online for so long time is a unique experience to say the least. Your mind fills in all the details you "think" you know about someone, and then you meet them. Being around Andy is like hanging around someone in the Secret Service (if the agent happened to know a crapload about cars.) Great to finally meet you brother!
Click here for NICOfest Carlisle Part II
[post_title] => NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012
[post_excerpt] => After being on staff with NICO for an entire decade, one of our moderators gives a first-hand account of the festivities... You don't want to miss this!
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[post_modified] => 2015-02-23 11:11:26
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"Article Series
- NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012
- NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 2)
- NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 3)
- NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 4)
- NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 5)
- NICOfest at Carlisle Performance and Style 2012 (Part 6)
Since it was Mother’s Day Weekend, one of the drifters brought his Mom out for a spin. She was clearly apprehensive after having watched the event all day and seeing how fast people were entering and exiting portions of the track. Then he mentioned that his bumper might catch fire, since his exhaust was dumping into it. This didn’t help anything as she promptly freaked out at the thought of the car catching fire. He assured her that everything would be fine and after several long minutes of coaxing, she got into the passenger seat. After 2 hot laps around the track, it caught fire anyway.
At some point during the day, Andy, Sean Dragonetti, his beautiful fiancee Amy, and I commandeered a golf cart and I toured the fairgrounds portion of Carlisle. There must have been 5000 cars parked in perfect rows. All encompassing is really the only phrase to do this show justice. Sean and I rode in the back, calling out the nicer rides and enjoying some good laughs over the more “creative” ones. There was eye candy in all forms.
If you weren’t having a good time, you were doing something wrong.
Saturday at the track ended with a photo shoot involving Pro Drifter Matt Predmore, his awesome RHD S15 and Stacey Acevero. Matt used to run D1, but is in the process of getting all the licenses and qualifications to run the Formula D Pro circuit. Dude is wicked cool. Stacey (SentraStace) needs no introduction. She’s been with NICO for quite a few years now and she’s not easily forgotten once you meet her. She’s so hot my tongue seemed to swell up whenever I got to close to her. The photos came out fantastic.
By the time the photos were over, my “beer low” light went from ‘flickering’ to ‘on and steady’. Time for more Yuengling! After a quick shower I strolled on down to Ray’s room where a large party of people had gathered. Ray just happens to be a professional chef, and was making dinner for everyone in his hotel room. He brought a large electric griddle and proceeded to cook 15 lbs of fresh-off-the-boat scallops and fried rice for all present. How good can scallops be out of a hotel room? Wicked good. I finally feel like one of the “cool guys” for having been in attendance. Of course the room smelled like a giant whale vagina afterwards, but the taste reminded me of visiting the New England coast during the summer. Thanks for the food and memories buddy!