Legal Eagle Racing debuted in September 1999. At that time, the only choice of race car was my daily driver - a 1996 Ford Escort LX. Needless to say, it was not purchased with autocross in mind. With the addition of Tokico HP ("blue") struts and Kumho Victoracer V700 tires (mounted on junkyard sourced steel wheels), it became a locally competitive H/Stock car. I ran this car in 1999 and 2000, taking my first event victory in April, 2000.
Near the end of the 2000, I started to realize that, given the limitations of the Escort and the paucity of aftermarket support for it, I needed to step up to something a little more exciting. And, let's be honest, an Escort LX is hardly the sexiest race car on the planet! So I scoured the Beckley and Charleston areas in search of a more competitive car.
In December 2000, I found something. After a Miata near miss and a run in with a decrepit 16v Scirocco, I settled on a 1991 Honda CRX. Not an Si, just the plain base model. Given the huge performance market out there for all things Honda, I was sure it could be brought up to speed fairly quickly. In pursuit of that goal, I equipped the Rex with fresh shocks (Koni), springs (H&R), and sway bars (Suspension Techniques) and transferred my Kumhos to a set of far more attractive Borbet wheels and went to work in C/Street Prepared.
The Rex made its competitive debut in a River Cities Region event in February 2001. While I managed to score a victory in March 2001 at Laidley Field in Charleston, the base Rex was not the car to have in CSP. Miatas are the hot setup there, particularly when driven by very experienced and very quick drivers. I was regularly trounced by said driver and began to doubt the logic of persevering with the Rex.
As I spent more time thinking about staying competitive in CSP and wondering where to store my "toy car" (not to mention how to pay for it), I came to the conclusion that I wanted to get back into the Stock class, preferably with a dual use car (i.e. one that I drove to work every day, too). To that end, I traded the CRX and the old Escort in on a 2000 Nissan Sentra SE 2.0.
2000 was the first year of the current generation of Sentra, which includes the high profile SpecV. Unlike the SpecV, however, the 2000 and 2001 SE models were blessed with the famous Nissan SR20DE engine. Powerful from the get go, it responds well to bolt on modifications and is, in the words of my brother, "bomb proof."
Life in G/Stock meant a return to a lightly modified car. Since no one (at the time) made aftermarket struts and shocks for the B15 (2000+ Sentras) platform, my options were limited to a K&N drop in air filter and a(nother) set of Kuhmo Victoracers mounted on a second set of stock wheels. In this trim (sans Kumhos), the Sentra won its début event at Ona Speedway in April 2002. Down the road, I added an HKS exhaust, as well.
I continued with that setup into the beginning of the 2003 season. After a hassle with a stripped lug nut in Cincinnati in May 2003, however, I decided to ditch the Victoracers and move towards STS. Changing tires can be a royal pain in the ass and I was ready to do away with that. So I ditched the Victoracers and saddled up with a set of Kumho Ecsta MX tires, which are Kumho's answer to the super sticky Falken Azenis "street" tire. I ran that setup in G/Stock for the rest of 2003, notching a total of 10 wins.
The master plan was to move towards Street Touring (STS), which is a very competitive class in my region (and elsewhere). I think the car has some potential, but it will be difficult. To that end, I recently had some new toys installed and am ready for 2004 to begin!
Right now, the Legal Eagle Racing Sentra mods out like this:
Koni Sport adjustable strut inserts (front) and shocks (rear)
Eibach SpecV Pro-kit springs
NISMO adjustable rear sway bar
NISMO lower tie bar (front)
HKS Sport exhaust
Hawk HP-S front brake pads / OEM Nissan rear pads
K&N Filtercharger air filter
Kumho Ecsta MX tires (205/50/15) mounted on Konig Traffik wheels (15x6.5)
