Still Alive!

Good week all! Sorry we have not been posting as much, but we are quickly approaching our due date of May 11th, 2010 for the birth of our second daughter!

What has happened since March 18th? Good question!

Dad has had a little spare time to get two races in (quite rare these days). First, he did a rallyX at Four Oaks with THSCC. Dad finished 3rd overall and 3rd in class. Not bad for a car that isn't supposed to be competitive, relative to his competitors!

Class Results

Overall Results

More Pictures - 1!

More Pictures - 2!

More Pictures - 3!

Daddy Picture!

Following the rallyX weekend, Dad went back to ViR and entered a CircuitX. This is a race where Dad races on a real road course, but speeds don't exceed 100 mph. Dad had a dry course and a COMPLETELY soaked course. In the wet, Dad was the fastest, and in the dry, Dad did OK on a complete rally setup. Life is full of compromises!

Dad's ViR Partiot Course Class Results

Dad's ViR Partiot Course Overall Results

No pictures this time, but Dad loves it when people ask him how much MORE power he has, and he just let's them know it is a SOFTER car with stock power. ;)

Dad has another RallyX coming up on April 17-19th where he is setting up and teaching. In July, Dad has another CircuitX at ViR, and that will more than likely be it for a while.

Thanks for reading, and now I need to get busy writing another post about the girls!

- Dad

Fun at the Track

This past weekend we went to Virginia International Raceway to see the Koni Challenge race and so that Brian could take a few runs on the rallycross course. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. Brian enjoyed the rallycross course until his suspension broke. That cut our day a little short, but at least we were able to drive the car home. Here are some shots from the day:

Brian checking out Phoenix Racing Subaru:

Daddy and Megan sliding down the inflatable slide. There was also a bounce-house, but Megan was having much more fun on the slide.

Brian driving the rallycross course while the suspension was still in one piece. The course was really dry and he was throwing up LOTS of dust clouds.

Beating the Heat

It's been super-hot here lately so we've been trying to come up with ways to enjoy the sunshine, but stay cool with out being cooped up inside.

We started with a trip to VIR (Virginia International Speedway) to see the Rolex/GrandAm race. There was not much "staying cool" at VIR, but we did find a nice shady spot under a tree with some friends and watched the cars zoom by. Dad and Megan read Speedy Little Race Cars and we all took turns following Megan around on her quest for balls, which we think we actually pine cones (Thanks to Adria for figuring that out!).

Sunday afternoon we splashed around in the back yard in Megan's new kiddie pool. The water out of the hose was really cold, but she still enjoyed splashing - a lot! Afterwards we took a short wagon ride to warm up (ironic, i know...). And speaking of the wagon -- that has been money very well spent. I can't begin to count how many miles we've logged in the wagon in the two months that we've had it.

We even tried our hands at fingerpainting one afternoon. Megan tried to eat the paint more than actually painting with it, but she still had fun and made a few cool paintings.

And of course we spend a lot of time running around in the yard kicking balls, chasing the dogs, and going after the kitty-kitty-kitties!!! (her second favorite word after duck.)

Daddy's Weekend!

This weekend, Daddy went to an HPDE! For those not familiar with that term, it is a High Performance Driving Event. Essentially, this was something dad has been trying to do since 2005, but the timing never really worked out. The location for this event was in Alton, Virgina at Virgina International Raceway, or ViR for short. The event was hosted by THSCC/TZC, and it was a great event with great weather (and yes, friendly nice people).

So, this was Daddy's first time on a real track, and a thing that he "needed" to do to see if this is something daddy wanted to continue doing. Well, it started out rocky, but by the end of the event, I think Dad enjoyed it. There was lots of good things, and an exceptional instructor, Devin Cazin.

As for the event, a lot of words could be typed here, but it is mostly something that I think you just have to experience. You can watch videos, talk about turns in excrutiating detail, and analyze the 2-2.5 minutes on the 3.27 mile Full Course. Experiencing these events with friends is what really makes them special, and I am glad that Wei Yan (Mitsubishi Evolution IX MR) went along with me.

