December 2017 Member Spotlight – Mina Ingraham

December 2017 Member Spotlight – Mina Ingraham

Obligatory questions:

Name (yours not the car’s):
Mina Ingraham

Car(s) presently owned (and their name?):
Competition cars – ’04 WRX STi (Sakiko) and ’86 BMW E30 (Brunhilde)

Years Owned:
I’ve owned the STi since brand new in early ’04, so that’ll be 14 years shortly.  The BMW I’ve owned since early ’16.

Modifications (i.e.interior/exterior, engine, chassis):
Sakiko is a limit-built SCCA STU autocross car, so the mod list is long.

Brunhilde was originally built as an ICSCC Pro3 road race car (she was one of the original cars, built in ’02), and I road raced her fairly extensively in that class in ’16 and at the beginning of ’17 (along with hillclimbs in ’17), but I’m in the process of making her a dedicated hillclimb / XP autocross car with Ford 306 power for ’18.  Again, the mod list is very long.

 

 

How long have you been racing, and what types of racing do you do?
Since 1988.  I autocross and hillclimb, and I also have SCCA and ICSCC road racing licenses.  I’ve done a fair bit of Lemons / Chump / Lucky Dog endurance racing on both coasts as well, and I also have a sportbike I do track days (not racing!) with from time to time.

How did you get into autocross?  
My first job was as a lowly parts getter / floor sweeper at a well-known So Cal Corvette shop run by former racer and engineering whiz Dick Guldstand.  He had a man working with him, Grant Byers, who was a shock / suspension engineer and who was the reigning A Stock (as it was called back then) national autocross champion.  He invited me to an local autocross event, gave me a ride along – in a Fiero Formula (V6) – and I was hooked.  It took a while before I could afford a car to do it with, but I managed to buy an old ‘71 Datsun 510.  She was beat up and slow, but she was mine.  Ran my first event at what was then called Jack Murphy Stadium, in San Diego, in late 1988.

How do you get focused before/during an event?
Honestly, I’ve been racing for so long I can’t say I have rituals or require anything special to focus – it’s just what I do.  That said, I’m a big believer in minimizing distractions.  Have the car sorted, have as much done and checked as you can before you arrive. Get your numbers on, have your helmet out, check the pressures and all of that before you are called to grid. Walk the course with your mouth shut and your mind engaged.  Remember why you are there.  In my case – I’m there to compete, and anything else is secondary.

What future plans do you have for your racing career (new car, new mods, new types of racing, etc.)?  
Well, no new types of racing, but as I said, I’m dropping a Ford 306 into my E30 and working to really develop the car for hillclimb and XP autocross.  I have two national titles with my Subaru; I’d like to see if, over time, I could earn one with the BMW. It took many years to develop the Subaru to where she is now, and I know it’ll be lots of work with the BMW, too.

 

 

Outside of racing:

Where are you from, and how did you end up in Oregon/Washington?
Los Angeles, CA.  I’ve lived many places, but spent 15 years in Virginia before moving to Oregon in 2015.  I would think it’s pretty obvious why Oregon is a better place for a woman like me than was the former Confederacy.

Do you have a favorite hobby outside of racing?
Reading, writing, sim racing.

What is/are your favorite food(s)?
Japanese (good spicy ramen especially) and Mexican (especially something with good mole sauce).

The favorite car that you have owned?
If it had to be just one – it’d have to be my Subaru.  She was my daily for over a decade, she was the only car my partner and I had for years, and I’ve experienced so many amazing things and been to so many amazing places because of her.

Your dream car(s)?
I can honestly say the ones I have are my dream cars.  They suit my aesthetic perfectly, they’re fun and fast and can always be made even faster, and they are classics, too, only getting cooler with age.

Fact(s) that you are dying to share about you?
Hmmm.  That I love fountain pens and vintage typewriters, I guess.

Meaning of life:

If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be, and why?
If you expected me to say anything other than unicorn, you don’t know me at all.  Why?  Because they are achingly beautiful, archetypically feminine, majestic, magical, ethereal, and the horn is there if needed.

What was the best thing before sliced bread?
That’s easy – coffee.

We hacked into your computer and downloaded your music list. I don’t want to be the one to spill your most embarrassing song, so why don’t you tell people what we found?  
Maybe “Take On Me” by A-ha.  I’m actually not embarrassed – I loved it when it came out and love it still.  Second – maybe “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson.  But I’m someone whose track list might have those two songs, followed by “The End Complete” by Obituary and “100 Miles and Runnin’” by NWA followed by some dubsteb and drum & bass….I like what I like.