Perspective: My First National Event (Christine Cappel)

It was a last-minute decision to attend the CAM Challenge in Mineral Wells, Texas.  I went from excitement to “What in the heck did I get myself into?”.  To give you a little background, I own a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro 2LT/RS.  She is my drag racing car (with nitrous), my autocross car, and my grocery getter.  Her suspension work has been upgraded to a 1LE Track Pack, as well as, Brembo Brakes and stainless-steel brake lines (all work was done by J-Rod’s Speed Shop in Richmond, Texas). She turned 118,000 miles on the way to the Mineral Wells!

Going in I knew I was an underdog, being 2 cylinders short with my V6, but the experience I gained was well worth the trip! As I arrived on site, I saw most of the vehicles were trailered in.  At this point I knew I was playing with the big boys and girls. I headed straight to registration.  Being my first event, I wasn’t sure exactly how everything worked and they were very helpful.  I received my stickers for my helmet and my car and I went to get my car ready for tech.  I headed to tech, and this was the most involved tech I had ever been in.  My car got weighed!  She weighed 3,706 pounds without me in it. The tech crew was also very helpful.  After my tech, she was good to go!

Photo By Christine Cappel

Fast forward to the first morning of competition, this is where my butterflies started kicking in.  Luckily, my group CAM-C, had to work first.  This would give me time to calm down and watch the other drivers on the course.  The first group staged in the grid, and for our group we did a pre-grid.  This allowed the transitions to run smoother.  Then it was off to work.  Let me tell you it was so awesome watching these cars run on the course!  Then it was our turn to run.

We get staged in the grid, and you have spots already assigned where you were supposed to park. I was lucky enough to be staged next to the VETMotorsports SCCA sponsored 2017 Chevrolet Camaro.  This is where I meet Pete Cline from VETMotorsports.  VETMotorsports is an award-winning, non-clinical outreach program that honors and empowers veterans with service-related injuries through active participation in motorsports.  He was there with 2 veterans. Let me tell you it was a pleasure to hear about their program and be able to race alongside these veterans.

Photo by Christine Cappel

My first day of racing went well. I found that I wasn’t running the right type of tires, so the course felt very slippery to me. After the competition that day, we were fortunate enough to have time for some fun runs, so I took advantage of them. Everyone during the day was very nice and helpful. It was really hot that day, so after the awards and the sponsored dinner I went to the hotel to pass out.

Sunday morning comes around, and I’m exhausted.  You don’t realize how much the heat can affect you. This is the day we are racing to get qualified for the runoffs.  My times were better than Saturday’s but I was only 1 short of making the runoffs after a few people dropped out.  I was slightly bummed, but I knew I wouldn’t make it far in the competition.

Photo By Christine Cappel

I definitely learned a lot, and I met so many nice people! I look forward to competing again in the national events. With my car being a daily driver and with 99% of the cars being dedicated race cars; I was extremely happy with how I placed in this event.  My fastest time was 76.301 and it was done with my traction control on and Continental tires! For some reason having my traction control off my times were worse. This may have had something to do with not having the right tires, but I still had a blast racing!  I had a lot of support from my family and friends over the weekend, and I again want to thank J-Rod’s Speed Shop for my awesome setup, and well as keeping her in tip top shape for racing.