Instagram story viewer> @daniel.drives> Posts

Daniel

@daniel.drives

2.2K

followers

1638

following

@mobleyperformancedesign
2003 Marauder
1996 Roadmaster Wagon
2008 Mazdaspeed3
2001 Suburban 2500
2011 Crown Vic Racecar
San diego, engineering

POSTS STORIES REELS

“Yeah I think I’ll take the Roadmaster to rallycross, it should be easier on the car than anything on pavement” this thing is so much fun. Just need to make sure @sandiegoscca puts me in the first run group of the day next time 🤣 thanks to @coronascamera for the sick photos by @daniel.drives

We just need some tighter videography…yeah that’s why it looks slow #outofspecracing #crownvic by @daniel.drives

First 2 laps of my first ever race. The real win was staying on track and out of the other cars by @daniel.drives

Wow. The first endurance race. First race with this car, first W2W race ever, what a wild experience.

Big takeaway is that despite years of doing trackdays, we were super underprepared. Some of that can be solved by reading rules closer (how big does the fuel spill pan need to be? Is the fire extinguisher we’re planning to use in the green zone?🙃). Some of that needs more practice, like getting into the full safety gear and hooking up harnesses, HANS, comms, cooling, lap timing, cameras, and window nets. Some of that will only come with experience I think (turns out you should talk to race control immediately when you see transponder issues, who knew?), but we definitely have a better picture of how we need to prep.

I was battling a cold/allergies all weekend. Blew through 2/3 of a kleenex box and had 4 bloody noses, the Buttonwillow dust certainly didnt help. Getting more sleep and getting up earlier (not having to figure out car fixes at 1am) will be a huge improvement, as will figuring out a good breakfast and remembering to hydrate.

Huge thanks to @speedsf_track_events for hosting the weekend, everything was well organized and ran smoothly, as always. Getting that many sessions of test and tune plus a 2.5 hour race is a great value for the money. Huge thanks to the teammates @themerrickan and @tjkeon for jumping in on prep work, buying parts, wrenching, bringing food, and keeping spirits high, there’s no way I could make all this happen alone. Huge thanks to Aaron @slateford, who stepped up from Spectator to Pit Chief and made the fueling and driver change so much easier. Big thanks to Chuck @chalkboard_racing for handing over a car that was 92% there, having something solid to build on is way easier than trying to start from scratch.

My other surprise is that despite not being at a socal track weekend since…March of 2025, I had so many friends old and new in both paddocks, both days, and I didnt even see everyone that knew who was there. Absolutely incredible community that I’m glad to be a part of.

We have a few fixes, more parts to buy, and with any luck, should be at Lucky Dog’s BW circuit event May 30-31 by @daniel.drives

Just hangin out in the desert lookin at some cars #prescottrally2026 by @daniel.drives

Congratulate us for 9 yrs of headassery or else by @daniel.drives

Barely even felt how wild this year was until I went back through the pictures…

2025 started pretty normal with a couple track weekends at Streets, Spring Mountain (thanks Jack), and more rallycross with the roadmaster. In May, I took the camaro to Sonoma, which was awesome because I’ve driven every public track in the southwest and Ellie came for the weekend and rode for the first time. Less awesome was Camaro engine failure #2, this cut the weekend short and kicked off a 6 month buyback process that resolved a couple weeks ago. I picked up a real racecar to replace it (thanks Chuck!), we’ll see where we end up with that in 2026.

I wanted to try something completely different than the front engine, NA V8, auto trans rear drive formula for the rest of the fleet so I picked up a Mazdaspeed3 for cheap. It’s been fun learning manual finally, feeling boooooost, and having a lightweight car. Got to do a full day of ripping the LA Canyons, which has been a bucket list item for a long time (thanks Ilya!) By the end of the year, it turns out it needs an engine, so that will be a fun learning curve into 2026.

Went back to Sonoma with the Marauder to watch Nascar, huge thanks to Sean and his family for the invite, hope to do it again next year

Got way more into stage rally, volunteering at Prescott Rally and the Ridge Rally, the Roadmaster is the perfect vehicle for getting out on stages and camping in. It needs some love but I’m stoked to do more of that next year. Prescott rally is coming up again in March, I’d recommend volunteering to anyone interested in rally.