The actual driving... well, this is something that Mommy would not have approved of, nor enjoyed. Dad was mostly in 3rd and 4th gear (about off the limiter in 4th), so I think that is somewhere between 40 - 134mph (update: this is what the math worked out to with 3.9 with 225/45/17s ^ 6500rpm) -- not Mom's cup of tea. However, Hopefully she will come next time to take some pictures of the event, and we can all enjoy a day in the country. Dad did pass a lot of people, but more importantly, he learned a lot about how to be "more smoof" and rediscovering why he races (Dad just likes to do it, and Dad doesn't have to think about it or anything else).

If you ever have a chance to just stop by ViR and check out a race on a race weekend, I would highly suggest it. This is something our whole family has done in the past with GT Live, and it is something that everyone seemed to enjoy (including Mom!). It is truly awe inspiring as you drive over the bridge and are able to see 5,5a,6, and 6a on the right, and the Uphill-esses on the left (people over 100 through tight turns). The visual speed the cars carry and the weight you can hear is something you just have to experience.

Dad might get a chance to do another one of these later this year, but it is something that Dad is glad he got to do.

Thanks Mommy and Megan for giving me the time to do this and being so understanding (setting up the car, being gone, tearing the car back down -- 40+ hrs of work I am not with the family :( ).

I love you!

- Daddy

Megan Drives a Beamer!!

Today, Megan and I had to get the oil changed in the Forester. Our Subaru dealership is adjacent to the BMW dealership, and they have a really nice children's room in their waiting area which we played in while we waited. They had added a new toy since our last visit, and it was just Megan's size!!

Megan also had fun playing with the other toys in the room. We even got to play with a dog - Rocky - who was there with his owner waiting on their car.

Playtime at the Dealership from Stacy Herring on Vimeo.

Megan had such fun test driving the BMW, she decided to try "driving" the Forester, too!!

The Herrings Go Racing!

Hi All:

Since Mommy is a busy woman, I thought I would update you on the past two weekends of racing that we have had! :)

So, Sept 28th, 2008, Daddy had his first RallyX in quite a while, along with the first RallyX in the new car he got from Keith Vail. Daddy did OK, and he thinks that the results really don't speak how tight, close, or good the competition or event was. If you really look at it over the course of the day, it was very changable, and with the REALLY WET conditions, it was anyone's race. However, Daddy lucked out in the afternoon with the drying out, and from not making too many mistakes, he was able to pull it out.

Below is a picture of Daddy and Megan to commemorate the day along with the results!

Links to Results:

Class Results
Overall Results

This past weekend, Oct 4th 2008, the whole family was heading down to ViR to see GTLive. This was Daddy's first time to ViR, and Daddy thinks the whole family loved it. Mommy was actually heard saying "Wow, this is cool and different than I thought it would be."

That is music to Daddy's ears! :)


Mommy did her best sweeping in all the prizes, and Daddy did what he does best -- using all the prizes! So, thanks to Mommy, Daddy got to:

• - Ride in an 08 STi on ViR Full Course for 2 laps.
• - Play on the ViR go-karts
• - Have $50 of play money for his/her car!
• - Drive the '09 WRX with 265hp!

We got to hang out with current friends, meet some old friends we haven't seen in a while, and tour the ViR facilities Daddy has been wanting to see for a while.

In all, it was a great two weekends, and Daddy can't wait until the event next year. Until then, please check out Mommy's Shutterfly account on the right tab to see all the photos AND video we took, and I am sure we will be seeing Megan on some ViR flyers soon (everyone was taking photos of her!).


Thanks for reading and watch as Megan tries to keep up with the cars on course at turn 2 and 3!

GTLive with Subaru ViR, Track Attack, and Go Karts! - 1 from Stacy Herring on Vimeo.


- Daddy

Future Racer

Brian is rallycrossing today, and Megan and I are hanging out around the house. Even though we aren't out there with Daddy, we're cheering him on from home! Check out Megan's shirt: 

Another "New" Car in the Family + Photos!

Hi All. It is me again, the daddy.

So, first off, the family is doing superb. Megan is learning that Macs are great for doing work, and Windows Boxes are good for beating on.



