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Back in January 2004, I joined a cult.  Entry came in the form of purchasing a Subaru.  Last September, Colin McRae and his son, Jimmy, were killed in a helicopter crash.  On August 30, 2008, over a thousand Subarus caravaned to Prodrive's Warwick facility where they assembled to write his name with their vehicles and form the Scottish flag, the Saltire.  For those unfamiliar with his successes, Colin McRae won the 1995 FIA WRC Drivers' Championship driving a Subaru Impreza.  His efforts also helped Subaru win three straight FIA WRC Manufacturers' titles from 1995-1997.  The 25 victories he accumulated place him fourth on the all-time WRC win list.  He also won a silver medal in the inaugural X Games Rally event in 2006 despite rolling his Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car, which was able to keep going almost as if nothing happened. Here's Inside Line's news article about the tribute to the late rally legend. Convoy of Subarus Stretches 30 Miles in Honor of Rally Driver Colin McRae BANBURY, England — Nearly two years after his death, fans of Colin McRae turned up with more than 1,000 Subarus to celebrate the life of the Scottish rally star with a record-setting convoy...

I went to Laguna Seca Raceway on Saturday for a track day with Redline Track Events (http://www.redlinetrackevents.com).  By the end of the day, I could say I have something in common with Randy Pobst – falling victim to the Turn Six apex marker (red object in the photo above).  This was a “feat” he accomplished on lap two of last year’s Laguna Seca SPEED Touring Car race in his #73 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda6.  His incident resulted in a damaged left front wheel.  A quick pit stop was all he needed to return to the fight. It would take much more than a quick pit stop to take care of the damage my car sustained.  The left front strut collapsed and never rebounded like it should.  It also was bent by the impact.  Perhaps having 80,000 miles of (ab)use on it may have been a contributing factor as well.I think I turned in too early/too much right before it happened.  I don’t think it was the first time I had hit it that day either (I was nearing the end of my third of five sessions when the apex marker dealt its death blow).  It would have been nice if a warning had been issued in the morning drivers’ meeting about the markers.  Nonetheless, I can accept what happened knowing there is risk involved from the start.  After all, “You’ve got to pay to play,” right? I got the car home Sunday night by limping it on its donut down to Lost Hills where the spare’s tread wore out and the tire had a mild blow-out.  I then had the car towed to Gorman using my friend’s AAA Plus coverage (my AAA basic coverage is only good for 7 miles of free towing…I’ll be upgrading shortly).  My parents picked us up we got home at 3 AM Sunday morning.  On Sunday evening, I headed out to Gorman with my mom and used her coverage to get the car home.  Last night, I was able to locate a used strut for $35 from a friend (Larry London’s friend, too) in Costa Mesa (the shop he used to run installed my springs, strut tops, brakes, brake lines, and rear diffuser.  All that remains is removing the old strut assembly, obtaining the “new” one, and installing it.  The car should be good to go by Thursday morning.  Next time, I’ll rent a trailer to tow the car using our family’s full-size van.  Chalk it up to learning another lesson the hard way...

http://blogs.edmunds.com/Straightline/3436 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2461339.ece Colin McRae and his son were killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday.  The 1995 FIA WRC drivers' champion (in a Subaru Impreza WRC - 1995 was also the first of the three straight constructors' championships for the Subaru Impreza) was piloting his helicopter that crashed.  He is survived by his wife and daughter.

I went to the X Games 13 Rally event on Sunday.  Here are some of the photos I took thanks to free tickets from Subaru that I got from Santa Monica Subaru. Colin McRae on all four wheels...but not for long Video of Colin McRae's semifinal run in the #7 No Fear Subaru Impreza WRX STI I actually didn't see Colin roll his car over because I was focused on getting this shot. Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino sliding through a turn in their #43 Monster Energy Drink Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STI on their way to the Silver medal The 70-ft jump was a walk in the park for Ken Block who previously jumped 171 ft in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI Tanner Foust and Chrissie Beavis party like rock stars with some donuts in their #34 Rockstar Energy Drink Subaru Impreza WRX STI after winning the Gold medal by defeating Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino Here are Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom in their Bronze medal-winning #199 Red Bull Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STI For more photos, you can view my full gallery here.