Went to Radwood for the first time, I cant believe I’ve never been before. It’s gotta be the least pretentious car show ever, just great people all around. I’ll pretty the Roadmaster up and sneak it in next year.

Went to Sema for the first time, huge thanks to Chris and TJ for making that happen. Absolutely overwhelming show, but it was great to meet people new and familiar. What a place, I hope to be back next year.

Finally made it to the Peterson museum with Ellie and her family, lots of fun getting to talk through the nuances of their excellent collection.

Happy new year to all! by @daniel.drives

Took the Roadmaster out to the 2025 @prescottrally. Figured I might as well volunteer instead of sitting around all weekend, getting to log the cars coming in and out of Main Time Control was fun. Camped in the hills outside Jerome, got cold at night at 7000ft. The one downside of the volunteer assignment was that I didnt get to go out on the actual stages, so on Sunday when the organizers asked for help taking down the course markers I jumped at the opportunity. Roadmaster did pretty good on the roads, needs better suspension, and an exhaust system that doesnt just boil the gas tank. Shoutout to @rodnoc_racing for getting me hooked on the rally bug, I’m excited to see everyone at the Ridge rally in december! by @daniel.drives

If ya squint it’s mint
•
Stoked for a weekend of Nascar, thanks to @themerrickan for the invite to Sonoma by @daniel.drives

It’s the kind of day that reminds you why you even deal with all this shit. Got up at 4am, made it to Angeles Crest at 6:30, and @coomar0 spent the day being a rabbit for me on all the LA canyon roads. The Speed3 still needs…a lot, but holy shit this was fun. I meant to get some video but was too busy living in the moment to set up the mount. “Oops”. Angeles crest, little T, several of the roads in Malibu, holy shit. So good.
•
Needs: more springrate, tighter dampers, real brake pads, …every bushing, swaybars, 2nd gear, and a coolant reservoir that doesnt have cracks by @daniel.drives

So I bought a Mazdaspeed3…
•
My girlfriend used to have a Mazda3 hatch back when we met, it was such a fun little ripper but the anemic powertrain and 4 speed auto were pretty meh. I’ve been casually looking for Speed3s ever since, but they were always some combination of clapped, heavily modified, way high mileage, or like $7k+. Everything else I own is NA, V8, auto, RWD, so I figured it’d be fun to have something completely different. I found this one from a reddit post, they guy had it for like 11 years, the clutch went out, and he was tired of putting money into it so I picked it up for $800 instead of the scrapyard for $500. Turns out it wasnt a clutch problem, the dual mass flywheel had failed and caused quite a bit of chaos in the bellhousing. While it was apart, I did a lightweight flywheel with stock clutch, fully rebuilt the HPFP with @corksport O-rings and the larger piston, cleaned the intake valves, cleaned the PCV, and wiped a couple pounds of crud out of the engine bay. Turns out it’s a fun little ripper! The turbo spools hard from 3000-6000 and it accelerates shockingly fast, who knew that being light was important to a cars handling?
•
It’s not perfect, it doesnt go into 2nd gear (hopefully just a shift fork issue), it needs a rear O2 sensor, it needs an alignment, the swaybars clunk, the seat adjustment is a little broken, the drivers window needs a regulator, but for a cheap little ripper I’m super happy with it. It might find it’s way to Streets or Chuckwalla this fall, but it will mostly be a street car. Big thanks to @tpmparts for getting the X comps mounted on the Evo X wheels, that massively helps the look of the car while still being very budget friendly.
•
#mazdaspeed3 #mazdaspeed #speed3 #corksport by @daniel.drives

What does the end of an LT1 engine look like? Not much, without a rear facing cam to catch the huge cloud of blue smoke in the mirror. The passenger was a guy who just bought a SS1LE and was at his first track day ever, fortunately he has a pre-2020 car so he’s *probably* safe. Also, the Mclaren pulled off to the side blew something, at least this is (probably) cheaper than whatever that was. If the yellow Supra with a wing sees this, sorry for oiling you down #certifiedLT1moment #camaross1le #oilissupoosedtostayinsidetheengine @teamchevy @chevroletperformance @chevrolet by @daniel.drives