We Didn’t Come to Watch: A Weekend in the Pits and on the Track

The plan was simple: load the car, drive six states, and hope the engine didn’t blow up in the second heat.
We hit the road at 5 AM on a Friday with two coffee-stained spreadsheets, one worn-out Civic ready for battle, and a trailer loaded like we were headed to war.

The trailer handled every bump, turn, and speed trap like it had done this a hundred times.
Even after a sudden rainstorm in Tennessee, nothing inside shifted. We spent Saturday tuning under a pop-up tent and using the trailer as a mobile pit station. On Sunday, the Civic made it into the finals—and so did we.

Every mile of that trip reminded me why you need an enclosed car trailer built for racers—because when the weekend matters, your trailer can’t be the variable.