Also, I would like to take this time to post pictures of the latest Rally Car! (Thanks to Stacy for accepting of my affliction and understanding) So, we are trying to keep saftey and cost to a minimum, with a dash of intelligence thrown in :)






All goes well, and I thought I would just throw in some more picture updates until Stacy realizes we need something better than this :)

The Red Robin

Tonight we went to Red Robin for a Subaru dinner. To prepare for the get-together (as well as a life-long love of Subarus), Megan had to get into the Subaru spirit:


We ate dinner with Christine and Simon, and even got a visit from the Red Robin himself. I thought for sure that this would be the highlight of the evening...but Megan didn't even acknowledge the bird. How do you totally ignore a 6 1/2-foot tall red bird with a yellow beak the size of Kansas? I guess Megan was too interested in all the other goodies on the table: burgers, fries, drinks, straws, quesadillas, tortillas, etc. It turns out that Christine's keys were the tastiest item on the menu!

Daddy gets his groove back!

As we all may or may not know, Daddy had been taking a break from his "fun" activities to help out with his new fun jobs around the house, and helping out the girls. Well, since Father's Day is coming up, and Daddy's birthday just passed making him "old", he decided it was OK to try an event with the "new" car.

Daddy enjoyed the event, but the temperature was not too hot (negated pun intented). 100+ degree heat kept the people from coming out in droves, but in the end, Dad had fun, and honestly, that is what all this should be about.

In his first event back in about a year and the first time in the "new" car, the results showed he did OK but Dad knows better -- he is rusty!

Here are the results, and a new fender liner is being installed as you read! :)

First Time for Everything

On Tuesday, Megan had a pediatrician appointment. She checked out a-ok, and the doctor noted how especially alert she was. She now weighs 12 pounds, 14 ounces!! She's grown to 23 1/4 inches, and her head circumference increased 2 cm to 38.5cm. Megan also got her first round of immunizations.


It was definitely not the best part of the doctor visit -- Megan screamed and cried and these two big tears rolled out of her eyes...but she pulled through and was calmed down by the time we left the office. The nurse was great and gave Megan her 3 shots in under 30 seconds. It was over before even Mommy knew it!!

Tuesday was also a special day for Dad -- he voted in his first election!!


Wednesday, Megan attended her first Subaru meet in Cary at Red Robin. It was also Mom and Dad's first meal in a restaurant with Megan since she was born. She slept through dinner, but was up and talking and smiling in the parking lot. She did get a bit hungry and fussy towards the end, but she and Dad got some quality car-talk time with the guys before we left.


And this weekend, Megan will make her first overnight trip to Albemarle for Mother's Day!

It's been an exciting week!!!

New Car in the Family

While I like the fact that this blog mainly deals with the best part of the family -- the Herring Girls -- there are a few other things going on. On of the biggest ones was the fact I just sold my RS and used that to purchase a used WRX.


So, this all happened pretty quickly:
- Buyer #1 backed out on Thursday Morning
- Replacement car found on Thursday afternoon before I went home. Same state as buyer #2
- Buyer #2 contacted and had the money by Saturday
- Drove up 9hours on Sunday through 100% rain, and sold the RS
- Dealership picked me up Monday morning, and purchased car #2.
- Drove back home ~9 hours through 100% rain back.

All is good, and the car was bone stock. This weekend, I have gotten the rally suspension, rally skid plate, and mud flaps on the car. The only thing left is the rally exhaust and getting a new registration and license plate... is completely junky situation. That is this week -- ugh.

Hopefully, I will have this car for quite a few years, and the whole family will enjoy my time I spend with them instead of working on the car every May for a month :)

- brian

Practidonis

As you know, I like to race. Some people have always asked what it is I do, so I took a video from Car Fisher @ www.thscc.com from a RallyX where I placed 2nd overall, 2nd in class. Look for the Red RS. It appears @ :55 and 4:46, if you get tired of listening to "The King".

Here is a quick preview of how it went down:



Also, I have posted pictues of the National RallyX from 2006 where I finished 1st in class, 4th overall.

DowROA's GooglePages Page!


The child seat is secure! We are ready to go! Baby Herring will racing in a few short years!