Every year there are two Z/G enthusiast events everyone looks forward to: Z Dayz in the Spring and Z Nationals in the Fall. Just as every other year the 9th Annual Z Nationals was a three part event consisting of the car show and dyno competition on Saturday at Z1 Motorsports in Carrolton, Georgia and the track day on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. This year we did not set up a sponsor booth like previous years but we did have a total of four SOHO cars this year instead of the usual two including the #44 G35, shop turbo 350Z, #88 350Z and a customer's stroked and boosted high hp G35.
Without a true car show entered in the car show we didn't care much about that but we did have the SOHO Motorsports 350Z and the #44 G35 entered into the dyno competition on Saturday at Z1. The Z unfortunately ran into an issue on the dyno and was down on its usual power level of 420 rwhp. We later fixed this issue in the parking lot of the hotel (old fouled plugs lowered the power). The #44 G35 however laid down a solid 550 rwhp in front of the huge crowd and sounded amazing in the process, drawing lots of smiles and plenty of videos on social media. The show and dyno comp brought out the nicest G and Z's in the country from old to new and everything in between but all awesome in their own respect. It was great getting to talk to fans of the car and answer any questions along with putting faces to names, seeing old friends and making new ones. We always enjoy seeing the Z/G family and this weekend was no different.
After a long day in the sun we all gathered for the awards banquet and enjoyed a great meal with friends. The banquet was not only to give out the awards for everyone who had won the car show and dyno competition but also for the endless number of raffle giveaways provided by the sponsors. Z1 did an amazing job as always and after a delicious dinner we were pleased to be announced as the winner for the highest powered 350Z / G35 for the 2013 Z Nationals Dyno Competition.We weren't positive if the 550 rwhp was good enough to win the 350Z / G35 class but sure enough when the award was announced the SOHO name was called! We were very happy to add it to our other Z/G specific awards from this year. With Saturday being such a success we looked forward to the track day early the next morning an hour and a half away in Birmingham, Alabama.
This year not only was I tracking the G for the first time around Barber Motorsports Park (last year I was driving the Z) but I would also be instructing for the first time in my life. There were 4 run groups for the day and I was instructing in 3 of them and driving in one, so to say the least I had a very busy day. Barber is a very technical course with many different types of turns along with numerous elevation changes and blind turns. Barber host's many different racing series from motorcycles and local groups all the way up to Indycars and offers a challenging high speed course for any driver from beginner to professional. Needless to say I was excited to track the G around Barber and put the Hankook Ventus TD tires to work for one of the first times in the dry weather this year.
The #44 SOHO Motorsports Infiniti G35 was on rails and absolutely blistering fast around the 2.38 miles and 15 turns that is Barber Motorsports Park. The Turbo by Garrett GTX3582R turbo was screaming via the SOHO Motorsports Turbo Kit down the long straights and hitting hard as hell out of the turns. The video attached to this post shows just how amazing the car sounded hauling ass around the track with a new and interesting in car view of me that I have never used before but might be my favorite. With the G running great I then focused most of the day on getting my student drivers to drive faster and faster. I must say as satisfying as it is to track a fast car like the G it is equally as satisfying to help someone else go faster just by sitting in the passenger seat and giving them notes on what to do through a headset (although the lack of control is concerning at times haha). I learned a lot from riding along with them and was happy to see them all improve throughout the day. It was a blast and I look forward to instructing again soon and especially at next year's Z Nats track day.
The 2013 Z Nationals was a great one. All of the SOHO cars came out and did great at the show, dyno and even the track day. Be sure to check out our facebook page for more photos and be sure to visit ZNationals.com for info on next years event! See you all in the spring at Z Dayz!
