Ed Nazarian

2007

After doing various track days with my Evo, I got bored and decided to start competing in 2007. I definitely wasn’t ready for racing, so I found out about Time Trials. In a sense, Time Trials is a stepping stone into racing. Time Trials is not real racing, i.e. you’re not racing w2w (wheel to wheel) against other cars to see who finishes first. Instead, it’s a race against time. You’re competing for the fastest lap against cars that are in your class. However, short of real racing, it’s the closest thing you can experience to racing.

I wanted to compete in a series that was geared more towards who the better driver is. Therefore, I wanted the series to limit competitors as to how much they could modify their cars. I had heard about NASA’s TT (time trial) series. After looking over their rules, it was clear to me that NASA’s TT series was where I wanted to compete. Shortly after that I applied for my NASA TT license, got accepted after a brief test day, and started competing in TTA. In my rookie season I ran my car with minimal modifications (OEM suspension, 91oct map, and 255 RA1s). I basically wasn’t even close to being maximized for my class, but that didn’t matter to me because I was more focused on improving me (the driver), than I was with the car.

Im not the type to mislead people with my achievements, so keep in mind that the amount of TTA drivers varied from event to event. Sometimes there were only 2 TTA drivers. Sometimes there were 5 of us. I can’t control who shows up and who doesn’t. So for what its worth, here are my results from my rookie season:

- Competed in 10 TTA events
- 4 wins
- 10 podiums
- 2nd place overall in Socal

2008

Before the 2008 season started I knew I wanted to not only stick around, but I also wanted to better prepare my car within the TTA limits. Since I wanted to take things step by step, my car gradually developed through 2008 within the TTA limits. I also wanted to compete at NASA’s National Championship, but before I would commit myself to such a significant undertaking, I wanted to test myself to see if I thought I was ready for such a big step. The best way I thought I could test myself was to travel to Norcal during our Socal season and compete on one of their tracks. Given my schedule, Thunderhill raceway was the event I picked. I figured that if I can go compete on a track I have never been to, compete in an environment that is uncharted territory for me, and do well, then I was ready. Unfortunately, I had severe braking issues at those 2 Norcal events I competed at, but I did surprisingly well on a track that can’t easily be learned in a day (2nd place both days). Most surprising was that I did well with severe braking issues. Given how well I did, I realized then that I was ready to venture to any track and compete. A few short months later, September to be exact, I drove from California all the way to Ohio to compete at Mid-Ohio for NASA’s National Championship. You can read about my trip to Thunderhill (in Norcal), and Mid-Ohio for the National Championship in a separate post coming soon. In 2008, there were anywhere from 2-6 TTA drivers from one event to the next. Here are my results for 2008:

- Competed in 12 Socal TTA events
- Competed in 2 Norcal TTA events
- 9 wins
- 15 podiums
- I’m the 2008 Socal NASA TTA Champion
- Competed at Nationals for the first time at Mid-O and got 3rd

Everything I accomplished (2007-2008) competing in NASA’s TT series:
- Competed in 24 Regional TTA events
- Competed at NASA’s National Championship
- 13 wins
- 25 podiums
- 2008 National Championship 3rd place
- 2008 Socal NASA TTA Champion
- 2007 Socal overall standings 2nd place

2009

2008 was a really significant year for me with motorsports. I gradually developed my car into a more competitive TTA car. I traveled to Norcal and tested my abilities on a new track by competing at Thunderhill Raceway. I decided I was ready for NASA’s National Championship, so I drove all the way to Ohio and competed at Mid-Ohio for the National Championship. From 2007-2008 I casually followed the results of some of the Socal race groups. And one day I finally decided I was ready to start racing. In the end, nothing excited me more than to race my Evo, so I decided I was going to race in Super Touring. It was then when I also found out that I would be the first from Socal racing an Evo in Super Touring. And one of the few people across the nation racing an Evo in Super Touring. And if that wasn’t great enough, ST2 is one of the few, if not the only higher class series in Socal that has such a big field of competitors. Up until 2008 Super Touring ST2 in Socal has been primarily dominated by Mazda GT’s. When they all show up, there are as many as 10+ Mazda GT’s. Beyond them there is my friend Scott Howard (driving a 1st gen RX7), there are also a few other racers that have shown interest (2 SCCA T1 Vette drivers), and a few others. Therefore, the ST2 cars in Socal vary from really light weight tube-frame chassis setups, to really fast production cars. So not only do I get to do what I want, i.e. race my Evo, I also get to race in a competitive series against varying types of cars. Here are my results thus far of my rookie season racing in Super Touring:

- Total of 8 Super Touring ST2 races
- 2 Super Touring ST2 National Championship races
- 6 Super Touring ST2 Socal regional races
- 6 podiums in a row
- 4 wins in a row
- (2) 2nd place
- Winner of hard-charger award
- (1) Pole position
- All the while as a rookie racer